Remember Me

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

                Gayle sat at Reid’s desk, clutching onto the book he gave her to read, and stared somewhat emptily at the computer screen. The team had put her back in the bullpen, with Prentiss sitting across from her to make sure she stayed safe. For what seemed an eternity, neither of them said anything, and no one else on the team came out of Hotch’s office. Finally, Prentiss stood, and placed a small cup of water on the desk in front of Gayle.

“You okay?” she asked, pushing her hair behind her ear. Gayle blinked, and looked up, before shaking her head.

“No…Debbie would have lived if I could remember who was doing this…”

“Hey, now…you don’t have to beat yourself up. The doctor said you were recovering rather well. And what’s been happening, you know, it’s incredibly stressful. Any normal person would block it out of their mind as long as they could…”

“But I don’t want to block it anymore. I want to remember, I want to help, and I can’t…”

“Yo, Prentiss!” The women turned their heads to see Hotch’s office door open, and Morgan leaning out. “We need you in here…bring Gayle,” he said, stepping back. Carefully setting the book onto Reid’s desk, she stood, and followed Prentiss to the office, hands in her pockets.

                Hotch was sitting at his desk, with Rossi, Morgan, JJ, and Reid standing along the wall. Prentiss closed the door behind the two of them, and motioned the chair to Gayle before standing behind her.

“Alright…Gayle, you saw the note, you know what it said. I know you’ll probably want to go home, but until we figure this out, we really can’t let you do that,” Hotch began, shaking his head.

“I know…if they find me, you guys are back at square one,” she said softly, rubbing her neck and looking down at her lap.

“…Right. So we’re going to take turns keeping an eye on you, keeping you safe. It won’t be the same person two nights in a row, meaning you won’t be at the same place two nights in a row. I’ll be making the decision on where you go, and I won’t make it until it’s time to go for the night, so no one else can possibly know where you’ll be,” Hotch explained. “It will start tonight, and I’ll inform you before anyone leaves who you’ll be leaving with, alright?” Gayle nodded, and glanced around the room.

“That’s fine. I, uh…I completely trust you guys, I know I’m in good hands,” she admitted, nodding again.

“Good. For now, you’re going to stay here, with JJ. The rest of us are going to go talk to the police, and do what we have to do. Don’t leave the building, and don’t go anywhere alone.”

“I know. Thanks,” she said, as JJ opened the door for her, and headed with her down to the bullpen. Hotch looked up at the rest of the team.

“Morgan and Prentiss, go talk to Manassas PD, get everything they’ve got on these disappearances, check their past murders to see if anything matches the ones we have now. Rossi and Reid are going to go with me to La Plata and talk to their Police. We need to try and figure this out before we find Melody’s body in a ditch,” he said, standing and heading out of his office.

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                Melody looked around the room through blurry eyes, sniffling and choking back tears in the dark. The tape over her mouth was stiff, and her skin itched beneath it, but her hands, tied over her head, couldn’t reach to relieve the irritation. She grimaced, and wriggled against the wall, twitching her nose and moving her mouth as much as she could to try and help, but all it did was make it worse.