Reckless
Chapter 22
After all the BAU's pondering and profiling, it was the musty box of paper receipts provided by Wendy Baldwin's parents that actually broke their case. Three customers stopped their frequent visits to her parent's feed store right around the time that Wendy disappeared. One was elderly and in a wheelchair, so there was no chance of him being involved. One had been in prison for the last three years, making it impossible for him to have been the one committing the more recent killings. And the last one was John Decker.
John Decker owned a local farm. He was known in the area for being a religious extremist, which fit the profile. He would have looked good for the murderers, except he seemed to have not only stopped shopping at the Baldwin's store but also dropped off the face of the earth around the time Wendy disappeared. A few more clicks of Garcia's keyboard revealed that John Decker had a son named Kevin Decker. Kevin was right around the same age as Wendy Decker. He had a history of strange and inappropriate behavior.
"He probably killed his father and then started killing these women," JJ declared.
"Or his father might have killed Wendy and then Kevin killed him," Rossi countered.
Toni leapt up from her chair and snatched the keys to the rental car off the table. "Who cares who killed who," she barked. Her body was already coursing with adrenaline. There was nothing that Toni loved more than the chase. Realizing she snatched the keys up prematurely, Toni tossed them back on the table top and reached for the small stack of tactical vests. As she strapped it on, she noticed that Alvez was the only other member of the team that was reaching for his gear with as much eagerness as she was. "Come on," Toni urged. "Let's go get him. That woman he's holding might still be alive."
What felt like a long few minutes later, Toni was ignoring the way Hotch's white knuckle grip on the car door as she pressed down harder on the gas pedal. Toni parked in a grassy area off to the left of the overgrown driveway. She kept her hand on her gun as she stepped out of the vehicle. It was obvious that someone was still living in the old farmhouse. There was fresh mud smeared on the pair of muck boots that were sitting right outside the front door and the grass around the front steps was worn down. However, the rest of the property was in disarray. Weeds had taken over the flower beds in the front yard. The railing on the far side of the wrap around porch was half detached and leaning sideways. There was trash littered across the front porch.
The obvious move was for two of them to approach the front door while the rest of them circled the house and spread out across the property. Toni was waiting on Hotch to determine which of them was doing what when she heard a high pitched shriek. She turned, pulling her gun from the holster when she realized the loud noise had come from one of her colleagues.
Spencer was shuffling backwards, trying to put some distance between himself and the small bantam rooster that just jumped him from behind. He kicked out his foot, trying to shoo the bird away. But this only served to further enrage the creature. It fluffed its feathers up, making itself appear larger before it jumped at him again. JJ was standing slightly behind Spencer, clearly unsure of what to do. She looked somewhere between amused and nervous that she might be the animal's next victim as the bird flew and Spencer for the second time.
"For fuckssakes," Toni muttered as she holstered her weapon. She stomped across the trampled grass towards Spencer, who was now pressed against the side of the car looking like he was thinking about climbing onto the hood to escape. When she reached him, Toni swung her leg forward. Her boot collided with the attacking rooster, sending the bird flying across the unmowed lawn. He landed with a thump and a wild flurry of feathers. Turning, the small rooster let out the loudest and fiercest crow he could manage before he dashed off in search of easier prey. "Are you okay?," she asked. "He didn't spur you did he?"
Spencer shook his head as he brushed off the front of his vest. "That bird came out of nowhere," he explained. Spencer smiled down at Toni, clearly grateful for her help. But before he could say anything else, they heard actual screaming coming from inside a nearby cornfield.
Half the tall stalks of corn were dead. But they were still tall enough to obstruct Toni's line of sight as she rushed towards the sound of a scuffle. She knew Spencer was behind her. Between the stalks, she caught glimpses of Alvez and Hotch on either side of her. Toni stopped short when the rows of corn opened up into a small clearing. A dead body was hanging from a cross where a scarecrow ought to be. From how decomposed it was, it wasn't hard to guess that she was looking at what remained of John Decker.
"Hands up!," Toni warned, moving forward when she spotted the man's son nearby. There was blood running down his back, staining his already tattered shirt. But whatever happened to him wasn't enough to stop Kevin Decker from attacking the woman he was holding captive. He was pushing her head down into a barrel of rainwater, attempting to drown her. At the sound of Toni's voice, Decker released his victim and stepped back. Toni moved quickly, placing herself between him and the larger section of the cornfield. If he took off into several acres of corn, they'd have a god damn hell of a time finding him.
"Don't move," Hotch warned. Toni guessed he had the same idea as her. Because he'd positioned himself a few yards to her left, effectively cutting off their suspect's escape route.
Kevin Decker didn't run into the corn. But he did run. He headed back towards the farmhouse. Toni was ready to take off after him. But the woman whose head he was holding underwater when they arrived didn't look so good. It wasn't required for special agents to have basic paramedic training. Toni mostly got hers to pad her resume. She was surprised how many times that medical knowledge had come in handy since then.
The ground was damp under Toni's knees as she rolled the woman onto her stomach. With careful pressure, Toni leaned onto her back until the water she'd sucked into her lungs came back up. Rolling her back over, she leaned back so that JJ could apply a few chest compressions. Toni said a silent prayer that she wouldn't receive a mouthful of vomit in exchange for her services. And then she plugged the woman's nose and blew a lungful of air into her mouth. Two more presses of JJ hands and the woman began to cough and sputter.
"I've got her," JJ urged. She pointed in the direction the rest of the team had gone. "Go make sure they're alright."
Toni didn't need to be told twice. She jumped to her feet, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and she took off running. She followed the sound of raised voices. Hotch and Rossi were outside a large grain silo, trying to force the door open. From their obvious panic, Toni immediately realized that some of their people were trapped inside. And given that she didn't see them anywhere, Toni knew that either Spencer, Luke, or both of them were the ones being buried alive in corn and grain.
"MOVE!," she screamed. Dropping her gun on the ground, Toni ran full speed at the door. It was open, but not wide enough for either man to slip through. She jumped, hitting the door with both her feet with as much force as she could. Toni bounced off the door, landing shoulder first on the hard packed dirt. The pain bloomed out, pulsing with intensity. But there was too much adrenaline running through her for her mind to even register it.
Toni climbed to her feet as Rossi and Hotch dragged Luke the rest of the way through the narrow door opening. Luke popped out, stumbling to the ground as he coughed and sputtered. Toni surged forward, gripping Spencer's hand as Hotch and Rossi drug him out of the quickly rising mountain of corn. All of them hit the ground. Spencer was missing a sneaker. And he was coughing out dried bits of corn. But he was alive. Toni dropped to her knees next to him.
Between the pain, her intense surge of adrenaline, and the fear that seized her entire being when she realized Spencer was trapped inside the silo, Toni was in total panic mode. Other than his missing shoe and being covered from head to toe in grain dust, it was obvious that Spencer was fine. But Toni started fussing over him like he was the one that stopped breathing instead of the woman in the cornfield.
"Hey Toni, I'm okay too… just in case you were wondering," Luke teased as he pushed himself up onto his knees. His smile faded when he glanced over at her. "Toni… holy shit, your shoulder." He pointed towards the side of her body that she landed on, his one good eye widening with concern.
Toni followed his gaze, turning her head and glancing down at her shoulder. When she hit the ground, she landed on it. But she didn't realize the force of the impact until now. Her shoulder was dislocated and poking out from under her shirt at an unnatural angle. "Oh shit," Toni cursed. She motioned to Luke, encouraging him to move closer to her. "Pop that back in for me, will you," she suggested. Toni attempted to lift her injured arm. It was only a small movement. But suddenly, all the pain of her injury hit her at once. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped to the ground. The world spun around her. And the last thing Toni heard before she blacked out was Hotch's voice as he called for an ambulance.