Decisions (4th Book in the Boss's Niece Series)

The Letters

"Letter just came for you." Penelope said, placing an envelope on my desk. I looked up at her. She didn't make eye contact as she turned to leave.

"Doll face." I said. She turned. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." she replied, still looking at the floor.

"You are." I said. "Penelope, please don't be mad. I can barley handle Derek not even looking at me. I can't promise you I'm gonna stay, but I will be here for the wedding."

"It's not about the wedding." Penelope said, tears falling down her face. "It's the face I'm losing my best friend if you leave. What if you forget about us?"

"I'm not going to."

"You can't promise that."

"I can. I promise that if I do take this job, I will never forget you. How can I? You're Penelope Garcia."

She smiled and gave me a hug.

"I'll miss you if you go." she said.

"I'll miss you, too." I said. "Now, get back to work before I start crying."

Penelope chuckled and left. I sat back down at my desk and looked at the envelope. I got a letter? From who? No one writes me. Dad usually calls and I have no other friends outside of Virginia.

I opened the letter and began to read it. My eyes widened and my heart stopped for a millisecond before I got up and went to find Spencer.

•
*Reid's POV*

I closed a box of my stuff. I was finally moving into Rossi's old office. Morgan sat across from me at his desk, engrossed in paperwork.

"You can't be mad forever." I said.

"I'm not mad." he replied.

"You're not making eye contact, you haven't spoken unless spoken to and your voice is unusually monotone." I said. "You're mad."

"Of course I'm mad. How can she do this to us? Leave us when we need her most."

"In her defense, this isn't an easy decision to make for that exact reason."

"The fact that she even has to think about it is offending. Are we not good enough for her?"

"That's not it at all. It's an offer of a lifetime. If she gets it, she'll get more time to herself, more pay-"

"But she loses everything she's gotten out here in Virginia in return. How is that a plus?"

I gave up. I grabbed the box and went into Rossi's old office, which now had a gold template that read "Dr. Spencer Reid."

I placed the box on the desk and noticed an envelope with my name on it. A letter? From who? My mom? I haven't heard from her in a while. She wasn't doing too well. She was really sick. The doctors believed she could go at any time.

I picked up the envelope and opened it. Inside was a letter that was written with letters from magazines cut out and pasted on it. It read:

"He took away what meant most to me, so I'm going to do the same to him. Watch over your family and friends, smart boy. Tell them you love them. Because you might not have them any longer."

I read and re-read the letter over and over until Mel knocked on the door.

"Reiders." she said. "I got a letter-"

"I did, too." I said, holding up mine.

"Magazine letters?" she asked.

"Yeah. Does yours have the same message mine does?"

"'He took away what meant most to me, so I'm going to do the same to him. Watch over your family and friends, smart boy. Tell them you love them'."

"'Because you might not have them any longer'." we finished together.

"It's obviously directed towards me, but why did you get one, too?" I asked.

"I don't know. What means most to you?"

"My mom, you, Haley, the team-"

"That's it!" Mel exclaimed. "Your mom is sick, so whoever sent this letter can't really take her away. He can't take the whole team cause it'd be 8 against one. He's going after me personally."

"But, who could've sent this. I don't know anyone whom I've taken away something that means a lot to them."

"What about UnSubs? Any families of ones you've put away that were really affected by it?"

"No. Not at all. I mean, they're upset at first, but they'd never go as far as kidnapping to get revenge."

Mel shrugged.

"I dunno, but we better watch our backs." she said. "Is Derek still mad at me?"

"He's mad, but I don't think it's at you. It might be something else. He's not speaking much, so I haven't pushed him."

"Alright. I'm gonna go call the sitter, see how Haley is."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too."