Chapter 10

Bannon

It was a short drive of about twenty three miles along the highway 619, to Fredericksburg, the small town where the owner of the fingerprint had his last known address.

He was known as Steve Bannon, and had a rap sheet filled with GBH and threatening behavior. He had been inside several times, the longest was five years. Certainly never anything as serious as attempted murder.

Hotch's hand was tight on his gun. He had never heard of this man. He was certain that he had never done anything to make him want to hurt him. He didn't know about Spencer, though. It was possible that he was the target. It wasn't easy to tell who the primary target was. This guy wasn't professional. He made a lot of mistakes.

They stopped the car in an unsavory part of the little town; small run down houses with unkempt yards. Prentiss was waiting for them at the end of the road.

"Number twelve." said Morgan. "How do you want to do this, Hotch?"

"You two go round the back, I'll take the front." Hotch said. "We need him alive; don't shoot unless you have to. He didn't do all this by himself. We need to know who else is behind this."

Emily and Morgan went down the path that ran along the back of the houses. Aaron approached the front door.

He knocked the door and waited.

The door opened a crack and slammed shut straight away. Hotch kicked the door and pursued the man into the house. It was very quiet; he didn't hear the back door being opened. So the UnSub was still in the house somewhere.

Gun straight ahead, resting on his left hand, Hotch opened each door in turn. He could see Emily and Morgan in the back yard, through the window. Hotch went into the main living room and looked around. Apart from a few pieces of ratty furniture, the room was empty. No UnSub.

As he pulled open a closet, he heard someone in the hall. He swung round to see someone running upstairs.

He beckoned Emily and Morgan in, and followed the UnSub upstairs. He checked out the first room. As he stepped into the tiny bedroom, he heard a gun cock behind him.

Dammit!

"Put your hands where I can see them." a voice said, "And drop the gun."

Hotch obeyed. His gun clattered to the floor. An arm encircled his neck from behind and the gun pressed into the curve of his jaw. Hotch was pulled back so that he was leaning onto the UnSub.

"It was supposed to look like an accident. But if you make a move, I will blow your damned head off."

The UnSub turned, pulling Hotch round so that Hotch stayed in front of him, and he was facing Prentiss and Morgan, who were just coming up the stairs.

"Put your weapons down on the stairs!" he yelled, "And get the hell out of my house."

Hotch nodded ever so slightly. Prentiss and Morgan put down their weapons.

"If you kill him, Bannon, you're finished." said Morgan. "So far, no one has died, but if you kill him, you're on death row."

The arm was tightening on Hotch's neck. Hotch choked, he was starting to feel dizzy. The gun was pressed hard upwards into the floor of his mouth, his head pushed sideways.

"Get out of my goddamned house!" Bannon pushed the gun harder. Hotch groaned in pain.

Morgan backed down the stairs.

"Ok, man, we're going." He held his hands up, palms out. Emily followed suit. Bannon pushed Hotch in front of him down the stairs.

Hotch slipped on the top step, and Bannon's grip loosened for a second. Hotch swung round and felled him with a punch to the face. He turned the dazed UnSub onto his front and cuffed him.

"You," hissed Hotch, "Are under arrest for arson and attempted murder of Federal Agents."

Hotch wanted to rip his head off for what he had done to Spence. He clenched his fists in an attempt at control.

"Get him out of my sight!"

Morgan dragged him out to the car.

They put Bannon in the back of Morgan's car; Morgan sat in the back with him. Hotch rode shotgun to Emily's driving.

Hotch was looking forward to interrogating Bannon.

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"He's lawyered up already!" raged Morgan. "We've got nothing!"

"Who's he getting?" Aaron asked, his voice calm and dark.

"The next guy on the rota, I guess." Morgan said. "The bastard's working with someone, and for someone. How the hell will we make him talk with his lawyer in there?"

"It's who he's working for we need." said Hotch. He put his hand to his head where he had been stitched earlier that day. A bruise was showing on his jaw line. "I'm not feeling so good, Morgan. I'm going to lie down for a bit. Call me when his lawyer arrives, won't you."

Morgan nodded; Hotch went off to find a couch to rest on.

Emily and Morgan watched Bannon through the two way mirror. He looked bolshy and determined. Damn him. They won't be able to come down hard on him with his lawyer there.

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Aaron called the hospital to check on Spence. He was awake now, and they had given him Aaron's message. They asked Aaron when he would be coming back.

"I don't know." he said, wishing he could just drop everything and get over there. "Please tell him I'll be back as soon as I can, and we have made an arrest."

The nurse assured him that she would, and Aaron disconnected.

He laid back on the couch in the lounge, and thought about how his life had changed in the last couple of years.

He had always felt that his relationship with Haley was heading for a fall. It hadn't been so bad before Jack. Before Jack, she accepted that he needed to go into work whenever they called him. But after Jack, it just didn't work any more.

He thought about Jack.

He loved that little boy so much. The way he smiled, the cheeky little look in his eyes when he knew he was being naughty, and knew that Daddy loved him too much to tell him off, the way he got excited when he achieved something, the twinkle in his eyes when he saw his Daddy……

Aaron smiled at the memory, and the smile dissolved into tears when he wondered when he would see him again.

He could hear Morgan calling him. He came into the lounge.

"Hotch, Bannon's lawyer is here, Bannon wants to talk."

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Hotch and Morgan sat opposite Bannon and his lawyer, Smith.

"I have spoken to my client," Smith said, "And he has agreed to cooperate fully, and wishes that this cooperation should be taken into account when charges are brought."

Hotch's eyes were like black flames. They had decided outside that Morgan should conduct the interview. Hotch sat back and tried to relax.

"We want to know who you are working with, first." said Morgan. "The one who designed the clever little explosive device that started the fire, it wasn't you, was it?"

Bannon glanced at his lawyer, who nodded.

"Bob Wood. He designed the device, I planted it."

Morgan nodded. He knew of Wood, although he had been off the radar for several years.

"And where should we find him?"

Bannon slid a piece of paper across the table. "He was there yesterday, but he moves around a lot."

Morgan got up and left the room. He gave the address to the cops waiting outside. They went off to pick him up.

Morgan went back in and sat down next to Hotch again.

"Ok, that's a good start. Now we want to know who you are working for."

"We were hired."

"Ok, who hired you, and what was the job?"

Hotch leaned forward.

Bannon looked straight at him.