Autophobia

Liability

February 15th, 2017
Mexico

Eliza was pacing back and forth, her fingers tapping rythmically. Pointer, ring, index, pinkie, pointer, ring, index, pinkie. She was nervous, having witnessed the Reid's cognitive interview. Nervous becuase everything he said could be determined as an admission of guilt. Nervous because there was nothing she could do. She hated not being able to do anything, she should be able to protect the people she cared about, shouldn't she?

More and more, Eliza's concept of everything was shifting. She had never truly be certain of anything before she met Reid over five years ago. Then she died and five years passed. She met Joshua and Milo and she was sure again. Sure that they were meant to be in her life, sure they would protect her and she would protect them. However, there'd always been on thing Joshua and Milo couldn't protect Eliza from. Herself.

She bit her lip, looking up from the floor and across the room. Castenada was talking with some men, his voice lowered slightly. Every so often he'd look over his shoulder, his eyes jumping towards each FBI agent before turning back to his own men. Eliza furrowed her brow, standing and shuffling towards them, listening as they conversed in Spanish.

"We have enough evidence, we have to charge him," an officer was saying.

"And if the FBI gets mad?" argued another. "They're on our side right now! They're helping us! We charge him right now, we risk loosing their help."

"Please, they're only interested in looking out for their own!"

"Charge him," Castenada said, breaking up the conversation. "We're not risking our jobs just because some FBI agents want to play catch the serial killer. If they want to play, they can do it in their own country."

The officers nodded, getting up from their desk and walking into their cell. Reid was back, Emily having decided they should take a break from the cognitive interview. Luke was standing in the cell with Reid, watching as the anxious man got his bandages changed. THe officers relayed the news to the two men, Eliza watching the scene unfold like a television show she was being forced to watch. She was pulled back to reality when Emily grabbed her arm, yanking her towards a secluded hall. She leaned her back against the wall, Rossi and Emily facing one another as Luke paced.

"They charged him with the murder of Nadie Ramos," Luke said sounding frustrated. "We can't get him our of here, can we?"

"I don't know," replied Rossi.

"He didn't kill her," Luke insisted.

"If all I had to go on was the evidence, I would swear he did," Rossi argued. "But knowing Reid, hearing the cognitive..."

"Yes, he said there was another person in that motel room," Emily said. "But..." She held up her phone, playing the recording from the cognitive.

"Who has the knife?" asked Emily, her voice echoing from the phone. "Who is stabbing Rosa?"

"I don't know," replied Reid, his voice distant. "It's in my hand."

"You're trying to stop the killer?" Emily paused the recording, looking grimly at the group around her.

"Right now, this is just more evidence against him." Everyone nodded silenely, Emily's finger pressing the delete button. Luke and Rossi turned, exiting the hall while holding a hushed conversation. Eliza went to leave, but Emily grabbed her arm, holding her in place. "You okay?"

"I'm calling Milo," Eliza replied firmly.

"But he's helping JJ and Penelopee-"

"He'll be of more use down here. He has dual citizenship in the US and Mexico, worked internationally creating profiles in Spanish speaking countries. He understands the Mexican judicial system better than any of us."