Normal People - Strange Encounters Book Two

Chapter 15

Spencer woke with a start, bolting upright as he tried to get his bearings. He glanced around the cabin, the memories of the day prior settling back into his mind. He noticed the fire was still roaring, and based off of Amelia's absence guess she'd already been up and about. He slowly stood from the couch, bracing himself against the chill in the cabin. Wrapping himself in the quilt, he peeked out the window and saw Amelia, bundled up and sitting on a lawn chair facing the ocean. He helped himself to a large cup of coffee he found on the stove and made his way out to join her.

As he took a seat in the chair next to Amelia, she looked over to him and gave him a small smile. His heart soared seeing her as he remembered her in the mornings, her eyes were just a little puffy making her look eternally sleepy and made him think of the mornings she'd come visit him, watching her bring coffee into bed and curl up next to him. Her hair blew slightly in the breeze, and he could've watched her twirl that damn curl around her finger all day.

"It's freaking cold here."

Amelia let out a short laugh. "You've gotta get over that, Doc. It's Maine in February, this is actually not too bad."

They settled into a comfortable silence, compared to the tension that held in the air between them the day prior.

"Look, Spence-"

"Lee, we don't have to-"

"Can you just stop? Please, let me.." She cleared her throat, avoiding his eyes as he looked at her intently. "I'm sorry. I am truly, so freaking sorry I hurt you. I know you wish I had told you, and your whole team made that abundantly clear to me as well. I understand why you're angry, and I do not blame you whatsoever. But while I'm sorry that I hurt you, I'm not sorry that I did what I did. You, my family, JJ and Henry.. they're all still okay. And yeah, maybe if I had told you things also would've turned out okay. But I had no way of knowing that for sure, and I wasn't gonna risk your life or anyone else's on my own." Amelia inhaled, having held her breath to get that out. She looked down at the mug in her hand, still avoiding Spencer's gaze.

"I forgive you. I am still upset, and I do think you should've told us. But I've been trying to look at is from your perspective, and I understand why you handled it as you did, Lee. I know.." He thought of how jumpy she had become in the months she'd been gone, of the nightmares that must've plagued her, and the wall she had so obviously built up. "I know this wasn't easy for you." Amelia flinched at the comment about being upset, but otherwise thought they were finally making progress.

After a few more minutes of silence, Amelia cleared her throat once again.

"Uh, this isn't as like life threatening, but do you have any new pictures of Swoop? How's my boy?" She met his eyes finally, giving him a sheepish smile. Spencer let out a short laugh before pulling out his phone.

"You know, I never used to understand people's fascination with pictures of animals, wether taking or viewing them. But after living with this smoosh.." He swiped through his phone until he came to his camera roll, holding it out to Amelia. She took it graciously, and his heart warmed at the smile she broke into. He hadn't seen such a smile on her face in a long time.

"Oh, uh.." She held his phone back out to him, Hotch's name appearing on the caller ID.

"Hotch, what's up? Oh.. yeah, I'm with her.. Yeah, I'll drop her there before heading in. Mhm. Okay, see you soon."

"Drop me where? Where are you going? Are we not leaving?" She asked as soon as he'd hung up the call. She sat on the edge of her seat, biting her lip again as she waited for his reply. Spencer sensed her unease, and saw the small drop of blood appear on her lip.

He leaned toward her, slowly reaching his hand toward her face, waiting to see if she'd pull back. She clenched her jaw but made no other movement, which he took as a good sign. He hesitated before running his thumb along her lower lip and holding it up for her to see the blood.

"You've gotta stop doing that, sweetheart" he said gently. "But don't worry, okay? I won't be gone long. We've delayed leaving until tomorrow morning at the latest. I've gotta head into town to meet up with the team at the precinct but I'm gonna drop you at Miss G's beforehand. Hotch had the Sheriff dispatch a patrol car to keep an eye on things."

Amelia searched his eyes for the answer she already knew.

"She's here, isn't she? Alycia." Spencer hesitated before answering.

"They think so." Amelia stood and looked down at him before turning and abruptly heading into the cabin. Spencer quickly got up and followed her.

"Lee.."

"I'm okay, I'm fine, I just.. I'm gonna change quick." She quickly shut herself in her room. Spencer hesitated, wanting to knock on the door, but sat and waited on the couch.

Amelia pulled on an old Eagles hoodie of her dad's, and pulled on a pair of fleece lined leggings. She paused briefly before scanning the floor, looking for the small revolver she'd dropped when Spencer had surprised her yesterday morning. She knelt down on all fours and found it lying under her dresser. She quickly shoved it into her purse before walking back into the living room to head up to the main house while Spencer went and tried to catch Alycia Smyth.

♡

Spencer gripped the steering wheel even after he'd parked the rental car outside of the precinct. He'd just found Amelia and leaving her so soon was difficult on him, the whole drive over he had to resist the urge to turn around. He took a moment to gather himself before heading in to join his team.

When he walked into the conference room his mind started spinning. The evidence board, which was once sparse with the case files of Glenn Morris, was now covered to the edge. Hotch and Sheriff Walked stood facing it, discussing something in hushed tones. Emily and Derek stood nearby, inspecting a case file in their hands. JJ sat closest the door, typing away at a laptop. She turned when it registered that Spencer had entered the room.

"Oh good, you're here."

"What happened?"

JJ patted the seat next to her, which Spencer dropped into before moving toward the computer screen.

"One of the deputy's found this early this morning.." JJ pulled up a crime scene photo. It was a Kirby Lobster Co. truck, the two employees in the vehicle shot dead between the eyes.

"How do we know this was her?"

"We don't, not for certain" Emily said as she sat down with them. "But the coincidence is too high to overlook. For a town that hasn't had a murder in over 20 years, to having three in a matter of days.." Spencer knew she was right.

"But, why them? What does she gain from that? It's unlike the profile for her to go off script."

"I think that depends who's script we're talking about."

"What do you mean, Morgan?" Hotch asked.

"I just feel like her vision has shifted. Hear me out.." Derek went up to a box near the evidence board and pulled a few things off. Flipping the board over, he hung their case files from Amelia's disappearance up on the board. "Originally, Lia's love ones were targeted. Us, Reid, her family. Smyth never made a direct threat on Lia's own life. But now.." He hung up Glenn Morris's photo, along with those this morning. "These feel different, as if Smyth is taunting Amelia. Letting her know she's closing in. She's had countless chances to threaten us again, or her family, and just hasn't. What if.."

"What if she's abandoning Christopher's script?" Spencer said softly. "What if Christopher didn't want Lee harmed, only those around her to make her feel the type of pain he thought he'd experienced. But now.. now Alycia has abandoned Christopher's goals for her own. She wants Lee to be the one in harms way."

Hotch gazed at the evidence board before turning and locking eyes with Spencer. "I think your theory is correct. And if that's the case, we need to find Alycia and keep her away from Amelia. Today, we'll work with the Sheriff to assist in the investigation here. First thing in the morning, Reid, you and Amelia will be on a plane back to Quantico where she's to be placed under protective custody until we have Alycia Smyth in custody."