Finishing The Deed (Book #2 of Trails of a Psychopath)

The Fear

Chapter Thirteen

Fear is an interesting thing.."

~Rachel's POV~

What was happening?
Did something go wrong?
Are we in danger again?

All theses questions swam in my head but I couldn't find an answer. I could tell Reid wasn't hiself as he grabbed his briefcase and got into his car. Charlotte climbed into my lap and rubbed her eyes tiredly. I kissed her forehead and chuckled as she made a face and wiped my kiss away with her hand.

"Yuck! Now I have cooties!" She said, glaring at me. I smiled innocently at her and shook my head.

"Sweetie, only boys get cooties. Girls give it to them."

She nodded and started giggling, looking over at Reid. She looked over at me for permission and I bit my lip and nodded for her to go on. She giggled louder as she turned to Reid in the driver's seat. He glanced over at her and smiled warmly, not knowing what was going on.
He turned his head to look at her, when she took the opportunity to lean up and peck him on the cheek. It should have made me burst out laughing, or even chuckle, but all I did was give a small smile. My stomach churned painfully and a headache started to form. Reid was red but he chuckled and turned back towards the road. I started sweating and wiped the thin film of it away from my forehead.
All this stress, all this pain, all these problems, I just have too much on my mind to worry about myself. I took a long deep breath and closed my eyes. I noticed my hands were shaky but just forced them still against my legs. I opened my eyes and hugged Charlotte closer to me as we made our way to the BAU building. Once we made it we all climbed out and headed inside. For some reason, the back of my neck pricked and a cold sweat broke out.
My heartbeat seemed to pick up and I glanced causally behind me, seeing nothing.

Stop being so paranoid Rachel, your going to be just fine! I scowled myself and we walked upstairs and through the doors.

Hotch and Morgan were looking at a picture, a picture of the man who forced me to kiss him in the woods. I shivered at the memory and noticed Reid looking over at me. I gave him my best smile as the headache progessed. Charlotte squealed and ran to Morgan, who kneeled down and swept her up in his arms. It was sweet watching the two, it was like a big brother she never had. She sneaked a kiss on his cheek and started bursting out with giggles.

"Now you have cuties, Mr. Morgan! You have cuties!!" She yelled, a huge smile on her face that would make anyone's heart melt.

Morgan chuckled and made a face at her, exclaiming how he doesn't need any cuties. As the two talked, I made my way over to Hotch and was interested in the picture he had. He looked over at me and held the picture out to me. I shakingly took it and looked at it. He was in a black hoodie, almost blending in with the shadows behind him. His body was crouched, his feet and hands steady as he sneaked behind a building. It was a screenshot from a security camera.
His face held no emotion, just a blank expression that scared the living hell out of me. I handed it back to Hotch with a worried expression on my face.

"What did Reid mean when he said we had a problem? Tell me what problems we have now...I deserve to know." I said sternly to him, crossing my arms in front of me.

Hotch sighed but didn't look at me as he set the picture down. The nervousness I started feeling before we got here continued to get stronger until I felt sick to my stomach.

Honestly, I just wanted this to be done, I wanted a semi-normal life..was that too much to ask?

"Rachel...they want you back. They want you back badly and they said they have no problem in doing whatever they can. We have a week to give you to them, or else they will use force to get you and Charlotte. They do not like waiting and they said they have had enough of our games. Rachel, this raises the stakes higher, we can not let you go back to them." He said in a monoton voice, his eyebrows together and a serious look on his face. I was beyond terrefied already, but this pushed me over the edge.
I kept calm though, nodding slightly to him and keeping my lips in a tight line. Hotch looked at me, trying to find any reactions at all, but finding nothing. He nodded to me and turned to leave, leaving me with my thoughts. Penelope bustled out of her room and smiled brightly at me, her outfit today was..interesting. Her hair was up in two pigtails, being held by pink, puffy, scrunchies. Her eyeshadow was bright pink, to match with her lips of course.
She had on a sparkly designed T-shirt with skinny jeans that had cheetah print on one thigh. Her bright pink heels clicked along the floor as she walked over to me. I felt like I had to wear sunglasses at this point. She gave me a quick hug before looking directly at Reid. He froze in his spot and had a confused look on his face. She pointed a finger at me and shook her head.

"You mister, have got to get changed. I brought some new clothes, knowing that you'd need them. Come on Reidster, you have to look presentable in front of a pretty lady! Don't you know anything!?"

Everyone around her chuckled and I stopped my laughing when she motioned towards me. I felt my face heat up and Reid's did too as she handed him a new pair of pants and button up shirt. He stuttered a thank you before heading towards the bathroom. Penelope giggled and walked over to J.J to talk to. Charlotte and Morgan were talking about anything her little mind could think of. I felt a sharp jab of pain in my stomach and winced.
I quickly walked over to a table where there was food set out, and forced a couple of muffins down my throat. I stood there and waited a few seconds, but the pain jabbed me again. I groaned softly and grabbed the edge of the coffee table. It felt like a needle was being inserted over and over again in my stomach. I straightened up and made my way into Reid's office.
I could hear cars outside, the honking of angry drivers. I moved the blinds out of the way and looked outside. I wanted to be out there, be somebody people knew. I sighed and tensed as the pain erupted again.

"What's g-going on..." I whispered, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I breathed heavily and set my head down. We needed to find the guy and the girl, we needed to take them out. When I was ready to go back, I started to hear laughing. For a minute I thought it was Morgan, but it was much deeper than his normal warm laugh. I couldn't' figure out who was laughing.
The thought finally hit me when I realized it was from outside. I lifted my head up and looked at the crowd of people walking by. Only then did I realize one of them just standing there, staring up at the building. My limbs went weak and my eyes went wide as I watched the hooded figure pull down its hood.
His eyes, his face, his evil smirk, it was him...it was the man who kidnapped me. I tried to scream, but nothing came out, no air was pushing through my lungs. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours until he finally moved.
The people who moved quickly along didn't take any mind to the strange man just standing there. His hand moved to his neck and he let his thumb move across it in a slicking motion. I closed my eyes for a second, but when I opened them, he was gone, dissapeared into the group of people.
I sank to my knees as my stomach erupted with churning and painful stinging. Sweat ran down the sides of my face and my chest heaved up and down. I continued to look at the window, a scream finally building into my throat. It took a couple seconds but when I opened my mouth, I could finally start screaming.

They were here.