Blinded by Hate | a.hotchner

Chapter 22

Trigger Warning: Violence and Gore

Aaron's POV

The recording stopped, the room filling with tense silence. No one said anything, the only noise being sniffles from Emily and Spencer.

"I know that we're all scared for y/n, but we need to keep working on the case." Rossi said after a moment. I nodded in agreement, sitting down at the roundtable.

I could practically see a lightbulb turn on in Reid's head as he stood up from the table, grabbing a dry erase marker. We all watched in silence as he wrote out the message y/n said over the phone.

Aaron? I did something stupid. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left you, things were starting to get good. I guess I was scared that things would go south, and I didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Please tell my mom and dad that I love them. And Aaron, I can't say it, not like this, but you know. You know how I feel, you know that I-

"Hotch, can you play the message again?" Spencer asked, I obliged immediately. He underlined only two words in the passage as the voicemail played.

Aaron? I did something stupid. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left you, things were starting to get good. I guess I was scared that things would go south, and I didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Please tell my mom and dad that I love them. And Aaron, I can't say it, not like this, but you know. You know how I feel, you know that I-

The words seemed insignificant, until I realized that those were the words that her voice changed on.

"We already know that she went south, so we know why she put stress on the word south. As for the word 'mom', I can assume that the location would have belonged to Briza's mother, and y/n has probably been there before." Reid's words were quick and rushed.

"Garcia, did you come up with any properties owned by Briza's mother in your search?" I asked, turning to face Penelope.

"Yes, I found five locations that are within the time it took for her to drive from the coffee shop to when she called you." She told the team, bringing up a map on the screen.

"Well, you can get rid of the top two, they're north of the coffee shop. That leaves three properties, JJ and Reid I want you to go to the first, Rossi and Morgan to the second, and Prentiss and I will go to the last." The team nodded, jumping to action.

"Addresses have been sent to your phones, go get our girl!" Penelope yelled to the team as they left.

Once in the garage, I stepped into the driver's seat, ignoring y/n's words from earlier.

"You cannot go in the field, no matter what. Not until you are cleared, physically and mentally."

I would heed to her words, but seeing that she was in mortal danger, I decided that I was going into the field. Once Emily was seated next to me, I quickly made my way to the location Garcia had sent me. It would take about an hour, and it would be dark by then, the sun was already setting.

The drive was tense, a few words said here or there. Emily made a comment about the sunset, which I nodded to. I couldn't let my concentration slip, I couldn't let her get hurt. My knuckles shone white from my deadly grip on the wheel, but I paid it no attention.

I slammed on the breaks, the wheels screeching to a halt in front of a house. I had estimated right, it took an hour to get here. The house was two stories, and the windows and doors had been boarded up. There was no sign of the black car that y/n was in, but Briza could have easily moved it.

Prentiss went around the back, and I stayed in the front. I counted down quietly over the coms, our feet kicking down the doors at the same time. We made our way around the house, checking every room and closet. Then, I lead the pair of us up the stairs to check the second level. I heard Emily say 'clear' from the other room, which I seconded.