nina cried power [SPENCER REID]

forty.

I N T E R L U D E

CHAPTER FORTY:
FILE 1314: NINA SCOTT

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EXCERPT OF INTERVIEW WITH DR. SPENCER REID
INTERVIEWER: CHIEF STRAUSS
1st April 2013

Strauss: Okay. The recording's back on. Chief Strauss and Dr. Reid present. Discussing the events of January 22nd, 2013, that being the arrest of Samuel Edelstein, the attack on Dr. Reid, and our current missing person's case, Nina Scott. Dr. Reid, are you ready to continue?

Reid: Yeah, yeah, I'm okay now. Sorry about that.

Strauss: We can have you put in touch with a PTSD councillor.

Reid: Not necessary. I'm ready to continue.

Strauss: You were in your apartment. The two of you.

Reid: Yeah. She, er, bandaged up the gunshot wound on my leg, and then she left. She took my laptop —

Strauss: Did she say anything before she left?

Reid: She — No. No, she didn't say anything. She just asked if I knew where her sister was . . . I didn't, but that didn't stop her. She — Nina Scott's IQ rivalled the Unabomber's. She didn't need my advice to find her sister. She had plans A through Z and I was just plan A.

Strauss: Your unit chief believes she managed to wire into the satnav of your attacker's car. She traced his recent locations and went to the most recent address, and worked backwards from there until she found Edelstein's whereabouts.

Reid: Yeah, that's Hotch's theory.

Strauss: You have another?

Reid: I wouldn't put it past her to get in contact with one of Edelstein's runners again. But, no, I have no idea what Nina did after she saw me. Not until she turned my laptop on.

Strauss: What time was that?

Reid: I had no mobile phone. I, er, dragged myself out of the apartment. My neighbour wasn't in, so I had to go down a floor. By that point I was — I — I wasn't doing well. [clears throat] I had a fever, and the trip down the stairs— I ended up losing consciousness. In the stairwell. A neighbour found me and rang the hospital. By the time I came around, it was mid afternoon. We still hadn't heard from Nina — I mean, Miss Scott.

Strauss: Your team was tracking her?

Reid: They had no idea there were any problems until around noon. I was meant to have a check in call at 12:15, but I didn't pick up. By the time the team found me in hospital — first they had to go to my apartment, which they found empty, and then a neighbour told them what happened. But by the time they got to me in hospital, she'd had two hours head start. The laptop came on about four hours later.

Strauss: So six pm?

Reid: I was on a lot of meds. But, yeah, around then.

Strauss: A lot of meds, but that didn't stop you from leaving the hospital.

Reid: [clears throat] No, ma'am.

[long pause]

Reid: The laptop was turned on and actively used. Nina Scott would know that would enable us to track her. It was done on purpose — an alert. A 'come get me'.

Strauss: You think she got cocky? A game of cat and mouse between the two of you?

Reid: I think she helped us. She knew, on her own, she could find Edelstein. And once she did, she called for us.

Strauss: You honestly believe that?

Reid: Truly.

Strauss: There have been some questions among the bureau about the nature of yours and Nina Scott's relationship.

Reid: Strictly professional.

[recording switched off]

[recording switched on]

Strauss: Okay. Recording back on. So, where did the laptop take you to?

Reid: It pinged off three cell towers in upper East Manhattan. The New York Bureau began sweeping the area, but Garcia and I looked for any registered addresses that were in Edelstein's name, or any of his staff. There was one in his own name. He, er, wasn't one for subtlety, I presume. If Nina wasn't playing cat and mouse, he was. He had a much more arrogant disposition than Miss Scott.

Strauss: So your team flew into Manhattan?

Reid: Agent Hotchner ordered me to stay behind. I ignored him.

Strauss: You openly admit you defied a superior?

Reid: I knew the profile better than anyone else. I thought myself safe enough to travel —

Strauss: You had no right to be in the field.

Reid: No. No, I didn't. [pause] I assessed Miss Scott's profile and her actions that day, and I knew she would run. Nina had, and still has, no intentions of undergoing punishment for her actions. If we were to bring her in — which was a slimmer than slim chance as it stood — I knew I had to be there, that I had to be the one to do it.

Authors Note:
A year (?) without an update and this is all I have. I am the worst.

More is coming soon tho!! I promise. I'm back on the writing train, and also make on the Spencer Reid stan-mobile

Hope you all are well!!