Unknown- A Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 26- End Up A Victim

I put my phone down and decided the only way to keep myself from freezing up helplessly in terror was to do something.  I grabbed my gun off the coffee table on my way to my bedroom, double-checking that the windows were locked and then drawing the curtains tightly closed over them.  Then I scooped up all of the papers I had spread out on the floor, adding the dictated voicemails I had written down after Reid had hung up, and buried them in the bottom of one of my desk drawers again.  With my gun clutched in one hand and my phone in the other, I took a seat sideways on the couch so I could see the front door and down the hallway to the dark windows of my bedroom, and waited.

My heart was still pounding in my chest, and every little noise from the people in the apartment above me to a door slamming across the hall outside my apartment made me jump.  I tried my best to not let my nerves get the best of me, but it wasn't much use.  I jumped again when I heard a knock on the door, and I scrambled up from the couch, holding my gun at my side and checking through the peephole, hoping desperately Reid had gotten here before my stalker. 

Thankfully, it was Reid, so I unlocked the door and let him in, resetting the security system once he was inside. 

He gave me a curious look and asked, "McDowell, are you okay?  What's going on?"

I didn't want to tell him the truth, I had insisted I could take care of myself, but I had already called him at two in the morning so I guess he deserved to know something for all his trouble.

"I've been getting phone calls for the past three days. I don't know who they're from, most of them are just heavy breathing on the machine, but I think someone's threatening me," I said, barely hinting at the truth.

"Does this have anything to do with the letter that was in your jacket pocket the night you stayed at my place?" he asked, concern immediately evident in his tone.

I started to deny it but then the truth--partial truth--slipped out and I responded with, "N-Maybe," before adding a tentative, "I'm not sure."

"Do you still have the note?  And I'm sure Garcia could pull up the voicemail messages from your phone and analyze them," he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket with a bit of difficulty because his arm was still in a sling.

"No!" I exclaimed as he went to dial, and he paused with his thumb hovering over a button, looking up at me in surprise.

"Don't you remember what that note said?" I protested, though the main reason was that I didn't want the rest of the team to know.  I had only called Reid because I'd been terrified at the time, but now it just seemed ridiculous.

""I saw you today. I hope you haven't told anyone about me.  I can keep a secret, and I'll make you keep it, too,"" he recited the note verbatim.  It sounded infinitely less scary when he said it.  Factual, like nearly everything else that came out of his mouth, but only if I didn't think about it for too long.

I nodded and attempted to reason, "The less people that know, the better.  Besides, it might all just be some big prank."

"But what if it's not?  What if someone out there is actually threatening your life?  We've had dozens of cases like these, McDowell, and the only reason we get them is because the victims think that it's just a hunch and they end up being wrong.  I don't want you to end up a victim," he said.

"I'm not going to end up a victim," I insisted, "I know how to take care of myself."

He gave me a look and then asked softly, "How come you sounded so scared on the phone then?" calling my bluff.

I wanted to play the last message I'd gotten, but I'd already deleted it, and I wasn't about to show him all of the other messages, then he'd have me put into protective custody or something just as drastic.

"The last phone call, he said he was coming for me," I answered instead.

"That doesn't sound like a prank.  You need to come with me right now, we have to leave," he said, sounding infinitely more worried.

"What?  No, I'm not leaving.  If he actually follows through on his threat, then he's coming here and we can catch him," I protested, seeing my chance.

"You cannot catch a potential stalker who might be breaking into your apartment to kidnap or kill you.  It's not safe for you here alone, we have to go," he objected.

"But if I'm right then this is our only chance to catch him.  Stay here with me," I tried to reason.

"Charlotte--Charlie," he stumbled over my first name, like it sounded foreign on his tongue.  He had never called me by my first name before.  "It's too risky," he argued. 

"Please, Reid.  I'll be just as safe here with you than if we were to go to your apartment or somewhere else," I said.

If I could catch this guy who had made me dread every form of communication for the last month of my life, then I wasn't about to trade out my own immediate safety at Reid's request instead of risking it now for a permanent guarantee in the near future.

He sighed and gave in, negotiating, "Try and get some rest, I'll stand guard."

"Oh no, I am not sleeping right now," I objected.

The giddy fear of potentially catching my stalker and ending this whole living nightmare overrode the aching headache and fatigue that had been buried at the back of my mind for days, though not buried well.  Too often the stray urge to sleep was forced to the surface, but once again I pushed it back down.   With Reid here, the fear constantly simmering inside me was tamped down to the point where I could almost relax, but that doesn't mean I was about to.

  "I don't want you to be my bodyguard, I want you to help me catch this son of a bitch," I stubbornly told him, resuming my sideways position on the couch to watch both locations of entry, both hands wrapped around the handle of my gun.

Reid gave me a slightly surprised but also exasperated look.  "Fine.  Is there a back entrance to your apartment?" he gave in upon noticing how I was sitting on the couch.

"Yeah, fire escape.  I have a wall of windows in my bedroom that open right onto it," I replied.

He nodded and grabbed one of the chairs from my kitchen table, somehow managing to lift it down from the raised dais of my kitchen with only one hand.  He placed it in the middle of the hallway and then took a seat, his back to me so he was facing the open door to my bedroom.

"I'll cover the windows, you can get the front door," he said.  Though we were both pretending this was a tactical FBI stakeout, he gave me a tentative look as if to ask, 'okay?'.

I barely inclined my head to nod in response.

It was very odd to see one of my coworkers in my apartment, especially at three in the morning.  He was still wearing his coat though only his right arm was in the sleeve, his right hand resting on the butt of his gun jutting from where it was clipped to his belt at his hip.  He was helping me guard my fire escape so I wouldn't get attacked by my stalker that he didn't even technically know about. 

Hopefully it would help keep me alive.  I wasn't a victim, not yet, and I intended to keep it that way.

We were sitting in silence, the lights still on, for nearly a half an hour before I finally spoke again.

"Reid?" I said quietly.  He had hardly moved but I knew he hadn't fallen asleep, though I wouldn't really blame him if he had. 

He gave a, "Hmm?" in response.

"Thanks."