Recap: Slowly, he made his way upstairs. When he opened up the closet to get a clean shirt, he saw that most of Christina’s clothes were gone. He stumbled backward, and sat heavily on the bed. As he looked around the room, he could see where she’d taken most of her things from. There were still a few things, but most of it was gone. Suddenly, Reid felt very, very alone.

She was gone.

--

How could she have left without telling him? This was. . . Not like Chris. He slowly got to his feet, pulling off his shirt. With a sigh, he pulled a gray T-shirt over his head and flopped back down on his bed, and just stared at the ceiling for a long while, his mind gloriously blank. This was something that only Chris seemed to be able to do. Make him stop thinking completely. A simple look, a touch, and his brain seemed to revert to the stone age.

With a heavy sigh, and a wince, he sat up and walked over to his dresser, opening one of the drawers. He stared down inside it forlornly, and slowly reached inside and lifted out a small box with fine silver writing on it. The name of the jewelry store where he’d bought it. He lifted the lid off of it, revealing a blue velvet box. He lifted that out, and opened it, gazing at the ring that lay inside. After a long time, he put it back in the box, and closed the lid. The phone rang, but he ignored it, sliding the drawer closed. He heard the answering machine pick up, and he lay down, falling asleep quickly.

The baby was crying, hysterically in the circle of light. He could see someone on the other side, but he couldn’t make out their face. Suddenly, there was another circle of light, with someone lying inside of it. His eyes widened as he saw her face.

Christina stared back at him, her eyes wide. She mouthed the word ‘help.’ Then her mouth opened in a silent scream of pain.

Reid sat bolt upright in his bed, breathing hard. The phone was ringing again. He rolled over and looked at the clock. He’d been asleep for twenty minutes. He groped for the phone, knocking it off the night stand. Muttering curses under his breath, he grabbed the receiver and put it to his ear.

“Sorry, hello?”

“Hey.”

“Chris? What’s-”

“Sorry Spencer, my Aunt called the day before yesterday. Tina crashed her car.”

“What?”

“I was supposed to be down there yesterday, but I wanted to see you again before I left.”

“So it’s not-” He took a breath. “It’s not about what I said?”

“No. It’s really not.”

“Okay. Good.”

“But you really thought I’d run away like that?”

“Chris, I didn’t know what to think. I mean you told Hotch you needed time off, and you didn’t say anything to me.”

“Well, there were always people in your room.”

“Chris, they’re not going to think any less of you because Tina crashed her car.”

“She was drunk Spence.” He didn’t have a reply. “Exactly.” She sighed. “Look, I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Is she o-okay?” For a moment he thought she’d hung up.

“I don’t know.” Her voice broke, and he knew she was trying to keep her emotions in check. “I really don’t know Spencer. She’s still in surgery.”

“How bad was it?”

“She totaled the car. Completely totaled it.” She swore under her breath. “That’s the last time I buy her a sports car. Next time she’s getting a Volvo.” He rolled his eyes. Typical Chris. She was trying to turn everything into a joke. “Look, I’m pulling into the hospital.” She paused. “God, I’ve seen too much of these damn places lately. Look, I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you later, all right?”

“Okay.” She hung up, and left Spencer staring at the phone.

--

The next day he was trying to ignore Morgan when his cell phone rang. He frowned at the unrecognized number, and answered it.

“Reid.”

“Spencer!” It was Tina, and she didn’t sound happy.

“Tina, hey. How’re you doing?”

“Where’s Christina?”

“What?”

“She was supposed to be here yesterday! And she wasn’t, and then Aunt Katie called her cell like a bigillion times, and-”

“Woah, wait Tina, slow down. What do you mean Chris isn’t there? I talked to her yesterday, and she was just pulling into the parking lot!”

“What?”

“So she’s not there?”

“Reid?” He looked up to see a grim-looking Hotch and Gideon standing in front of his desk. He held up a finger, indicating he needed a moment. Hotch raised his eyebrows in a move they knew meant ‘now.’

“No, she’s not! And Aunt Katie’s totally freaking out!”

“Tina, take a deep breath. I can’t understand you when you talk that fast.”

He heard her inhale deeply, then exhale loudly into the phone. “Okay. Chris was supposed to be here yesterday afternoon, but she never got here! And now we’re getting really worried about her!”

“So she’s not there?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. God you’re thick.”

“Tina, I talked to her yesterday, and she was fine! She was pulling into the parking lot!”

“Reid.” Hotch said again, more insistently. “We need to talk to you.” He nodded.

“Tina, I’ll see what I can do, okay? Just calm down.”

“Calm down!”

“Please. Try, okay? I’ve got to go.”

“But Spencer!”

“Tina. . .”

“Fine!” She hung up on him.

“What was that all about?” Gideon asked. Reid pulled a hand through his hair.

“Chris’s sister totaled her car, and she’s in the hospital. Chris called me as she was arriving, but Tina said she never got there.” Hotch and Gideon glanced at each other, and Hotch sighed, shaking his head.

“Guys, conference room. Now.”

--

Five minutes later the entire team was sitting in the conference room, just as clueless about what was going on as they had been ten minutes before.

"Hotch?" JJ asked, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest. "What’s going on?" This brought the silence in the room to a new level of uncomfortableness. JJ was always the first to know anything about a new case. This was new. This meant bad. Hotch nodded to Gideon, who picked up the remote and pressed the play button. A digitally modified voice filled the room, emanating eerily from the speakers.

"Who I am is not important to you." It said.Reid jotted notes down on the pad on the table in front of him. "What is important is what I am about to tell you." He said. "Don’t bother to look for her. You won’t find her. I’m too smart for you." He laughed."I was too smart for all of them!" His laugh turned maniacal, and a collective shiver raced down everyone’s spines. "Except her." His voice was softer on the word her. "She figured it out. She saw my pattern." Reid frowned. What pattern? And who was he talking about? He glanced up at Hotch and Gideon, hoping for some clue, but both of them were staring at the player. Morgan was twirling the pencil in the grip, Elle was watching her coffee as she listened, and JJ looked confused as she stared blankly out the window.

"And now she’s mine. Forever. You can’t have her Dr. Reid!" The pencil dropped from Morgan’s grip. Elle nearly knocked her coffee off the table as her arm jerked, and JJ gasped quietly, eyes snapping to the player. "I’ve seen the ring you have!" Reid couldn’t move. This wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t. "You think she’d ever accept it? From you? Honestly!" He felt nauseous. The room seemed to be spinning slightly. "She doesn’t love you! She loves me! Me! And you can not take her away from me! Ever!" The voice stopped, and Gideon hit the stop button. The white noise from the recording faded, and the room fell into a dead silence.

"Reid? Do you know what he’s talking about?" His movements almost mechanical, Reid shifted in his chair, reaching into his coat pocket. He withdrew a small, velvet blue box and tossed it to the middle of the table. Everyone stared at it. Gideon was the first to move, sitting up and picking up the box. Inside lay a ring. It was white gold with intricately carved designs on it. On the top was a small diamond surrounded by four small sapphires. After a long moment, he closed it, and set it down on the edge of the table in front of himself.

"Well, now we know the stressor." He said. Reid swallowed, hard.

"But how’d he know?" He asked. He glanced at Elle, who held up her hands defensively.

"Hey! I kept my word! I didn’t say anything!"

"I didn’t say you did." Reid said edgily.

"Wait, what?" Morgan looked from Elle to Reid and back again. Elle sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Reid wanted an opinion on the ring. So I helped him pick it out."

"You knew about this?"

"About the ring, yes!" She said. "I didn’t tell anyone! I knew he wanted it to be a surprise!"

"Well, if this guy was a stalker, he may not-" Hotch stopped as he met Reid’s wide, frightened eyes. He stopped, realizing that he didn’t need to voice this. They all already knew.

"Okay. We’ve got an hour’s plane ride this afternoon, so everyone get packed. Everything’s being put aside until we find out what’s going on, and fix it."

--

Thank so everyone who left me reviews fo my last story. This one should be written a little better, as I've thought aout it more. I know what I want to do, and therefore my writing will be better. I thank all of you for your patience and for sticking around for this next installment in my series.