A/N: I know nothing about whether or not a newspaper can be stopped legally from publishing a story, so I am going to use my imagination. And as a fellow writer told me, this is fan fiction.
Chapter 11-Haley's Interview and Rossi's Request
After leaving the BAU, David Rossi sat in his vehicle in the parking lot of the FBI building. Now that he had diffused Strauss' plan, he would need Garcia's help for what he had in mind next. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed the tech's number.
"At your service, sir," Garcia said.
"Kitten, I need a huge favor from you."
"Ask away."
"The reporter who wrote the story about Hotch is Daniel Laramie. We need to try and stop that story from coming out in tomorrow's edition. To do that, we need to get an injunction in place. But we need time to get one. Can you access Laramie's computer?"
"I can crash his paper's entire system if you ask me nicely."
Rossi chuckled. "I just need you to work your magic. And I'm asking nicely."
"Anything for Hotch." Garcia's fingers flew over her keyboard while Rossi waited. "Done!" Garcia said cheerily after a few minutes.
"Do I dare ask what you did?"
"I went in and deleted the entire story, and anything connected to it from both Laramie's and the paper's computer systems. And then I did a thing."
"A thing? What thing?" Rossi wasn't sure he really wanted to find out.
"Well, sir, after I deleted the story, I sort of crashed their entire system. They won't be able to publish much less write anything for at least twenty-four hours. Is that enough time to get the injunction?"
Rossi smirked. "Garcia, you are a wonder. You just earned yourself two dozen red roses."
"Thank you, sir." Rossi imagined the tech analyst was blushing.
"I'll see you later this evening." Rossi disconnected the call and started the engine of his vehicle. He had one last task to carry out, and it required seeing a judge who owed him a favor.
JJ sat in the SUV staring quietly out the front passenger window as Prentiss drove, the brunette occasionally glancing at the blond. Her friend had been quiet since they left. She just wished JJ would talk to her about her feelings. Prentiss licked her lips.
"JJ? You okay?" It was a stupid question, but Prentiss needed to get the woman to talk to her. JJ didn't answer, but continued to stare out the window. "Please talk to me." Not getting an answer, Prentiss swallowed the lump in her throat. "I understand if you don't want to talk now. But I'm here for you when you're ready." She turned her full attention to the road again.
"It isn't right," JJ said without turning after a few minutes. She kept her eyes on the passing scenery outside the window.
Prentiss glanced at her. "What isn't right?"
"Hotch didn't deserve what happened to him. He doesn't deserve the story the newspaper is going to run about him in tomorrow's edition. Nor what Strauss will do to his reputation within the Bureau. But she is the president of the I hate Aaron Hotchner fan club. It just isn't fair, Em."
"No it's not. Hotch didn't, and doesn't, deserve any of this. But you can't blame yourself for what happened with that reporter. Dan Laramie is an ass."
JJ turned and looked at Prentiss with a small smile. "I let Hotch down, Em." She wiped at something in her eye. "He needed me to protect his reputation and I failed him. Now everybody will think Hotch was a drug dealer and a dirty agent. And all the good he's done for people will be destroyed."
"Trust me. Hotch would not blame you in any way, JJ. I know he wouldn't."
"You don't know that, Em."
"Yes I do. If he was with us right now, Hotch would say you cannot control what people do or say. You tried with Laramie, JJ. Trust me, Hotch knows you tried. And when all this is over, we will deal with Laramie."
JJ offered a brief smile at the brunette. She appreciated Emily trying to make her feel better over what she still considered her failure to protect Hotch.
"Also…" Prentiss continued. "Rossi will handle Strauss. And as far as that reporter goes, we'll force the paper to print a retraction and an apology after we prove Hotch innocent." She smiled at JJ. "And then we'll sic Garcia on Laramie." That got a chuckle out of JJ which, in turn, made Prentiss chuckle. "Feel better?"
JJ smiled. "A little. Thanks, Em."
"Anytime." Prentiss turned onto the block where Jessica Brooks lived and slowed down outside an average size red brick house. She parked outside the house, and she and JJ got out and approached the residence. They were surprised not to see any reporters camped outside, but that would change once the story broke. Prentiss knocked on the door and waited.
About a minute went by before the door cracked open and Haley Hotchner peered out warily. She looked relieved when she saw both agents and opened the door wider.
"I was afraid you were reporters," the woman said with a hand over her heart, a small smile on her face. "They've been calling all day." She stood aside and allowed both agents to enter before closing the door. "I finally took the phone off the hook. You can't believe the awful things they're saying about Aaron."
"We understand," JJ replied. "In fact, that's one of the things we need to talk to you and Jessica about, Haley. And we have more questions for you as well. Is your sister here by any chance?"
"She's upstairs with Jack." Haley looked from JJ to Emily. "What's wrong? Why do you need to speak with Jess?"
"How is Jack?" asked Prentiss.
Haley let out a deep breath. "He's not doing too well," she explained. "He keeps asking for Aaron. Jess and I both explained to him that his daddy's in heaven now. It breaks my heart listening to him cry himself to sleep since the funeral." Her lower lip trembled. "He pulls away from me and won't let me comfort him at all. He'd rather have Jess comfort him. I don't know what to do for him."
"He knows you love him," JJ advised her. "He'll come around once he fully understands what's happened to Hotch. Right now, all he understands is that his daddy's gone and he misses him."
"I just wish Aaron was here," said Haley. She took a deep breath. "I'll go upstairs and get Jess. Have a seat and I'll be right back." Haley hurried past the two women and up the stairs.
JJ and Emily exchanged looks.
"Poor Jack," JJ said. "I wish we could bring Hotch back to him."
"All we can do is make sure Beth pays for hurting that sweet little boy." Emily and JJ turned at the sound of footsteps and saw Haley, followed by her sister, coming down the stairs. Jessica warmly greeted the two agents.
"Haley said you wanted to speak with both of us," Jessica said. "Does it have anything to do with the phone calls we've been getting from a reporter?"
"Let's sit down and we can talk," Prentiss began as she led the way to the sofa followed by the others. They all sat down except JJ. She looked at Haley and Jessica.
"Is it okay if I visit with Jack while you talk with Emily?"
"He'd like that," Jessica said. "I understand all of you are trying to find out who murdered Aaron, but Jack's been asking why you guys haven't been to visit him since the funeral. And he misses Henry."
With a nod, JJ turned and hurried upstairs. As she did so, Prentiss faced Haley and Jessica. She really didn't want to bring up what she had to, but it needed to be done.
"Do you have time to answer a few questions, Haley?" she asked.
Haley let out a deep breath. "I guess so." For a moment, there was a flicker of something in the woman's eyes that Prentiss saw. But it was gone so quickly that she wasn't sure she had really seen it.
Emily looked at Jessica. "I'd like to speak with your sister alone right now if it's all right?"
Jessica smiled. "I'd like to stay if you don't mind. I might be able to offer something to your questions." Prentiss shrugged.
"What I have to ask will not be easy for you, Haley, but I have to ask." She paused and licked her lips. "When you and Hotch were separated, did he ever date other women? Or you other men?"
While Haley remained silent, Jessica became angry at what Prentiss was inferring, and was about to open her mouth, but her sister stopped her with one word.
"Yes." Haley hung her head while Jessica gripped her hand which lay in her lap.
"You never told me, sis," Jessica said.
"It wasn't me, Jess. I could never bring myself to go out with another man except Aaron. Besides, I had to concentrate on Jack. But Aaron told me about a woman he had met one time, but there was something about her that troubled him, so he did his best to avoid her."
"You never told me Aaron met a woman," said Jessica, surprised. Haley nodded her head.
What was it about her that troubled him?" asked Prentiss, eyes narrowed.
Haley rubbed her forehead and sighed. "He told me she had approached him in a bar where he had been drinking. A lot I guess. She bought him dinner and drove him home as he told me he was quite drunk. He said she uh…she…called him the next morning asking if he was all right. That's when she told him how fantastic he was in bed despite being drunk. He was horrified because he didn't remember anything from that night, and we were trying to work out our problems. I believed Aaron because he would never knowingly cheat on me and our marriage even if we were separated. He just wouldn't. But she kept calling him. Every day she called Aaron wanting to meet with him." She bowed her head.
To Emily, based on what Morgan and Rossi had explained about their interview with Beth, it sounded like something she would do.
"What else did Hotch tell you?" asked Emily. Something was troubling her although she had no idea what.
"He apologized and blamed it on having too much to drink that night. He also apologized for the harassment by her. I told him I didn't believe what she had said because I know the kind of man he was. He promised he would stop her phone calls."
"And did he?" Prentiss asked, eyes focused exclusively on the young widow. "Stop her calls I mean."
Haley swallowed the lump in her throat and chewed her lower lip. "No. I found out while Jack and I were visiting my parents for a week, she had come to the house to see Aaron because he wouldn't return her calls." Haley closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her voice trembled. "I was so angry when I found out that I told him he needed to do something about her because she was obviously obsessing over him, and could be dangerous. And I worried she might come after Jack."
Emily's face was impassive. "What did Hotch do? Did he get a restraining order against this woman?"
Haley looked up this time. There were tears rolling down her cheeks. "He wanted to try one last time to convince her to stop her harassment and leave him alone. If he couldn't, he promised to get the order of protection. He telephoned her in my presence and told her he was devoted to his family, was not interested in having a relationship with her, and to stop calling him. And if she refused and continued to harass him, he would get an order of protection against her. I could hear her screaming at him over the phone."
"Did he get the order of protection anyway?"
Haley shook her head. "No. After Aaron warned her, the calls to the house stopped. Aaron never heard from her again, so we assumed she had finally gotten the message and gave up calling. I just never thought…" She let out a deep breath and tried to collect herself.
"What?" asked Prentiss.
"That she would kill Aaron because he rejected seeing her. But I don't understand about the drugs and the money. Do you think she got into our house again and planted the drugs and the other things to set Aaron up before she killed him?"
"Excuse me. Did you just say again?"
Haley nodded. "The week before Aaron became ill with the flu, he and I took Jack to the movies and then went out for dinner. When we returned home, I told Aaron it felt like somebody had been in our house. He checked everywhere but didn't find anything out of place or tampered with, so I brushed it off as paranoia on my part. Then a week later, Aaron became so ill from the flu, I feared I would lose him. But fortunately he pulled through and got better. It made me again wonder if somebody had got into our house and did something that made him so ill. But his doctor assured me he just had a bad case of the flu so I let it drop.
Emily simply nodded. Hotch probably ordered the doctor not to tell Haley he had been poisoned.
"It was not the flu," Prentiss explained grimly. "Hotch had been poisoned with arsenic. But we don't yet know how."
"Oh My God," Haley echoed. "Arsenic? Are you sure?" Jessica gasped with horror.
"Yes. Hotch didn't want you to know so he kept it to himself, and had the doctor tell you it was the flu. I'm sorry."
Haley sobbed openly. "I just know she killed him."
Prentiss placed a hand on Haley's arm while Jessica grabbed and held her sister's hand. It was obvious to the agent Hotch's widow was falling apart. She hated Beth more now than before after hearing what the woman did to Hotch. Emily decided to change her line of questioning.
"Jessica, what did the reporter tell you when he called?" she asked.
Jessica sighed. "He kept asking for our opinion on a story his paper was going to publish tomorrow. A story saying the police had proof that Aaron was dealing drugs and that's what got him killed. Emily, Aaron would never do anything like that. How can they write lies like that about him?"
Prentiss let out a deep breath. Here goes. "The team is investigating Hotch's death even though we were ordered not to get involved. When we checked his gun safe, we found heroin inside along with a ledger in Hotch's handwriting, and a key to a safe deposit box. We also found a slip of paper with a box number and the name of a bank written on it also in Hotch's handwriting. When we checked with the bank, the box in question contained over one million dollars in cash." She waited to see their reactions.
Jessica put a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. But Haley looked as if she was not surprised which didn't go unnoticed by Emily.
"Haley?" asked Prentiss. "Don't tell me you believe that trash?"
"Of course not. Like Jess said, Aaron would never get involved with drugs. He just wouldn't. But…." She didn't finish.
"But what? You either believe the lies or you don't."
"I don't mean to give that impression. It's just that the last few months of his life, Aaron began to change and became secretive. Whenever I asked him what was wrong, he'd say it was nothing or deny anything was wrong. But I didn't believe him."
"What exactly are you saying?" asked Jessica staring at her sister.
"I'm saying Aaron was hiding something from me the last few months of his life but he never would tell me what." She turned to Prentiss. "At work, he was his usual self I'm sure. All of you are profilers after all. But when he got home, he became quiet and almost withdrawn except for when he was with Jack. I didn't know what to make of the change in him."
Prentiss nodded. Hotch probably didn't want her to know Beth was trying to kill him. "Haley, we don't believe Hotch dealt drugs. Somebody set it up to make it look like he that's why he was killed. So far, Reid has discovered the handwriting on the safe deposit box application is not Hotch's, but a very good forgery. Haley, can you think of anybody who had a grudge against Hotch or you? Maybe somebody you might have noticed who appeared a little off."
"You don't think Aaron's death was job-related?" asked Jessica.
"It's possible," said Emily. "But we don't think so. From the level of violence done to Hotch, we believe it was personal." Jessica gasped.
"What do you mean by off?" asked Haley.
"I mean somebody who might have seemed a little strange around you, or who you were a little afraid of?"
Haley shook her head. "We always got along with everybody in our neighborhood." She chuckled. "A few of the neighbors who knew where Aaron worked told him they felt safer knowing an FBI agent lived amongst them." Emily smiled at her words.
"Emily, what do we do about that story coming out in the paper about Aaron? This is going to ruin his reputation completely."
Prentiss didn't want to get the woman's hopes up, but didn't want to scare her either. "We're gonna try to keep it from being printed if we can. And Rossi will handle our Section Chief if she tries to use this to ruin Hotch's reputation within the Bureau and the BAU. But we just wanted to warn both of you of the possibility of a story being printed about Hotch involving drugs. We wanted you both to be ready for the repercussions should the story come out. I won't kid you. It won't be pleasant. But once we have more proof Hotch was set up, we'll demand a retraction and an apology."
"If things become too bad," Jessica looked at both women. "I suppose we can always go to our parents in Philadelphia until this mess is over. We have to do what's right to protect Jack."
Haley rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry," she stammered. "Do you have anymore questions for me? I really need to check on Jack and then lay down for awhile."
"Of course. I just have one more question," said Prentiss. Her mind was spinning from what she had been told. "The woman who harassed Hotch. Did he ever tell you her name?"
Haley let out a deep breath and looked the brunette in the eyes. "Beth," she said. "Beth Clemmons."