Escape

Chapter 11

Spencer had been in Provincetown for almost 4 months when one afternoon, his phone rang. It had been silent for the last few weeks because he just didn't want to get disturbed by anyone. He and Vanessa had once again spent as much time together as possible. She had recovered from her mourning about her grandma and had found her smile again, which Spencer was incredibly happy for.

Spencer had been sitting at the beach, watching the sea in hope to see some whales or seals when the phone had started ringing and vibrating in his pocket. Feeling a bit annoyed by the disruption, he pulled it out and answered it. "Spencer Reid," he said and was a bit surprised to hear Emily's voice greeting him. He hadn't heard from her in weeks.

"Spencer? Listen..." she started, and he immediately knew that something was wrong by the tone of her voice. But he remained quiet and waited for Emily to continue. "I've got bad news for you...Logan Bourne, he...he escaped from prison."

"What?" Spencer's voice was some octaves higher than usual and he stood up from the ground, starting to walk around in the sand. He couldn't keep sitting there. "When? And how?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Emily sighed. "No one can explain how this exactly happened. He had gotten some time outside of his cell, together with other prisoners and it seems as if the keepers didn't pay enough attention. Spencer, you know how clever he is..."

Spencer nodded at Emily's words before he realized she couldn't see his movements. "Yeah, I know," he then replied; his voice sounded raspy and he had to clear his throat. "No clue where he could be?"

"No, unfortunately not. The FBI and police are doing everything to catch him again but he's fast and smart. I could imagine he's trying to find you, Spencer." Emily's voice was quiet now but also calm. She tried to not sound worried but Spencer knew she was. He was worried himself. If Bourne was out again, he wouldn't hesitate to look for him. He had been the one who had brought him into prison. He had been the one Bourne had shot. And so, the rest of the team could catch him.

"Do you want to come back?" Emily's voice sounded and pulled Spencer back out of his thoughts.

"I...no. If he's really looking for me, then he expects me in D.C., I'm sure. I guess I'm safer here," he then replied after he had thought about that possibility for a moment, although he couldn't be hundred percent sure that Bourne wouldn't find him here.

"Okay. Spencer, I promise the team will do everything to catch him before he can do any more damage," Emily said.

"I know," Spencer quietly replied while he was walking at the beach, feeling the fresh water and the soft sand under his feet. He couldn't believe that this was happening. Everything had been so good again; he had started to put that shooting and the time he has had to fight for his life somewhere into the back of his mind. He had found a new love. And now everything seemed to crash and burn again just because some keepers hadn't been doing their damn job...

Spencer's heart had started to race in his chest and he automatically was looking around more carefully as if he knew there was some danger out there again. He sighed. Did this ever stop? Spencer was angry and he did have a hard time to hide it. Couldn't he just have something nice in life at least for once? He kicked into the sand and let out a frustrated groan.

"Spencer, stay calm," Emily said when she heard him.

"Don't tell me to stay calm when my life is starting to be turned upside down again!" he exclaimed.

"Spence, I know. I know this is hard for you." Emily tried to make him feel a bit better by letting him know that they were all aware of his feelings about this, but it didn't work. He couldn't calm down.

But when he suddenly saw Vanessa walking towards him, he took deep breaths. He didn't want her to know about this case. "Emily, I gotta go now," he hurried to say and hang up, not listening to her begging him not to hang up.

"Hey," Vanessa smiled as she had arrived at the beach.

"Hey," he said as he pulled her into an embrace. He sighed and buried his face in her hair, taking the scent of her vanilla shampoo in. For a moment, they were just standing there in that embrace. While Spencer was holding Vanessa, a thousand thoughts were running through his mind.

Logan Bourne had escaped from prison. He most likely would want revenge and Spencer was sure that he would be the first to be affected by that man. And suddenly, he feared for the life of his love. His arms wrapped tighter around Vanessa. "Are you alright?" She had felt his movements and was now looking up at him, frowning.

Spencer nodded. He didn't have the heart to tell her that their little bubble in which they had been living for the last weeks was about to burst. Instead, he just kissed her. But Vanessa could feel that something had happened. Something had changed during the day. But she decided not to ask any further. Spencer would talk about it when he felt it was the right time.

~

The next two days, Spencer was more quiet than usual. Sometimes, he was just sitting there thinking about what he could do about the whole situation. But there wasn't anything, he realized soon. He had no idea where Bourne was nor did the team know anything. He was like a ghost and Spencer was afraid he'd appear here. He needed to keep this psychopath away from Vanessa.

"Spencer? What's the matter with you?" Vanessa had stepped outside of the house and joined him on the porch, like she mostly did.

"Nothing," he murmured as he avoided looking at her. But she didn't give up. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Come on, I know that there's something on your mind. Something is bothering or worrying you. Tell me about it." Her soft voice made Spencer smile a bit.

He hesitated at first but then he sighed and started to tell Vanessa about Logan Bourne. She couldn't believe what he was telling her. Well, she could, but it sounded so...surreal. There was a killer, a psychopath somewhere out there and they didn't know if he would be here already. That was scary and Vanessa suddenly felt a shiver running down her spine. She stood up from her chair and sat on Spencer's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek.

"I'm sure he can't find you here", she whispered into his ear while she stroked his cheek. Spencer wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. He loved that she was optimistic. But she didn't know about people like Bourne. He didn't mention it though.

When Vanessa and Spencer were lying in bed some time later, she fell asleep fast in his arms. But Spencer couldn't sleep. He was just staring at the ceiling while his thoughts were running wild. Out of the blue, he had to think about Maeve. About the woman he had never met in person until the day she had been kidnapped and killed in front of his eyes. He swallowed when the memory rushed over him and he put his arm tighter around Vanessa's sleeping body. No, he wouldn't risk that something would happen to her too. He realized, it didn't count what he wanted in that moment, the only important thing was to think about what was best and safest for the woman he loved from the bottom of his heart.