Heurism | Spencer Reid¹

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: RIDE THE LIGHTNING

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."

     — Albert Pine

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"Guessing she didn't react well to hearing the letter?" I stand outside another house, where Dawes had once done some construction. He gave up the location to Hotch himself. Elle and Morgan are already in the back garden with some specialists, scanning the ground for any bodies. It is colder now that night has fallen, and I lean against the car with a cigarette in hand.

On the other end, I hear Gideon sigh. "No, she did not. But we had a chat and... Listen, I don't think she killed her son."

I raise an eyebrow. "Did she say that?"

"She said he's in 'a better place'. That's avoidance if ever I've heard it. Anyway, it was enough to get a stay on her execution. Bought us some more time."

Taking a long drag on my cigarette, I exhale the smoke into the dark, nodding to myself. "You think she's innocent."

A pause. "I do. You should've heard the way she talks about Riley. That's not the look of a grieving mother."

I take his word for it. Twitching my nose, I take one last breath of smoke before stubbing out the cigarette on the side of a nearby bin. My hold tightens around the phone. "You should call Stephen."

He hesitates. I can practically hear his frown, the kind he does when he's deep in thought, brow furrowed and lips pouting. He sighs, "I don't want to trouble him."

"Yeah, you do," I scoff lightly. "Once we've wrapped up here, call him. It's not a big commitment, not coffee or a baseball game. Just a conversation with your son. Listen, I gotta go. I'll keep you posted." I hang up and jog through to the back garden. The other two stand by a small gazebo on the patio, consisting of beautifully chiselled pillars and arches. A technician stands in the middle, a scanner pointed at the ground. "Sarah Jean's been granted a stay. Any bodies?"

Morgan grimaces and shakes his head. "Not yet, but it's got to be here. Jacob built this gazebo."

"We've searched everywhere else," Elle says with a shrug.

"The workshop and extension in Deb Mason's house had arches. I know he had to have built this one for Riley."

I start to speak, but a shrill beep catches our attention. The scanner has found something.

——————

I arrive at the prison the next afternoon to find a crowd of protestors already waits outside, all geared up for the coming executions. The command centre is quiet when I enter. Its only occupants now are Gideon, JJ, Reid and Garcia. "Brought you guys some coffee from the guards' break room. And believe me, they were not happy to part with it," I announce, somehow managing to carry all five cups at once. Closest to the door, Reid steps in to take some of them off my hands.

Garcia accepts hers with a grin. "God, I love you right now." Her sentiments are shared by JJ.

"Take a sip and see how long that lasts." Offering the last cup to Gideon, I let what little good humour I have fade. "Any joy on identifying the body?" I ask.