Chapter 36
Hotch waited behind a SWAT officer and as soon as the team at the back of the house was ready, they breached both doors at once. Within moments they cleared the house and realized it was empty. SWAT made to leave as Hotch and everyone else searched the house for evidence. Hotch walked into the kitchen and put a hand around one of the coffee cups. Shit! They were just here! "It's still warm," he told Rossi.
Rossi noticed Hotch's look was a mix of fear and rage. Rossi was really hoping they would find Kahlan or at least one of the missing men. Chuck came walking into the kitchen; the disappointment was very clear on his face. "Chuck, get Morgan and get everyone away from here. They were just here, so they will probably be back." Chuck nodded and left to take care of it.
Reid and JJ came into the kitchen. Reid looked at Rossi with a sad look. "It doesn't look like anyone has been held here. There's not a lock on any of the doors."
"Maybe they are staying here and holding her somewhere else," JJ suggested. "Why is it so cold in here?"
"Well, if they were holding her here, keeping it this cold would keep her in a state of mild hyperthermia," Reid told her and then winced at the look Hotch gave him.
"Well, let's get out of here. We can watch the house and wait for them to come back," Rossi told them as he herded them toward the door. Hotch didn't move, though, and Rossi went back to him. "Aaron?" He noticed Hotch staring at the table.
"What if she's not being held against her will?"
"What?"
"What if what they've done to her makes her where they don't have to keep her as a prisoner anymore?"
"I don't know. Why are you even thinking along those lines?"
Hotch studied the table and the remains of breakfast that sat there. "I think Kahlan was eating here," Hotch told him as he gestured to the plate closest to him.
Rossi saw a partially eaten pancake on a plate and a two-thirds full cup of coffee, but he had no idea why Hotch would think that it was Kahlan who had been sitting there. "How can you tell?" Rossi asked with concern. He was afraid that Hotch was starting to lose it.
Hotch saw the look Rossi was giving him. "Never mind." Hotch leaned down and grabbed the folder sitting on the table. His breath hitched in his chest.
Rossi went to the door. He saw JJ and Reid get in one of the SUVs with Morgan and Tom. Chuck and Rat were waiting at the door for them. "Take the SUV around the corner. Hotch and I will sneak out the back and join you in a few."
Chuck nodded and he and Rat went to the vehicle. He told Morgan what Rossi wanted and both SUVs pulled away from the house leaving Hotch and Rossi alone. Rossi sighed and went back to the kitchen. He found Hotch sitting at the table. He looked over his shoulder and looked at the open folder in his hand.
"Why would they erase her memories and then have a picture of me?" Hotch asked him weakly.
"I don't know, Aaron. Why do you think she was eating here?"
Hotch looked up at him. He knew Rossi didn't believe him, and that bothered him. "Am I so screwed up that you doubt my profiling abilities?"
Rossi gave him a look of pity. "I'm sorry, Aaron. I don't mean to doubt you."
Hotch pointed to the plate. "Kahlan's a little OCD and extremely picky." Rossi nodded, he knew that. "She cuts her food into strips," Hotch told as he pointed to the half-eaten pancake.
Rossi looked at it. "She probably not the only one who cuts their food like that."
"But she doesn't like soggy food either." Rossi noticed the pancake didn't have any syrup on it. There was a puddle of syrup on the side of the plate not touching the pancake. "How many people do you know do that?"
Rossi gave him a small smile. "Ok, she was here. She's staying in this house with at least that guy from the photos, and they have a picture of you. What does that mean?"
Hotch stood up and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "I don't know, but I don't like it." Rossi put his hand on Hotch's shoulder. "Let's get out of here in case someone comes back," Hotch told him and headed for the back door.
Rossi shook his head and followed Hotch out the door. They walked to the SUV in silence. Chuck got out of the driver's seat and climbed into the back with Rat. Rossi noticed Chuck eyeing Hotch with concern. Then he looked at Rossi in the rearview mirror. Rossi shrugged slightly at the unasked question. Hotch was just sitting in the passenger seat looking down at his lap. Rossi's chest hurt for him. He knew Hotch was pissed when he found about what was in the notebook, but now it was like Hotch was shutting down. Rossi knew that if they didn't find out something soon, that Hotch might shut down completely, and that thought scared him. Hotch had been through so much already, and he had broken down a few times, but everything just kept piling up on top of him. Rossi was scared that Hotch would get buried underneath it all. Rossi shook his head. He knew Hotch was a strong man. Hell, any other man wouldn't have been able to handle half of what Hotch has! Rossi also knew, though, that every man had a breaking point; and he was really beginning to think that Hotch was getting close to finding his.
Rossi noticed Chuck tense in the backseat and Rossi watched as a car going down the street slowed as it got close to the house. Chuck relaxed as it drove on by it. Rossi shook his head again. We could really use a break here, God!
XXX
After walking for thirty minutes, Kahlan was ready to turn back. While it felt great to be outside and really stretch her muscles, she was beginning to feel exhausted. She knew it would take time to build herself back up, but she wasn't worried about building herself back up completely. She just wanted to be in good enough shape to take out Hotchner. As soon as they rounded the corner at the top of the hill to the road to the house she put her arm out to stop Tony's forward momentum.
"What?" he asked her shocked by the sudden movement.
"Someone's watching the house," she told him quietly and pulled him behind a van that was parked along the street.
"What?!" Tony asked again as he looked around the van towards the house. "Where?" He asked clearly not seeing anyone.
Kahlan shook her head at him. "See that black SUV parked there on the street to the right?"
Tony looked and saw it. "Yeah?"
"See the other matching SUV up the block to the left?"
"Ohhh. . ." he said as he nodded. He could tell there were people in the SUVs watching the house. He glanced at Kahlan and she could see the look of shock mixed with admiration. "Who do you think they are?"
"I'd say by the government plates that they are FBI. Apparently my Agent Hotchner has found your safe house," she told him and he could tell she was pissed. "You do have somewhere else we can go, right?"
"Yeah, come on," he told her and started back the way they had come.
"Was there anything important in there?" She asked as she took one last look at the SUVs. She could only see the drivers, and she knew that neither one was Hotchner. As she walked away she wondered if Hotchner's whole team was dirty.
"Not really, but I will have to go back and get my car. They'll leave eventually."
XXX
Hotch leaned his head back to stretch his neck muscles. He caught a glimpse of long black hair on someone down the road as she turned the corner out of view. He shook his head. Jesus Christ! Now I'm even seeing her. He sighed heavily. Am I actually going crazy? He reached a hand up and massaged his temples. He was starting to get a headache, and he knew it was going to be a bad one.
After two hours and nothing to see, Rossi turned to Hotch. Hotch had his eyes closed, but Rossi knew he wasn't asleep. "Do you want to just set up police surveillance and head back to the hotel?"
Hotch looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "That's fine," Hotch told him simply.
"No way! Me and my boys will take care of that," Chuck told him from the back seat as he took out his phone. He didn't want to leave anything where Kahlan was concerned to anyone he didn't know personally and trust.
Rossi gave him a small smile and nodded. Chuck called Tom and told him what he wanted to do. About thirty minutes later, Tom pulled up in a late model sedan. Rossi had no idea where the vehicle had come from or how Tom had gotten it when he was in the other SUV, but he watched as Chuck and Rat got out and joined him. "I'll call if I see anything," Chuck told him and Rossi started the SUV.
"Call Morgan and tell him we're heading back to the hotel," Rossi told him and when Chuck nodded, he pulled away from the curb.
Rossi glanced at Hotch. "You want to stop and get something to eat?"
"I don't want anything, but you're welcome to stop wherever you'd like. You should call the team and have them meet you."
"You want to go back to the hotel?"
Hotch huffed. "Like you'd let me go alone."
"It's not that I don't want to let you be alone, Hotch. I just don't think you should be, but if you want some time alone, I understand."
Hotch reached up with a hand and rubbed his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"I have a headache."
"I don't doubt it. You want to stop and get something for it?"
Hotch shook his head as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Rossi sighed, but Hotch's response didn't surprise him. "Will you at least eat something little if we stop?"
"Why? So I can throw up again? No, thank you."
"Hotch you can't keep going like this. You're not sleeping and now you're not eating. How do you expect to keep functioning if this keeps up?"
"I guess I'll go until I collapse."
"That's not funny!"
"I wasn't trying to be."
Rossi shook his head. "Do you want to go to the hotel?" He knew Hotch was getting physically and mentally exhausted. Maybe some alone time would help him.
"Sure."
Rossi shook his head. Somehow, he knew the only thing that would really help Hotch was finding Kahlan. He drove to the hotel in silence, and when he pulled up to the door, Hotch got out without a word and headed for the door. "We'll be back in an hour or so," Rossi called to him and Hotch raised his hand to let him know that he heard him. Rossi watched as Hotch walked in and then he took out his phone to call Morgan. They decided to meet at the Denny's not far from the hotel.