A/N: Thanks for the favorites and follows on this story! I'm hoping to finish it before January, but who knows when I'll get around to it? I've got school. I have an education to complete! Anyways, enjoy and feel free to comment.
PART THREE: The News
"Rape is a more heinous crime than murder since the rape victim dies throughout the period she lives."
~Amit Abraham
"What?" Hotch mentally slapped himself in the face. He'd known what had happened, but hadn't wanted to say anything in front of his son. Now, he sounded like an idiot. "Kathleen, do you know who it was?"
"Yes… I mean, maybe… but it couldn't have been him," Kathleen murmured. "At least, not the 'him' that I know. It was a different person completely."
Confused by her rambling, Hotch walked over and grabbed her shoulders. In response, Agent Davis jerked backwards with a squeak of terror, falling out of the chair and onto the floor. Hotch reached down to help her up, but she slapped his hand away.
"Don't… Don't touch me," she sputtered as she pulled herself up off the ground. Seeing her boss' shocked face, she sighed and collapsed back into the chair. "I'm sorry."
Hotch returned to his own seat, trying to calm himself down. His hand stung where Kathleen had smacked him. Rubbing it to calm the nerves, he asked, "What exactly happened last night? Kathleen, the only way I can help you is if you tell me. I want to do whatever I can, but I need to know who's responsible for this. Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and talk about it. Trust me, you'll feel better."
She did exactly as he asked up until she passed out in Zeke's arms. Then, she muttered, "Oh, God," and tears streamed down her face.
"It's okay," Hotch reassured her. "You don't have to tell me about it. So his name is Zeke?"
Kathleen nodded. "Ezekiel Carey."
Hotchner rose from his chair and made a beeline for the phone. He yanked it out of its stand and dialed 911.
Kathleen stood up as well, but her feet were planted firmly beside the table so that she did not approach him. "Who are you calling?"
The phone began to ring, so Hotch quickly replied, "the police."
The young agent watched wide-eyed as her boss told the police to be on the lookout for a man named Ezekiel Carey. He used Kathleen's description of him and warned that he had raped a woman by slipping a roofie into her drink. Aaron noticed that Kathleen looked away when he mentioned the rape. When he hung up, he locked eyes with the victim.
"Kathleen," he began gently. "The police would like to talk with you about what happened."
"But you just told them!" Kathleen protested. "What more do they need to know?"
"They need your clothes from that night, the address of the crime scene—" Kathleen glared at him, but Hotch recovered. "—Erm, location, I meant, and they need to know what happened."
She began to pace around the kitchen. "No, no, no, I can't do this."
"You can only tell them as much as you're emotionally able," Hotch tried to reason with her. "They won't push you around."
"I can't say anything!" Kathleen hissed. "When I try to say something about it, it's like my throat's a desert, or something. It gets all dry and I—"
"Daddy!" Jack and Toby burst through the kitchen door, rendering Kathleen silent. Hotch was about to scold Jack, but realized that his son had no idea what was going on.
"Yes, Jack?" Hotch leaned down to talk to him.
"Can we have lunch now? We're hungry!"
Aaron smiled. "Okay, buddy. What do you two want?"
About ten minutes later the young boys were drinking milk and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and applesauce. Kathleen refused to eat anything at first, but Hotchner heard her stomach growl. Eventually he persuaded her to have an apple.
"We also need to go to the hospital," Hotch told her under his breath so the boys wouldn't hear him. "I'm thinking of dropping off the boys at Toby's house. His mom said that she's home in case I get paged for work."
Kathleen looked away, putting the half-eaten apple on the counted she was propped up against.
When the boys finished their lunches, Hotch herded everyone into the car and drove the boys back to Toby's house. He waved them goodbye and explained to the mother that he had unexpected business to take care of. Toby's mother saw Kathleen in the passenger's seat and asked who she was.
"A coworker," Hotch told her before saying he'd pick Jack up at four-thirty. After a quick goodbye, he pulled out of the driveway and headed for Kathleen's house.
"Collect everything that you had from last night," he reminded her as she climbed out of the car and walked up to the house.
Hotchner seemed to be having déjà vu—Kathleen was, as she had been earlier, taking forever in her house. Once again worried, Aaron headed up the walkway and entered Kathleen's home, searching upstairs for her. This time, she was seated on her bed, staring down at the tattered dress that she held in her quivering hands. Aaron knocked as lightly as he could manage, but Agent Davis still jumped in astonishment.
"What? What's wrong?" she asked, clearly panicking.
"Nothing, don't worry!" Hotch told her, shaking his hands. "I was just making sure you were okay. You've been up here for a while, you know."
She tightened her grip on the dress and closed her eyes, struggling to calm down. "Okay," she eventually spoke. "Let's just go."
They suffered through yet another car ride during which no one spoke. The only sound that either of them was aware of was the air whistling past the car as they zoomed down to the police station. Once there, Kathleen handed over her clothes and purse, which a man named Officer Wilbur took for inspection. Hotch was ordered to wait in the lobby while Kathleen was taken in for questioning. Officer Mazie Gilmont offered him a cup of coffee, which he accepted graciously. The two conversed about Kathleen for a while.
"Police are out searching for Mr. Carey's car," Officer Gilmont said. "It's a green pick-up, so we're hoping they can find it before Mr. Carey leaves town. He's a child psychologist from Boston, so he may have decided to head back there."
"I hope you can catch him," Hotch replied. "Rape is a serious crime."
"Indeed it is," Officer Gilmont agreed.
Just then, Officer Wilbur hurried over to the two with a file in his hands. "They just found Ezekiel Carey's truck. It's completely destroyed."
Officer Gilmont jumped up. "Where is it?"
"Just off Interstate 95," he told her.
