You Promised Me! (Spencer Reid)

Chapter 10

Rossi and Prentiss arrive at the last graffiti wall that was tagged by Lyric. It was a simple design, a faded orange to red base with big black lettering that said "Be Free", with colorful rectangles and circles around the wall.

Prentiss steps back and looks at the wall, "I have to admit she does a really good job spray painting. It's nothing bad like you would usually see but positive ones that she possesses in her mind."

Rossi agrees, "You are truly correct. I wish she wasn't taken in for it. They're positive, not negative."

They spent time examining all her tagged locations talking about what was possibly going through her mind.

--

Hotch and Reid arrived at Lyric's house and knocked on the door. The mother opened the door and looked surprised at the two men at her doorstep.

"Hello, is there something I can help you men with," she asked.

Hotch spoke, "Yes ma'am. My name is SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is SSA Dr. Spencer Reid, we're with the FBI. Are you Lyric's mom?"

She nodded, "Yes, sir, I am. What is this about?"

Reid answered back, "We need to ask you a few questions about Lyric."

She tilted her head sideways, "Is she okay? Did something happen to her?"

Hotch silenced Reid, "She was kidnapped yesterday. You didn't know that?"

Her face turned into pure horror at this news, "What? She was kidnapped? Oh no, my poor girl. Come inside please." They enter the house, "Seth and Travis get down here it's about Lyric."

They enter the living room and see the agents standing there. Travis looked at his mother and asked what was going on.

Hotch answered his question, "Travis we're here to ask questions about Lyric. Now, you called the police to file a missing person's report?"

Travis nodded, "I did. She didn't come home last night and I thought she was out with some friends. The next morning, I walked into her room to wake her up and she wasn't there or at school. I called after school because I was getting worried."

Both parents had tears brimming in their eyes, "We didn't notice at all. Were such bad parents."

Reid's jaw clenched tightly at their claim, "Has Lyric ever shown up with food or spray cans in or on her hands?"

Her father shakes his head, "No, why? What has she been doing?"

Hotch takes over again, "We have reasons to believe Lyric was possibly stealing and vandalizing walls downtown."

Travis's head dips down a little further, his mother looked at him, "Travis? Did you know about this?"

Travis stayed glued to the floor, "I noticed paint on her hands and a couple of chip bags in her room. I would ask her where those came from but she would never tell me."

The mother ran her fingers through her hair, "How could I not see all those things. I thought she bought the spray paint for school and food because she was feeling hungry."

Reid looked at Travis, "Travis, can you lead me to Lyric's room? I want to see if there's anything that could help us understand her life better."