Chapter Eighteen

~Reid's POV~

I needed to get out of that room, I needed a place to think. It was extremely unprofessional of me to even walk out that door. I've never used the term, "I need some fresh air." before. What's wrong with me? I shook my head and walked down the street, pulling out a sheet of paper.
I was able to narrow my map down to a 10 mile radius. They wouldn't go too far out of their comfort zone if Charlotte still wasn't in their grasps. They would be close enough to tease us and figure out a plan to get the other child back to them.
I sighed heavily, sometimes I hated having a eidetic memory. Rachel's face flashed through my mind. Her fear. Her pure and raw fear, just burned into my brain.
I took a deep breath and felt the rays of the sun beat down on my face. I need to get out of my mind. I'm part of the FBI, I need to start acting like it. I pushed my hair out of the way and watched the leaves falling around me.
I walked down the sidewalk, brushing past people and keeping my head down. I lost track of time, watching my feet step over cracks and avoiding dead leaves in my way.
I noticed the change from sidewalk to dirt. When I looked up, I found myself on a dirt road. It was the edge of town, woods on each side by now. I knew I wasn't very far from the other agents, maybe an hour's walk at the most. I didn't turn back though, I just kept walking.
As I walked, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw who it was, J.J. I sighed and placed it by my ear, waiting for her to speak. I should've never left, why did I leave? The last thing Rachel needs is someone else walking out on her.

"Reid? We need you to come back, Rachel needs you. She's scared Reid, you're the one she has gotten close to the most and she needs you here."

I didn't answer back for a few seconds, my feet turning me around. I looked back down the road, the path disappearing over a hill. Say something Reid, she's waiting.

"Did you know that 40% of kidnappers are usually family members or people you know. Statistics say that..." I trailed off once I heard the silence ringing on the other line.

"Reid, please come back." J.J pleaded.

I briskly walked all the way to the office, my soles of my feet throbbing and my breathing slightly off. I rushed up the steps and opened the door leading into the room where we watched Rachel.
Hotch looked at me and nodded, scribbling down descriptions and notes of the building Rachel was kept in. She was slumped in the chair, her eyes slowly blinking at the screen. It was almost haunting.
Her father had managed to suck the life out of her. I could see her hair that was now cut up and uneven around her face. I shouldn't have just left.

"We...he won't let us answer a damn question! He doesn't give us enough time to help her!" Morgan said, his voice deep with anger and disgust.

"He wants to see her in pain, he knows it will anger us when he doesn't give us a fair chance. He is starting to figure out what makes us falter, what makes you hesitate, Morgan. He knows how much you want to help her out. He's toying with us." I answered to him, swallowing a lump in my throat.

   Garcia wasn't anywhere to be seen but I could hear the rapid taps on a keyboard as she flew through files and documents to help us. I sighed and made my way down the hallway to Charlotte, hoping to get some hints or clues. I quickly walked into the room and saw her coloring in a book. Various crayons and papers were strewn about around her.
When she heard me come in, she looked up and grinned at me. I smiled back at her and crouched down to her level. She held up a piece of paper until I took it gently from her hands and looked at it. Several stick figures were on it, one with squiggly lines of brown hair and a pencil smile.
   Above the stick figures was each of our names, including herself and Rachel who was drawn in the middle of us all, our stiff arms holding each other's non existent hands. She looked at me with her bright eyes and smiled, looking at the paper and than at me. She pointed to the one with long brown hair that was standing next to Rachel.

"That Is you Reed!" She said, holding the 'e' in my name out a little too long.

I chuckled quietly and nodded, complimenting her.

"It's a great picture Charlotte, I will make sure to hang this up on our board so that everyone can see, alright? First, I need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?" She nodded and sat on the couch next to me.

   I tried to think of a way to word the question, making sure she would understand it. She is just a child after all.

Think Reid, think...

"Did Rachel ever talk about..a place she used to go with her cousin? Cousin Bee would take her there all the time. She would say how much she loved that place, it made her happy. Does any of that sound familiar to you?"

   She looked confused for a few minutes, her eyebrows scrunching together. I could tell she was totally lost and I was starting to get desperate. Every minute lost could've been a minute saved from Rachel and her torture.

I had to keep pushing...

"Did she ever mention a barn..a certain house..maybe a field?" I asked quietly, trying to keep myself from being too persistent.

   It took a few extra more minutes of anxious waiting, but then I saw her eyes light up.

Bingo.

   She told me to hold on and sprinted out of the room and went into J.J's office. She ran back to me and shoved a couple papers into my waiting hands. I looked at them quickly and had to take a double look.
  Rachel liked to draw, a lot. I was correct, it was a barn. Its rickety old doors and broken windows told me it had to of been there for awhile. The sun was already set below the barn, only a few golden streaks penciled into the gray clouds.
The weeds were sketched in front of the barn and hiding most of the bottom view. A loft was placed above the rusty double doors and it opened slightly, smudged darkness only being seen inside. The trees were bending slightly, giving it the illusion that it was windy or stormy.
Behind the towering barn was a road, and it looked so familiar. It winded and turned into nothing as it plunged into the wood line of the trees. Why did this look so familiar? Had I been here before?

It looked so familiar, too familiar.

   My heart pounded in my chest and my hands shook with excitement.

I knew this place.

   I shifted through the rest of the pictures, seeing quick or detailed sketches of the same barn and parts of what was on the inside.
Charlotte had become bored from my silence and laid back down to draw again, completely oblivious to the answer she just unlocked for me. With Charlotte's drawing and Rachel's drawings still gripped in my hands, I stumbled out of the room and towards the others.
Breathing hard and my eyes wide, I burst into the room and caught the attention of them all. I quickly glanced at the screen, seeing the same thing I saw before I left. Hotch was the first to turn and when he looked at the expression on my face, he knew that I had something. Morgan eventually tore his eyes away from Rachel and turned to look at me. Quickly, every one had their eyes on me.

"I can see your gears turning, kid. Don't hold back." Rossi said.

   Penelope crept into the room and watched me, her eyes lowering down to the drawings. I held them up, letting them see a good look at her pictures.

"These...are drawings of where she used to go with her cousin, Bee. She has been drawing these ever since she got here."

   I looked at Rachel, fear in her eyes and her body motionless. The baby was now placed in her lap, squirming and clenching her little fists around Rachel's stiff clothes.

"I know where she is... I know where Rachel might be."