Front Lines| Spencer Reid + Anne Grey

eleven

"I'm sorry, what?" Gideon's voice questions, coming from Anne's phone, which she held in her right hand, her left on the steering wheel.

She looks to Reid, who is sitting in the passenger seat. The two share an amused smirk, as they'd both known Jason would react similarly to how they had when the theory first came about.

Grey looks back at the road, saying, "I could list the proof, but I already know that Spencer's right. This person isn't involved in the crimes, but they helped move this particular body. Maybe even the others."

Still seeming quite doubtful, Gideon returns, "And how do you explain the involvement? An ignorant bystander?" He genuinely thought that the idea was something fueled by desperation for evidence, since the profile didn't include any expectation of a partner.

"I guess, if you want to word it that way." Reid leans toward the phone a bit, making sure his voice was heard through the device. "We've been talking it out, and all we can think of is a child, or someone that he tricked into helping, conceivably by putting the body in the bag and claiming it was something other than a dead person." He personally believed that a child was more likely to have helped the unsub, and Anne did as well. It would take a lot of convincing to get a random person to move a body shaped bag into a forest preserve.

"But, why bother?" Jason asks, "He could have moved the body himself."

Nodding, Spencer rebuts, "You're right, but he couldn't have moved it as far as he did without help. That could have been the reason, or it could be to teach his child something, if we're going down that route."

Though he had used the word 'if', Reid knew that they certainly were going down that route. Grey agreed with him, and that was all it took for everyone else to be convinced. As challenging as Gideon was being, he would agree soon enough, simply because they were right. The unsub had assistance.

"Which would change the severity of this situation," Anne adds on. "We're looking to save an abductee, and possibly a child."

Jason sighs, sounding either impressed, defeated, or both. "Are you guys on your way back yet?"

"Yeah, driving back now. What's everyone doing?" Grey inquires.

"Morgan's been compiling a list of potential victims with Garcia, based on people who fit the M.O. that haven't been actively using their bank accounts within the abduction timeframe. It's not very narrow, as you would guess, but it's something. Jareau's been covering the media, since reporters are showing up at the station and trying to demand information. She's got to have said 'no comment' at least 50 times over the past hour."

Anne partially laughs at the last part of his statement. "That's good. If you happen to get a minute with either of them, let them know that we're on our way, and explain the new theory."

"Yeah, I'll let 'em know," he assures.

"Thanks. We'll see you when we get back, a'right?" Grey asks, already hovering her thumb over the 'end call' button.

"Uh huh, see you then."

She hangs up, flipping her phone shut, and handing it to Spencer, asking him to put it in her purse.

He complies, setting it in the bag that was laying at his feet. Leaning back in his seat, he jokes, "He sounded pretty convinced, yeah?"

Anne laughs, shaking her head and replying, "Yeah, totally. I should've asked what he was up to, since I'm pretty sure it was sitting in a dark room and philosophizing." She turns back, checking a blind spot before moving into a different lane, although she's almost certain that she wouldn't have seen a car behind her if there was one.