19.) 121 Days

*~Omniscient~*

Rossi was on his way into the precinct, feeling a bit fuzzy, due to lack of sleep seeing as how he spent the night tossing and turning. His mind was soley on Marci and how he regretted never telling her how he felt about her. He had plenty of opportunities to do so, but after his previous failed marriages...he wanted to take things slow. Fourteen years...slow...yeah.

"I promise, Marci...I'm going to get Melanie back and I'm going to take care of her. You have my word." He murmured to himself. He took a deep breath, preparing to head inside and get to work, but halted in his steps when his phone started to ring.

"This is Rossi." He answered.

"Hi, David Rossi? My name is Kim, I'm a nurse here at Valley Regional Medical Center, and I was given your number from one of our patients, a Ms. Marcia Pratt. She was brought in last night, with a gunshot wound, and she is asking for you." The nurse said.

"Marci's alive? I'm on my way." He didn't wait for a response, he just got back in the car, and headed towards the hospital. He called Hotch on the way, telling him that Marci was alive, and Hotch told him to be with her while the rest of the team focused on finding Melanie.

"Maybe she knows where Melanie is, so if she's up for it...ask her some questions. I'll send JJ up there and some extra police, just to be on the safe side." Hotch said, before they hung up. When Rossi arrived at the hospital, he hurried inside, meeting with the nurse he had spoke to on the phone.

"A couple found her on the side of the road, with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and brought her in late last night. She went into shock and lost a lot of blood, but her surgery was successful and she'll make a full recovery." The nurse said.

"Did she tell you about what happened to her?" He questioned.

"No, when she woke up, the first person she asked for was you. She said I needed to call you and get you down here as soon as possible." When they arrived at her room, he thanked the nurse before stepping into the room, feeling relieved when he saw Marci.

"Dave..." She spoke, as he took a seat on the edge of her bed. "Melanie...he has her..."

"I know and we're doing everything we can to get her back." He grabbed her hands and kissed them. "Can you tell me what happened? I came home and found blood everywhere, I thought...I thought the worst."

"All I remember is that I was making dinner for you and Mel, when I heard a knock at the door. I went to answer it and there was a man in a mask, who rushed in as soon as I opened the door. I tried to fight him off, but he shoved me into the bookshelf and I blacked out. When I regain consciousness...I was in this god awful barn, face to face with the man that killed my daughter. He told me he didn't plan on killing me, but I knew better. I'm just lucky that he couldn't aim a gun correctly, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now."

"I thought I had lost you. Melanie...she thinks your dead and that asshole is taunting her about it, but I promise you...he won't get away with this." He assured her. "But Marci...can you tell me anything about where he could have her? The clock is ticking and if we don't find her, he's going to kill her. Tomorrow."

"Oh God." She whispered, as the tears filled her eyes. "There's this old...rundown barn, drop dead in the middle of nowhere, which is where he shot me. I'm not sure if he's still there, but it's a pretty secluded area." It wasn't much to go on, but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, they still had a lot of work to do.

~~~

Back at the precinct, Spencer was standing at the coffee station, watching the coffee as it brewed. He felt so useless and as much as he tried to force himself to focus...he couldn't. Melanie was out there somewhere getting tortured, and he had no way of helping her. Or so he thought.

"Alright, kid. Talk to me." Morgan said, as he approached Spencer. "I can tell you're adding something up in your head. What is it?"

"2,412." He responded. "It's the number of hours we spent communicating, counting phone calls and our late night...trips to the diner."

"That's about 100 days, but it's been longer than that."

"121 days to be exact. What if that's all I get?"

"Well, it's not." He said.

"You can't say that." He responded.

"Yes I can. Because when we find her alive and you finally get to lay your eyes on her again, what's the first thing you're gonna say to her?" Spencer sighed, looking up at Morgan, before looking back down at the floor.

"The other night, when I tried to talk Melanie out of meeting with the unsub, she said...I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I love you. Just like that. I love you. I'm not sure if it was just a slip, because she thinks she's not gonna make it, but-" He could feel his voice cracking.

"But she said it, Reid. She said it." He said. "You didn't say it back to her, did you?" He shook his head, feeling a deep pit of regret.

"How could I have, when I had already ended things with her?" He questioned, with tears in his eyes. "I told her that we shouldn't be together, because I knew that if something were to happen to her, I wouldn't be able to focus and I can't!"

"I get it man, I do, but for once...stop thinking about the team and start thinking about yourself. If she makes you happy, then be with her, and be happy. I've known you for years, Reid, and I've never seen you as happy as you are when you're with Melanie."

"I can't lose her."

"You won't. We're going to find her and once we do...you're going to tell her how you feel." He said, pulling Reid into a hug. They pulled back and Morgan gave him a pat on the shoulder, just as Prentiss approached them.

"There's another video!" She said, as they all rushed into the conference room. Garcia had the video set up to the TV, where everyone could see it a lot better. They watched as the unsub injected Melanie with an unknown drug, which made Reid get an instant flashback of when he was forced to take drugs during his time in captivity, and he didn't want Melanie going through what he went through.

"What did you give me?" They heard her ask, as she started dozing in and out.

"Just a little serum I bought. Now...how about you and I play a little game?" Everyone was a little shocked and confused at why the unsub wanted to know about them, but what shocked them even more was Melanie's answers. Especially about Reid.

"He's an excellent lover." She said, in a loud, slurred whisper; making Reid's eyes widen. "I mean...he's an excellent lover of knowledge!"

"Nice save." Morgan snickered. Suddenly, things took a turn, when Melanie started profiling the unsub.

"Garcia, see if you can find any information about the unsub's family." Hotch said, never taking his eyes off the TV.

"I'm way ahead of you, sir." She said, her fingers moving fast. "Javier Gonzales, born to a Teresa Gonzales and the father is unknown. Teresa worked as a cleaning lady and the woman that she worked for died in a car accident, which left her ten year old daughter without a mother. Teresa was granted custody, due to the little girl's mother leaving in her will that she wanted Amelia to be raised by Teresa if something were to happen to her, and she also left her a small fortune. Wow!"

"Any information about the little girl?" Morgan asked.

"Amelia Desoles died on her 11th birthday, from strangulation. They found her near the river, the day after, and she had been raped, beaten, and strangled to death."

"Guys! Guys!" Prentiss said, as they all looked at the sceeen and saw him strangling Melanie. "Why is she taunting him? She's making it worse for herself!"

"No...she's knows exactly what she's doing." Reid murmured. They all watched in horror as the unsub shoved pliers into her mouth, yanking out one of her teeth. "Son of a bitch!" Reid was getting angrier by the second, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. He needed to find something...anything...that would give them a clue to where she was.

"He just walked away without turning off the camera." Morgan pointed out.

"If...if you guys can hear me...I have no idea where I am, but...I...do know I'm not far from my old childhood home. I'm in an abandoned barn...and-" Melanie said, dropping her head, as the unsub came back into the barn.

"How did she know he'd leave her alone with the camera on?"

"She trusted her instincts." Hotch said.

"Change of plans. I need to get rid of her tonight!" They heard the unsub say, which made Reid's heart drop into the pit of his stomach. "I know what I said, but her face is plastered all over the news and I need to get across the border by morning! Sí...be here by midnight." He walked away again, as Melanie's head slowly lifted up. You could see the fear plastered on her face as she tried to move her hand, but she couldn't.

"He changed his M.O. again, he's gonna kill her tonight!" Reid said, feeling a sudden panic shoot through him.

"Garcia, does Javier's mother still live in the area?" Prentiss asked. She clicked away on her computer, her eyes widening, as she gasped.

"Oh God, no...his mother died a week ago. She was found strangled and stabbed to death, her body being discovered just a few days ago, by a friend who was worried when she didn't show up for their Friday night bingo game" She told them. "No witnesses or potential suspects."

"This must be his endgame." Morgan said. "He's tying up lose ends, by killing his mama and Melanie, before fleeing to Mexico."

"Guys...the house Teresa lived in is about three miles away from Melanie's childhood home, and get this...there's a barn a mile away from it!"

"Garcia, send us that address! Morgan, Prentiss, Reid...you're with me. We'll fill JJ and Dave in on the way." They all rushed out of the room, alerting the officers, before heading towards their destination.