Running

Chapter 11

A sharp rap on the door wakes me up. My eyes crack open as I try to identify my surroundings. I'm in the hotel room. Spencer's under me. I place a hand on his chest to feel his chest rise in sync with his breathing.

The knocking sounds again and I slowly sit up. My eyesight is still fairly blurry, and when I look around I notice it's still dark outside.

Another knock. Spencer groans, rubbing his eyes. "Hey..." he says. His voice rough. I smile. "Hi..."

The person continues to bash on the door. I glance at the clock. It's 4:23am. I slowly stand up from the bed, and Reid sits up, running a hand through his bed head. His brown hair is all over his face as he stands, following me to the door.

I crack it open but the hall is empty. I look back and forth out the door, but there's no one in sight. All there is, is a white envelope on the ground.

"Elle," Reid says pointing.

I nod and pick up the the paper, shutting the door. I walk back to the bed and flick on the lamp, the sudden light causing a slight pain behind my eyes.

The envelope is small. Eleanor scrawled on the front in cursive. A hand writing I know well.

"Shit..." I say, staring at it.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Ray..." I whisper, slipping my finger under the flap to open the envelope.

There's a message, and I could swear for a second that my heart drops.

Isn't it proper etiquette to help a friend in need?

"There's two UNSUBS," I say. My voice barely a whisper.

"What do you-"

"When my dad kidnapped his victims, he was always sneaky. That's how he got away with it for so long. He'd be quiet, and he'd blend in- that's the MO for the first two abductions. But the third... it was messy. It wasn't done right, there were witnesses. Because the man just wanted the kid. He wasn't interested in waiting to do it right, he just wanted it done."

I pause, the facts running through my mind at maximum speed.

"Help a friend in need. Somebody, he-he was mentoring somebody so that they could do what he did. He helped with the first two but our man wanted to do the third on his own. My dad doesn't do boys. But, he took girls, and he kept them and-and he raped them..."

My voice grows small. "He was helping somebody else kidnap these kids to rape them. Just like him. And now... now he's gone."

Spencer curses under his breath.

"Ditto," I say.

My chest becomes constricted. "I know," I say. "I-I know. But I don't remember-Spence I need to remember. He-I-"

"Hey hey, it's okay, calm down." He runs his hands up and down my arms. I nod my head slowly.

"We-we have to wake up the team. We have to go do something, Spence this is a lead! We need to... need to do something." My brain is too tired to think straight.

I push him away lightly. "Go, go get dressed. Get the team. I know it's four in the morning but we have to do this now. I'm gonna try to figure out where that letter came from."

Instantly, without thinking, I pull off my shirt, walking to my duffle. I can hear Spencer take a sharp breath from behind me, but I ignore it. Instead I turn to him and make a rushing motion with my hands.

"Go! Spence, now!"

"Right-right." He leaves as I pull on a black tight fitting long sleeved shirt. I tug on a pair of jeans and rush out the door. My gun in it's holster, bouncing slightly against my thigh.

I make it the front counter. A woman I don't recognize sits at the desk. Her gray hair pulled into a tight bun.

"Excuse me, miss. Can you tell me who dropped off this letter?"

She glances up at me. "Nope." Is all she says.

"Ma'm, I am a federal officer, I need you to tell me who dropped off this letter."

She gives me a once over. Her brown eyes scrutinizing.

"Your Raymond's kid aren't you?"

I clench my jaw. "I am Agent Eleanor Price with the FBI. Who dropped off this letter?"

She huffs out an angry breath. "A man. I didn't see his face. He just walked in and went upstairs. I could hear pounding from down here. Assumed somebody was doing it on the floor."

It's at this moment that Reid comes down the stairs. The lady looks at him, then back at me, and raises a brow.

"Was I wrong?"

"Very. The man left. Did you see his face then?"

"Nope. He kept his head low. One thing for certain, it wasn't your old man."

I give her an aggravated sigh before turning away from the counter. I look down at the letter in my hands. No address. No stamp. Just my name.

"That means somebody got this letter from my dad," I say.

Reid nods. "The UNSUB."

The elevator dings and the teams steps out. I quickly explain the current situation to them, and Hotch instructs everyone to get to the station. However, I don't make off Scot-free.

"Price," Hotch says, his tone undeniably set in a warning.

I stay behind.

"Penelope gave me a call about everything she found out about Raymond Grace. He got out of prison two years ago for the rape of ten different young girls. The report said that the girls were only found because someone came and unlocked the doors of whatever building they were in. No one could give a description of their location. But, nobody came forward for unlocking the doors, either.
"His wife, Marilyn Grace, divorced him the year he was arrested. It just so happens he had three girls of his own. Adeline Rayne Grace, who is currently twenty years of age. Rachael Darlene Blake Grace, whos twenty three. And one Eleanor Grace, who would be twenty six as of April. But she went AWOL when she was sixteen. After her father was arrested.
"She also just so happens to be a possible victim. Although she denied it... photos don't lie."

I flinch at those words, remembering the moment they came out of someone else's mouth only yesterday.

"Is there something we should know about?" he asks.

I sigh. "Lots of stuff..."

He raises a brow. He wants an answer to the question he hasn't voiced, but very obviously presented.

"Eleanor Grace died the moment she left those woods for good," I say, before walking out of the hotel.