Normal People - Strange Encounters Book Two

Chapter 5

Spencer found his way home shortly after midnight. He leaned down and untied his converse, kicking them off to the side of the door. Throwing his tie on the couch, he made his way into the kitchen. Pouring himself a glass of whiskey, he hopped up and sat on the kitchen counter. Since Amelia had left, his sleeping difficulties had grown increasingly worse. More often than not he'd have a drink before bed, just to help him fall asleep even if it were to be broken and restless.

He tucked his feet under himself, sitting cross legged on the counter. He sipped from the tumbler glass, reaching his free hand into a container of cashews realizing he'd forgotten to get dinner again. He finished the whiskey and lowered himself to the floor, deciding he should at least attempt to get some sleep.

After about an hour of tossing and turning, Swoop crawled up on the bed and begin clawing at Spencer's belly. Spencer shoo'd him away, placing him next to him on the bed. Swoop ran out to the living room, and back in, again clawing at Spencer. Spencer set him down and looked at him, as he rarely did that since he'd grown accustom to Spencer's apartment.

"What's up, smoosh?" The cat cocked it's head at him, let out a meow, and ran back into the living room.

Spencer followed him out, bare feet hitting the cold floor. He froze suddenly, hearing something in the hallway and glanced to the front door. He saw his doorknob jiggling, at first thinking maybe they just had the wrong apartment. When he heard the scrape of a lock-pick he knew it was intentional, and quietly made his way to his wardrobe and unlocked his safe to retrieve his gun and slipped his converse on his feet. Slowly he made his way across the room and stood behind the couch. Raising the weapon eye level, he waited until the door swung open before he made his presence known.

"FBI, freeze!" The hooded figure faltered for a moment before turning and running, Spencer lowered his gun and took off after them.

Glancing over the railing a shot rang out, causing him to lurch backwards. He ran down the stairs, almost rolling his ankle multiple times. Getting to the bottom of the stairs he poked his head around the wall that led to the parking lot, hearing another shot whiz past. He raised his weapon and fired, hitting his target in the shoulder. Spencer leaned against the wall, catching his breath before reaching into his pocket and dialing.

"Doctor Spencer Reid, SSA BAU. I need a medic at Capital Plaza Apartments, Connecticut Avenue.." He finished that call and immediately dialed another.

"Hotch, we've got a problem."

♡

A few hours later the team once again found themselves surrounding the conference room table.

"Alright people, listen up cause I need to get back to sleep to refuel for the day ahead" Penelope addressed them, sending things to the screen behind her. "The woman who so maliciously tried to.. well, the woman Reid shot is Patricia Rainer."

"The pharmacist?" Emily asked, puzzled.

"That's the one. But, let's backtrack. I think, somehow, these women were all linked to Regino. The two pharmacists, Rainer and Edwards. They work at a CVS where Christopher worked shortly after his failed first date with Amelia. Turns out he was fired from his job at MusikBox around the same time."

"The drugs he used to knock out and then, oppositely, keep Lee awake when he kidnapped her were uncommon for such acts because they are harder to get. That would begin to explain how he had gotten them" Spencer said.

Penelope nodded before continuing. "The third woman, well, we know she worked at a bar with Regino. Their exact relationship is unclear, but based off of their texts.. I'd say it was just physical. Now, the last one is the one I would not want to meet in a dark alley at night. Alycia Smyth was last in jail for assault and armed robbery, but she has things as, ahem, 'mild' as animal abuse to as severe as attempted murder claims thrown her way, although not all of them have been able to stick."

"And is she out now?" Derek asked.

The tech analyst nodded. "Unfortunately for us, she was released three weeks prior to Amelia's disappearance."

"Right around the time the calls started.. but Garcia, how did she meet Christopher if she was in jail?" Spencer asked.

"This may be my least favorite part of this all around icky thing. Turns out, Christopher started writing to her in jail a little over two years ago. He found her on some online prison pen pal program. Unfortunately the prison she was in doesn't keep records of their inmates correspondence."

"So.. somehow, this absolute shit got these women to do his dirty work?" Emily asked what they were all thinking.

The team sat in their chairs, digesting this information.

"Alright, every go home. Get some rest, we've all got a long day ahead of us. I'll see you back here at 8 AM."

♡

Morning rolled around and Amelia once again found herself layering up for the cold Maine morning. She slipped on jeans over a pair of thermal leggings, then digging through her drawer pulled out an orange thermal covered in jack-o-lanterns. She hugged it to her chest, picturing the first time she saw Spencer wearing it one morning on her first visit to DC. She had woken up to him walking into the bedroom, the thermal hugging across his chest with flannel pajama pants, and holding out a cup of coffee toward her. "Good morning, sweet girl" he had said in his crackly morning voice.

Shaking her head, she pulled the shirt over her head before layering a flannel and her coat over top. She threw her hair into two braids and then tugged a neon orange knit hunting beanie over her head. She head outside to tend to the property before needing to go check on old lady Gladys. She shoveled and salted the walkways, lugged fire word from the edge of the woods toward her guest cottage and loaded some into her jeep to take to Gladys's. Hopping into the jeep she drove to the end of the lane to get the mail, then headed to the main house. She blasted music, finding the sun poking through making this one of the most pleasant days she'd experienced yet.

Hopping out of the jeep, she started transferring the firewood to the porch.

"Liza! I said Eliza!" Gladys said, standing on her porch in a nightgown with her hair in curlers.

Amelia spun around, looking incredulously at the woman. "Miss G, if you don't get your ass inside you're gonna get frost bite!"

"It's not my ass you have to worry about, lady. Get in here. Now!"

Amelia rolled her eyes with a grin, loving the old eccentric woman. She locked up her jeep before heading into the mudroom. She peeled off her layers, hanging them on the hooks near the door. Walking into the kitchen she saw two cups of coffee on the counter, graciously picking one up.

"Uh G, I appreciate the thought but this is ice cold. Which I used to not mind, but after living up here in the tundra I have a new found appreciation for hot-"

"Eliza Turner, get over here" she heard Gladys say quietly from the other room.

Peeking her head around the corner, Amelia's stomach dropped. She covered her hand with her mouth, and felt the blood drain from her face. She recoiled and started sucking in her breath-

"Now lady, hush. Don't scream ,and don't go getting weak on me. I need you to listen to me."

Amelia sunk to the ground and looked at the old lady.

"What.. what on earth?"

"We need to-"

"Gladys. Why the fuck is there a dead man in the middle of the floor?"

a/n

buuut who's dead 👀