Pieces Of Me

Chapter 28

With both hands carrying some bags, Leah walked through the streets. She had been in different shops to buy stuff – not only for the baby but also for herself too. She had been home all day long while Spencer was at work and she'd started to be bored. Shopping was the right thing to do here she had thought.

But now, with all those bags and that huge eight-months-baby bump that she was carrying, she suddenly felt like it had been a stupid idea to go shopping all alone. She should have taken a friend with her at least.

A sigh escaped Leah's mouth as she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and put the bags on the ground. She needed a short break. While she stood there looking around while all the other people rushed past her, Leah felt watched suddenly. Frowning she turned around to see who was observing her. But she couldn't see anyone. Leah's heart was beating faster against her chest. The way she felt right now was strange. She knew that there was someone watching her.

Quickly she grabbed her bags again and continued her way. She wanted to get away from that street and get home as soon as possible. Thoughts rushed through Leah's mind while she walked as fast as she could. Had someone been observing her for real or was it just her imagination? She wasn't sure about this. The only thing she knew was that she had been feeling insecure since some minutes.

Maybe it had been just imagination. There hasn't been someone watching her, she told herself as she finally put the bags on the floor in the corridor and went to the couch. She needed a break. Leah's thoughts were still spinning around the feeling she had gotten only half an hour before. But she told herself that it must have been only her imagination, nothing more. And she decided to not say a word to Spencer. He was already worried about her and she didn't want him to worry even more.

~

Within the next few days, Leah kept feeling observed whenever she was in town. She looked over her shoulder as much as she could while she felt her heart beating faster against her chest. This wasn't normal. Maybe there was actually someone out there watching her steps.

It was one of those sunny, but chilly days in October when Leah had gone for buying some grocery stuff. She had just left the supermarket, when her heart started to beat faster once again. Leah couldn't ignore it anymore. So, she kept standing there next to the glass door and looked around. There had to be someone somewhere!

And then, suddenly, she could spot a man over the road. He was standing half hidden in the shadows of a large building but Leah could see that he was staring in her direction. When their eyes met, a shudder ran down Leah's spine. Was he the person who had been watching here these days? She wasn't sure but when she thought harder, she remembered that she had seen him before!

He had been in some of the stores she had been in days ago and he had been in the same café she was sitting and drinking her tea. It must have been him who was following her!

As fast as her baby bump allowed, Leah grabbed the bags, turned around and hurried away. There was no way she would stay near that man. And she needed to tell Spencer finally. The fear that started to crawl up her chest almost took her breath away. Who was he? Why did he observe her? What did he want? Suddenly there were so many questions she desperately needed an answer to.

~

"Hey darling, what's the matter with you?" Spencer placed the book he had been reading, on the coffee table and glanced at Leah. She was pacing through the apartment since almost half an hour now and looked up when she heard Spencer talking to her.

"What? Oh uhm...nothing", she murmured, ran her fingers through her hair and then went to the kitchen to make some tea. Leah was nervous, she couldn't hide it anymore. She had to think about that stranger literally all the time but she hadn't told Spencer yet.

"Come on, it's not nothing." Spencer slowly got up from the couch and stepped closer to Leah. "Sit down with me." He gently grabbed Leah's arm and she allowed him to lead her to the couch. With a sigh, she let herself sink on the pillows. "And now you tell me what worries you."

For a moment Leah just stared into Spencer's brown eyes. How beautiful they were! She hoped and wished that their baby girl would have his eyes. Leah almost got lost in Spencer's eyes, before she shook her head and tried to concentrate again.

"Okay, listen", Leah started. And then she told Spencer everything. She told him about the feeling she has had some days ago and that it hadn't gone away and she told him about the stranger she had seen earlier today.

Spencer's eyes widened and he jumped from the couch so fast, Leah got frightened for a moment. "Spence, what...?", she stammered.

"Leah, that man...what if it's Walter Owens?", Spencer exclaimed.

"Oh my god..." Leah's voice wasn't more than a whisper while her brain slowly started to realize what Spencer had said. She hadn't even thought about the possibility that the man could have been Walter Owens!

"What do we do now?", she quietly asked. Spencer sat down again and bit his lips. "First, you have to describe that man to me, darling." He tried to stay calm, his body language told Leah so.

Leah wriggled on the couch and searched for a comfortable position, before she closed her eyes and tried to remember the looks of the man she had seen earlier today. "Uhm...he had...rather gray hair that must have been dark when he was younger. And I assume he was at the end of his fifties or beginning of his sixties", Leah finally said and opened her eyes again. Yes, she knew again how he looked like.

Spencer was silent for some minutes and stared into space while Leah nervously kept sitting next to him. "What...what do we do now?", she eventually asked. There was no way she could hide her fear anymore. Spencer grabbed Leah's hand and held them in his. "We drive to the bureau right now. There we have at least one picture of Walter Owens. We need to be sure that it was him that you saw", he explained calmly. Leah nodded and got up from the couch. She wanted this to finally be over. Maybe, if it had been that man, it would end soon.

There were only a few people in the office when Leah and Spencer arrived. No wonder, it was quite late already. Spencer ignored them all. Instead he hurried into Hotch's office. Leah followed him with her heart pounding against her chest. She watched him rummaging in some papers that were lying on the desk. Then he finally found what he had been looking for. It was a picture. Leah swallowed.

Spencer slowly came closer again and handed her the picture. Leah looked at it. It showed a man that looked familiar to her. Although it showed a man that was younger than the one Leah had seen, but without a doubt, it was the same person.

She nodded. There was a lump in her throat and she didn't feel able to speak. The alleged killer of her biological parents had been watching her since days. Leah's knees started to get weak and she needed to sit down. Walter Owens was here, in town, and he had found her. When he had been watching her, then she was sure he knew who she was!