A Spencer Reid Story: Love and Loss

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“Wait, what? Reid how did you come up with that?” Morgan crossed his arms, staring from the screen to back to Reid. Spencer shook his head.

“I recognize the set up. It’s an almost exact replica, minus the other two people in the opening scene. Garcia, bring up screen shots of Saw the first movie to show them what I mean.” Spencer motioned for Garcia to use her laptop, since most of the screens were occupied by JJ’s cameras. Garcia followed instruction as the team looked upon the screen shots of the movie. It was horrifying to see the similarities.

Cough cough

“Did you guys hear that?” Hotch asked his team, straining to hear what he had thought was coughing.

They looked toward the monitor and could see JJ coughing.

“W-were we just given sound? By the unsub?” Garcia typed into her keyboard, and then turned up the volume almost as high as she could. Yes. Now they could hear JJ.

Hello, can anyone hear me! Help! Please! HELLO!

Garcia put a hand to her mouth. Rossi shook his head.

“We need to get out on the field, we need more leads, we can’t just all stand here and watch. Garcia, I want you to keep a close eye on the network and continue to try and see if our unsub makes any digital slip ups that you would be able to track him by. Also scour the city for recent video purchases of this movie Saw and where. Send the coordinates to us and we’ll check them out. Morgan and Emily I want to send to the coordinates. Reid I want you to stay with Garcia should anything new develop. We will need your quick mind.” Hotchner listed off all of the duties for his crew. Time was running out and whatever this unsub was up to, he had to put a stop to it, and they weren’t going to do that just watching like it was a television show.

Spencer felt angry. He wanted to be on the field to help find JJ. He didn’t want to be held up in the office watching as her demise unfolded. Maybe Hotch knew that though. Maybe he knew that if truth be told it was a little close to home for him. He sighed in slight defeat as he grabbed a chair to sit next to Garcia, his chocolate eyes looking upon JJ. For a brief second his thoughts flitted back to Cat. She must have been really confused by his random phone call and question after he hadn’t spoken to her for about a week. She must honestly think that he wasn’t interested in her anymore, but it was just that work and the situation at hand was way more important than any social life. Hopefully she understood that. He looked at Garcia who seemed to be studying him with scrutinizing eyes.

“Alright Garcia let’s bring up the plot of Saw and see if we can stop the similar events from happening to JJ. We’ll have to brief the others on what they might expect to find.” He ran his fingers through his hair, letting out an exasperated sigh.

JJ stumbled around. Feeling like a dog that’s caged in, she was starting to feel stir crazy. I’ve got to get out of here, I can’t stay like this forever. Something’s gotta give. She paced back and forth, approaching the door several times before deciding to bang on it over and over. She looked around her room.

“Okay…. Two toilets. Pipes. A dirty bathtub. A door. A blackened out window. No light switch. Chains on the pipes.” JJ began to list everything she could see. She wanted to remember details in case she ever did make it out of here. She would need to remember her surroundings as best as she could. Plus it helped her to maybe spot things that she didn’t realize were there before, such as the chains, and no light switch.

“Good JJ, Good.” Spencer muttered under his breath as him and Garcia listened to her list her surroundings. She didn’t know that they could hear her, but it was so helpful.

She walked around, her fist knocking on the walls. Solid. Solid. Hollow. She stood back, would she be able to break through it if need be? She searched the room frantically now, looking for anything hard enough that she could use against the wall. She spotted a piece of pipe that sat next to the toilet. She picked it up and swung as hard as she could. The wall crumbled with ease like a warm pastry. After the dust of the drywall cleared she screamed. There in the wall lay a head, its eyes as big as moons. In its mouth it protruded a black recorder set. It was male, but no one she recognized.

“Garcia, zoom in, what did she find?” Spencer could feel his heart beat quicken.

JJ grabbed the recorder out of his mouth, shuddering when a long line of spit followed. She wiped her hand against her clothes and clicked Play.

“Hello Jennifer.I’d like to play a game.” The voice was low, male, dominant.

“Turn it up Garcia, turn it all the way up. Type as he speaks.” Spencer urged.

“Jennifer, you have spent your entire life, living in the secrets of others, relishing in your own dark fortunes. You are a public figure, but what if your public knew what you did behind closed doors? What would the public do if they knew what your whole team did behind closed doors? I’m giving you a chance. It is a chance to redeem yourself and your team. You see the door in front of you? On a set timer the door will unlock and you will be able to travel through the levels of your own demise. I call these the seven levels of sin. They represent a sin each and every one of your co-workers have committed. Let this be an example of how people’s actions affect other’s lives. If you make it to the 7th level, you are free to go, and able to live your life as you see fit. But always be grateful for the second chance I gave you. Let the games begin.”

And with that utter silence filled the room. JJ’s heart pulsed through her chest. Her adrenaline spiked as she stared at the recorder in disbelief. What? 7 levels of sin? This…this is crazy!

Spencer shook his head. “Garcia we need to send out to the team what just happened and tell them they are running out of time. If this is really based on Saw then the seven levels will be incredibly difficult, unable to pass.”

“Right away Spencer.” Garcia was shaking as she sent out her orders to the others.