Reckless

Chapter 26

Spencer was quick to offer Toni his help when it came to watching her son. Unlike most actions he took, Spencer didn't consider the ramifications of this offer before he made it. The thought of her calling another man for help, one that he knew she had a previous romantic encounter with, was enough to spur him into action. But after Toni kissed her son and rushed out of the small eclectic cafe, Spencer was left staring at her little karate genius and wondering what the hell he just got himself into.

Making casual conversation was never Spencer's strong suit. And when it came to making it with a five year old, he wasn't even sure where to start. Fortunately, he had a few moments to sip his coffee and ponder as Romeo worked his way through the remainder of his breakfast feast.

"Your mom told me you like to read," Spencer offered, feeling only slightly lame. It wasn't the worst opening to a conversation he ever made, he told himself.

Romeo stopped gulping at his apple juice long enough to nod his head. Then he tipped the cup back up and chugged what remained in the glass. When there was nothing left, he plunked the cup down on the table and opened his mouth, letting out a belch so loud that it attracted the attention of the patrons at a nearby table. The two children at the table started to giggle, laughing before the older of the two offered Romeo some advice.

"You should cover your mouth if you need to burp," the girl said.

Romeo stuck his tongue out at her, much to the delight of her younger sister. Spencer hid his smile with another sip of coffee before he attempted to redirect Romeo's attention away from the two tittering blonde girls at the other table.

"What's your favorite book?," Spencer asked. Romeo took his question more seriously than Spencer expected. As Romeo pondered his answer with a look of intense concentration on his face, Spencer flagged down the waitress and asked for the check. Toni left him her card, but he tucked that away in his wallet and pulled out his own card instead. He didn't have much dating experience, but he'd received a wealth of advice from his much more experienced colleague. Rossi might not know everything, but since he was able to convince not just one but three different women to marry him, Spencer figured he knew enough. And Rossi told him the first rule of dating was never let the woman pay for anything.

"I don't know if it's my favorite," Romeo finally announced, "...but I've read Treasure Island the most times out of any book." Spencer smiled and nodded his head, expressing his liking for that particular book. The last time he read it, he was around Romeo's age. But he remembered it fondly. His mother read it aloud to him, along with dozens of other classic novels and some not so classic that she felt were worthy of notice. Romeo's face lit up with excitement before he asked, "Will you take me to the bookstore?"

Spencer considered this proposal, this time carefully weighing the variables in his mind. Toni didn't give them permission to go anywhere after breakfast. But she also didn't say they couldn't go anywhere, and the bookstore seemed a safe enough location. Spencer didn't think she would mind if they made a quick detour on their way back to her apartment. His main concern was what Romeo might do at the bookstore, especially after his display of naughty behavior in the car. But Spencer decided that issue could be easily settled.

"Will you behave and listen to me if I take you to the bookstore?," Spencer asked.

Romeo nodded enthusiastically, sitting up straighter in his seat and placing his hands gently in his lap to prove that he knew what good behavior was. "I'm always good at the bookstore," he promised. Spencer considered suggesting that he ought to try being good in the car as well, but he decided to leave that discussion for another day.

Twenty minutes later Romeo was clinging to his hand as they entered the large chain bookstore. Spencer could tell Romeo knew the store well. He darted straight for the adult fiction section, leaving Spencer hurrying after him to keep him in sight. This was the first time Toni trusted him with her child. If he messed this up, there wouldn't be a second time. Spencer was determined to keep close watch and make sure nothing happened to her son.

As Romeo pursued the shelves, a few of the store's employees stopped to greet him. One knew him by name and asked him how he liked the book she suggested on his last visit. "How many books are you allowed to get today?," the salesgirl asked.

"I only have room on my shelf for two," Romeo lamented with a heavy sigh that made the girl laugh.

"Better make them count then," she teased. The girl leaned closer to Spencer, lowering her voice to keep Romeo from overhearing her. "If you don't have room for more books, you could always get him an e-reader."

Spencer thanked the girl as he considered her suggestion. He personally preferred the tactile experience of reading a real book. But the convenience of an e-reader couldn't be overlooked, especially for a child. And a new electronic device would be like a shiny new toy for a boy Romeo's age. After another minute of option weighing, Spencer caught Romeo by the hand and started walking them both over to the large glass counter where the electronics were housed. Spencer justified his purchase by telling himself that it would save Toni space in her apartment. But the truth was, he really wanted her son to like him. And he was prepared to buy the boy's loyalty if necessary. A few minutes later, when they were snuggled together in one of the store's plush chairs, reading A Wrinkle in Time on Romeo's new Nook, Spencer decided the purchase was worth every penny.

"Are you sure you're allowed to have that?," Spencer asked as he watched Romeo slurp down a chug from the giant iced frappe he begged for on the way back to Toni's apartment.

"Mama lets me have coffee," Romeo replied. There was whipped cream on the side of his mouth, and another dot of it on the tip of his nose. Spencer was holding his hand as they climbed the steps inside Toni's apartment building. With his other hand, Spencer was juggling a bag full of books, Romeo's new e-reader, and another coffee that Romeo insisted they get for Lucia.

When they reached the top of the steps, Romeo paused. His little hand was suddenly clenching down around Spencer's larger one. Spencer felt the boy move closer to him, as though Romeo meant to hide behind his leg. From what Spencer had observed so far, Romeo was confident and outgoing, like his mother. The boy's sudden fearful behavior immediately put Spencer on alert. Something was very wrong.

Spencer released Romeo's hand, nudging the boy behind him as he peered down the hall to find the source of his sudden anxiety. There was a man standing outside Toni's apartment door. He was just slightly shorter than Spencer, which meant he was still taller than average. His sandy brown hair was coiffed and gelled into place, complimenting his designer suit and high end overcoat. Spencer never met the man before. But he recognized the guy from the photos he found in his extensive online search. After Toni got that call from her asshole ex, Spencer's curiosity about the man grew. Doing an extensive background check on his girlfriend's ex husband probably wasn't a good use of FBI resources, but Spencer did it all the same.

Fletcher Flynn was a high end defense attorney, the kind that agents like Spencer found distasteful. In the last few years, Fletcher made quite the name for himself. He thrived by taking on heavily publicized cases and getting the violent offenders off on police technicalities or by putting the victims themselves on trial. Morality and public safety didn't seem to factor into his formula for success. One particularly nasty offender was already on trial again, after Fletcher got him off the first time on several rape and murder charges. Fletcher was currently defending him for the second time. Spencer knew they used to be married, but he had a hard time picturing Toni sleeping with a man like Fletcher Flynn, let alone having a child with him. She had such a strong moral compass. From what Spencer saw and read in her file, she did the right thing even when it was to her detriment. She was everything her ex wasn't. He wondered if she married him solely because she was pregnant with his child.

Spencer watched with interest as Toni's ex pounded on the door to her apartment. When he didn't get a response, Fletcher lifted his hand and began pressing the button that made lights flash on and off inside the apartment. Since Lucia was deaf, the lights would alert her that someone was at the door. When he got done jamming his finger down on the button, Fletcher lifted his hand and used his palm to cover the peephole. Spencer wasn't sure if that's what alerted him to the man's ill intentions, or if it was just the overall aggressive stance of his body. Either way, Spencer quickly slipped Romeo's e-reader into their shopping bag and handed it over to the boy, along with the large caramel frappuccino they brought home for Lucia.

"Hold that and stay here," he instructed. Spencer began to move down the hall, his hand shifting to his side to feel for the gun that wasn't there.

Lucia cracked the door open, immediately trying to snap it shut when she saw who was on the other side. But Fletcher was ready for her. He jammed his overpriced shoe in the door, wedging it open as he demanded to speak to Toni. How he knew she wasn't on a case, Spencer wasn't sure. But he didn't like the idea of this creep keeping such close tabs on her.

Before Fletcher could force his way inside the apartment, Spencer yelled at him. He used the authoritative voice that usually only seemed to come out of him when he was on the job. "Back up!" The element of surprise was on his side. Fletcher shuffled back far enough that Spencer was able to place himself between him and the apartment door. Lucia slammed the door shut. But a second later, Spencer heard it open again. When she saw him, she poked her head out and began wildly gesturing to Romeo, trying to get him inside the apartment with her.

The look of shock on Fletcher's face quickly gave way to amusement when he noticed Toni's son in the hallway. He flicked his eyes over Spencer's lanky frame. "Who are you?," he chortled. "The boyfriend?" His eyes lingered on Romeo before he added, "...her new bang nanny?" After he got done laughing at his own disgusting joke, Fletcher offered Spencer some choice advice. "If you take her brat to the movies, she'll suck your dick for sure. She's got a mouth like a fucking hoover too... Wouldn't be a bad deal if that kid wasn't a goddamn Tasmanian devil."

"Don't talk about my mom, you asshole!," Romeo hollered from not as far down the hall as Spencer would like.

Fletcher only laughed at the boy's insult, gesturing to him as proof of his previous statement. Lucia was urging Romeo towards the door. And Spencer was hoping he would go inside. But unfortunately, Romeo seemed more interested in getting into it with his mother's ex than he was in listening to Lucia.

"Word to the wise," Fletcher said, winking at Spencer like he was about to share a choice secret. "She's fucking her partner behind your back."

Spencer had every intention of diffusing the situation. He wasn't interested in having an altercation with Toni's ex. Even if he was, he knew his priority ought to be getting Romeo safely inside the apartment. But he quickly found himself fuming with anger. He didn't like this sleazy asshole making sexual comments about his girlfriend. And he liked listening to him insult Toni and call her a whore even less.

"I'm her partner," Spencer countered. He and Toni weren't exactly partners as much as they were teammates. But this jerk didn't need to know that.

"Oh," Fletcher mocked. "Well excuse me, agent!"

'It's not agent," Spencer corrected, "It's doctor. Doctor Spencer Reid." Spencer glanced at Romeo out of the corner of his eye before he moved forward, putting himself into Fletcher Flynn's personal space. "In your line of work, I'm sure you've heard of me. I've served as an expert witness for the DC attorney general's office on many occasions." Spencer paused, watching Fletcher's reaction to his identity. The man was trying to act unimpressed, but his subtle body language was giving him away. He knew who Spencer was. Spencer didn't testify often. He felt that once the suspect was apprehended, his part of the job was done. But when he did, he could almost guarantee a conviction. He was every defense attorney's worst nightmare.

"They've got a few cases on their docket I'm sure they could use my help with…" Spencer continued, ratting off the names of every single one of Fletcher's clients that had a hearing scheduled. With each name Spencer mentioned, a sliver of Fletcher's false bravado crumbled. Just the fact that he was able to rattle off the name of each defendant was probably unsettling in and of itself, especially for someone that had no knowledge of Spencer's talent for recalling information.

To Fletcher's credit, he collected himself quickly. He stuck his hand out, accompanying it with an extremely insincere smile. "I think we got off on the wrong foot," he suggested.

Spencer stared down at the man's hand, his face wrinkled in disgust. There was not a pile of money in the world big enough to convince him to shake it. Spencer felt Romeo next to him, the boy's lanky body brushing up against the side of his leg. Instead of shaking Fletcher's hand, Spencer reached down and rested his hand on Romeo's shoulder.

"Toni is very special to me. I don't like seeing her upset," Spencer warned. "If you keep causing problems for her, then you're going to have a problem with me." Spencer paused, waiting to make sure Toni's ex understood his thinly veiled threat. He wasn't bluffing. He'd drive down to the Attorney General's office and offer to testify in every single one of Fletcher's cases if he ever showed his face around Toni's apartment again. To make sure there was no confusion about what Spencer meant by causing problems, he gave the man a very specific order. "Don't ever come back here again."

Spencer wasn't sure what Fletcher's response was going to be. If he had to bet, he was guessing that the man was going to do a little more haughty posturing before he slunk off with his tail between his legs. But he was also ready for Fletcher to threaten him back in response to what he said. What Spencer wasn't expecting was for Romeo to suddenly insert himself into the situation.

"That's right!," Romeo barked, Spencer looked down when he felt the boy's body jerk. But it was already too late. The giant whipped cream monstrosity frappuccino in Romeo's hand was already sailing through the air. It hit Fletcher square in the center of the chest. The lid popped off when the cup collided with him, exploding the contents directly up and into his face.

Spencer reached down, trying to grab the second drink before Romeo could whip that one at him as well. But Lucia was quicker than him. She wrenched the cup from Romeo's hand. But instead of retreating back into the apartment with the beverage like Spencer expected, she took aim. This time the cup itself slammed against Fletcher's actual head, drenching his expensive clothes with milk and surgery coffee mess.

Romeo was standing in the hallway, laughing his little ass off when Spencer nabbed him. He lifted the boy off his feet and darted into the apartment with him. Lucia was right behind them, slamming and locking the door before Fletcher could get the whipped cream out of his eyes. Spencer took a deep breath as he glanced back and forth between the two trouble makers. He couldn't help but notice Romeo and Lucia both looked quite pleased with themselves. All he could do was shake his head as he tried to hold in his own laughter. When he spoke, he signed the words so that Lucia could understand as well as Romeo.

"Your mom is going to kill me."