The Chase (Criminal Minds)

A Guilty Conscience

Emily dragged her feet as she continuously searched the premises for the hundredth time now.

Still nothing.

Moisture began to run down her forehead and into her eyes as it began to rain.

It was almost midnight, pitch black, raining heavily, and there was an assailant on the loose. Her night couldn't get any better.

...

"Freeze!"

Emily spun around. She couldn't see anyone, but the voice sounded like it had come from the West near Dallas' house.

Holding her flashlight out in front of her, she sprinted back to where she started. As she got closer, she could see red and blue police lights flashing in the distance. When she finally arrived at the house there was a frenzied huddle of sheriffs on the ground.

"What the hell is going on?" Emily yelled over all the commotion.

An officer that was reporting information back to the police station via radio got out of his car and walked over.

"FBI?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm Emily Prentiss with the BAU," She stated, pulling out her credential and flipped it open.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Chief Jacobs with the Kansas Police Department," He greeted as they firmly shook hands.

"What's happening?" Emily gestured towards the crazed scene behind her.

"We found Hunter Prescott trying to sneak back into Jeffrey Dallas' house. He tried to make a run for it, but we managed to catch him. He resisted arrest, so my fellow sheriffs here had to tackle him. We're on our way to take him down to the station right now-"

"Wait," She interrupted. She turned around, ditching Jacobs, and ran over to where the three sheriffs guarded Prescott. They were in the middle of talking.

"...Put these handcuffs on you?" She heard one of them asking Hunter.

He stood in silence for a minute. If he told them about Reid then it would lead to a lot of follow-up questions which he was in no mood to answer. But he already got himself caught. There was no point in lying now.

"An FBI agent tried to cuff me while I was unconscious back in the forest, but I outran him." He answered honestly.

Prentiss took a defiant step towards him.

"Where is he?"

Prescott stared her straight in the eyes for a moment and then looked past her.

"Well if I had to guess, I'd say he should be somewhere over there," He answered as he pointed towards the edge of the forest.

Emily glared viciously.

"What do you mean he should be over there?"

"Look," He started, raising his palms up.

"Your agent cornered me and I panicked. I did what I had to do."

Prentiss' cheeks reddened as a mixture of anger and fear rose up from inside of her. She began to walk away, but turned around and said a quick, "I hope you go to hell" before darting off.

...

"Reid?"

"Reid?!"

"REID!"

She yelled desperately into the forest, but received no signs of hope.

Her high heels dug quietly into the soft ground beneath her as she walked. Even though she had a waterproof FBI jacket on, the weather still left her shivering. But she soon realized that it wasn't the cold precipitation that caused her body to shake. It was the guilt eating away at her conscience.