CHAPTER ONE
She’d promised herself she wouldn’t be afraid, swore to herself that there was no way this man could make her feel weak or less than she was. She was smarter than that, more successful than that. He couldn’t make her feel small, couldn’t make her do anything she didn’t want to. She struggled against the ropes tying her wrists together as best she could, squirming on the mattress of the bed he’d tied her to. She would get out of this.
She froze, dark eyes wide, as the door opened. He walked in, smug, grinning and walking like he owned the place. She tried not to let the fear show, tried to hide her pain. He’d given her quite the beating last time around and her body was still smarting from the pain. His hand trailed down her side and she stared back at him mutinously. He wasn’t going to break her. He couldn’t break her.
That didn’t mean his hand making contact with her cheek didn’t take her by surprise any more than normal. Then he was on top of her and no matter how much she struggled there was nothing she could do to keep him from ripping off her pants. She struggled and struggled and struggled. He hit her time and time and time again. She counted herself lucky for passing out before anything else registered.
Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss sat bolt upright with a gasp. It took her brain a few moments to register that she was in her apartment, not in that damned compound. She was safe, at home, with her door locked. It had only been a nightmare.
It took her mind a few more moments to register that the phone was ringing. With a heavy sigh she clicked it on. She recognized JJ’s number. “Prentiss.”
“Sorry, I know it’s early.”
Emily glanced over at her clock. 4am. She sighed. “It’s no problem. What’s up?”
“We’ve got a case. Calling in the cavalry.”
Emily looked around her room, at the mess it usually wasn’t. “Give me twenty minutes.”
“Call Derek.”
Climbing out of bed, Emily hit the second speed dial number on her phone. She and Derek were closer than close so Emily didn’t think much of calling him at 4am. He’d talked her down from a large number of nightmares in the past. She’d done the same. It was just the way their relationship worked. JJ knew that no matter what, Derek would pick up the phone for Emily.
“Em?”
“Hey.”
“Nightmare?”
“Case.” She winced. Short answers meant she was struggling. It was an unconscious thing on her part.
“Both,” Derek surmised. “Want me to pick you up?”
“Are you going to be more than fifteen minutes?”
Derek’s chuckle floated through the phone. He had an uncanny ability of being right on time, squeezing in just before it was necessary. “For you, I’ll be less than ten.”
“I’m not Garcia.”
“Trust me, girl, I know. I’ll bring chocolate.”
“I’ve got coffee. Don’t be late.”
Much to her surprise he wasn’t. His travel mug and hers in hand, she climbed into the Bureau-standard SUV.
“Tell me about it?” he asked as she carefully secured his coffee in one of the two slots.
“I’d rather not,” Emily replied, sipping her own.
“Friend to friend?” he inquired as he handed over her package of peanut M&Ms. She always loved the salt-chocolate mix. “You look like shit.”
“Why thanks. Exactly what a girl wants to hear this early in the morning.” She flipped down the visor above her, checking her reflection in the mirror. She looked a little tired. To her profiling self, she looked worn.
“Take time. It won’t kill you.”
“I’m fine, Derek,” she fought back, ripping open the chocolate after flipping the visor back into place.
He hummed. “JJ get you to call?”
“You went out last night?”
“I invited you.”
Emily wrinkled her nose. “I’d rather not be left behind thanks.” They’d been lucky to draw a Virginia case the last time, but it had worn them all. Two cases back to back like this “ plus the continuing recovery of Colorado, Reid still couldn’t look her in the eye “ wasn’t going to be pretty. It was the first time since she’d gotten the pain pill prescription for her cracked ribs that she’d taken one. Even that hadn’t kept the nightmares at bay.
They made the rest of the drive to Quantico in silence and Emily knew Derek was hoping she’d drop off to sleep. She sighed. The nightmares were brutal, sure, but they’d all dealt with them before. She’d dealt with them before. She still had the odd nightmare about Jane and Frank jumping in front of the train, of Gideon’s Sarah bloody on Gideon’s bed. They came and they went. It was just what happened. The latest batch of her back in the compound with Cyrus would pass in time.
Spencer Reid was just getting on the elevator when they arrived. “Morning!” he squawked, meeting Derek’s eyes but not Emily’s.
“Hey Reid,” Derek answered, darting a glance between his colleagues. He knew it bothered Emily that the young doctor was still feeling guilty. It had been Emily’s choice to take the hit and in Derek’s humble opinion, regardless of what Reid had gone through with Henkel, Emily knew she could handle whatever Cyrus had dished out. Reid, on the other hand, was a little more fragile. He knew Emily would make the same decision again, even if she knew what was going to happen.
The elevator ride was eerily silent. Emily sipped her coffee, both hands wrapped tightly around the travel mug. It was the only outward sign of her discomfort and annoyance. Both men let Emily precede them out of the elevator, following her directly up to the conference room. Jennifer “JJ” Jareau was already there, files neatly in front of every place. She greeted them with a grim smile.
“Hotch and Rossi are in their offices,” she said. “Garcia should be here shortly.”
Silence reigned as it usually did when they were called on cases in the early hours of the morning. More often than not, they were the most gruesome, the worst of the worst, and everyone had their own way of going about preparing for those.
And this one didn’t look to be shaping up much different.