A Long Way From The Playground

CHAPTER 36

Aaron what are you doing?" I ask hesitantly as he dials a number on his phone while driving. He puts it on speaker and hands it over for me to hold.

"Agent Hotchner" Foyet answers cheerfully, causing my blood to boil. I shot off a text on my phone to the team to let them know that he had called Foyet and to try and trace it to an address.

"If you touch her.."

"Be gentle, like I was with you ? What the hell took you so long? I was beginning to think this phone was dead or something. Why so quiet? You usually lash out when you're frustrated." Foyet taunts, causing Aaron's hands to grip the steering wheel tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. I looked down at the phone in my lap to see that they were working on getting an exact location but it would be a while.

"I'm not frustrated, you're more predictable than you think." Aaron replies calmly.

"Am I?"

"You didn't know where Haley was so you made her come to you.." He explains, focusing on the road ahead as he pushes the SUV to its limits, breaking several traffic laws in the process.

"You make me sound lazy."

"No, just another way for you to show control." Aaron profiles. I clench and unclench my hand several times, trying to rein in my temper that's bubbling under the surface.

"Oh, that's terrible.." Foyet teases, getting under Aaron's skin. I look down as my phone buzzes again and I read the message that Emily had sent me.

' Listening in on call, hoping to get info from G.F. Keep him talking. '

"Your mother tried to protect you from your father, but she wasn't strong enough, and you hated her for that, didn't you? You decided that all women were weak." Aaron taunts, recalling every piece of information we had gathered from Foyet's old profile.

"Those are your words, not mine, Agent. How's that little girlfriend of yours going? Ryleigh I believe her name was? Little spunky thing, does she know how lucky she is that I only just learned of her a couple days ago? If only I had been able to get to her.." Foyet chirps, tormenting us slowly. I clasp my hand over my mouth to stifle my gasp, feeling slightly nauseous at the thought of being targeted by The Reaper.

"Leave her out of this, she has nothing to do with this. It's between me and you. You were 9 when you killed them right?" Aaron barks angrily, glancing over at me quickly to check on me.

"It was a car accident, you know that Aaron.." 

"That you couldn't take credit for. That had to be hard for you, knowing that you set up an elaborate plan for their demise only for it to be documented as a head on collision with another driver. But poor George got another chance, the little orphan was saved by the wealthy, sterile east side couple, the Foyet's. And you got to start all over again. And the story should have ended there.." Aaron rambles tensely, pushing his foot on the gas a little harder.

"I don't believe in fairytales, do you?" Foyet huffs. I look over at Aaron who has beads of sweat running down his face because of the intense focus he has on the road and on the conversation.

"That's the thing George, this isn't a fairytale. You don't have to write this story. You don't have to do any of this. I know you're exhausted, always looking over your shoulder and waiting for the other shoe to drop because yes, it always does. Haven't you gotten what you wanted? You've already set yourself apart from anybody we've ever dealt with, you're not just a famous serial killer, you're The Reaper. We're gonna study you and your methods and your kills for years to come. There won't be a person alive who doesn't know your name..." Aaron explains, anger and rage lacing through his tone as he speeds along the highway. It's quiet for a while and for a brief moment I thought he had hung up on us until he spoke softly, taunting us with every word.