Chapter 53
"I don't understand why you don't want Kahlan to know you want to do this, though," Rossi offered as he studied Hotch.
Hotch ducked his head a little. "Because I want to see if it provides proof that my stalker hasn't had her hands on me."
"But. . . wouldn't that be a good thing? Wouldn't Kahlan like that?" Rossi wondered as he gave Hotch a strange look.
"Yes, but I don't want her to think that I don't believe her."
"It's not you not believing her, it's you wanting to cover all possible avenues. That will not make her mad or upset her," Rossi insisted. "Jesus, Aaron. Haven't you two had enough of not sharing of keeping things from each other? Haven't you all gotten past that point?"
Hotch took a deep breath as he considered the words that came from the man he loved as a father. He started to nod slowly. "You're right." He ran a hand down his face. "There is no reason not to tell her. I guess I'm so stressed out by all this that I'm not thinking straight."
Rossi quickly nodded his agreement. "By not working together, you are allowing a wedge to come between you and your wife, and that lets your stalker win."
Hotch gave him a small smile. "Thank God I have you to keep me straight."
Rossi gave his thigh a fatherly pat. "That's what I'm here for."
Hotch nodded and took out his phone. He quickly text Kahlan. 'I want Cameron to check the house to see if my stalker left anything when she was there. What do you think?'
Kahlan response came back instantly, so Hotch knew she wasn't busy doing something important. 'Great idea! Is it sad that I hope she did?'
Hotch chuckled. 'That's not sad at all.'
'You want to ask him or do you want me to?'
'I'll call him. I have time, I'm on the jet.'
'K. Tell him to call me if he needs me or anything.'
'Yep. Love you!' Hotch told her.
' Love you, more!'
Hotch's dimples showed with his wide grin as he switched to call Cam and gave him the go ahead to go sweep the house and to let tell him Kahlan knew, so if he needed anything that he could call her. Cam's relief over Kahlan knowing was obvious, and Hotch couldn't blame him. I'll get everything straightened out. . . eventually.
XXXXX
Kahlan shook her head as she put her phone away.
"What was that?" Chuck asked with concern.
"Hotch. He wants Cam to sweep the house."
"That's a great idea."
"Yeah it is."
"Then why did you shake your head?"
"Because I can't believe I didn't think of that right after she was in the house! I'm an idiot!"
Chuck shook his head at her. "Oh my God, the queen is not perfect, someone call the press," he joked.
She reached over and smacked his arm. "Shut up."
He smiled. "We could do these consults real quick and go over and help Cam," he suggested.
"Yep," she smiled.
XXX
Kahlan had the door open by the time Cam walked up to her door. He smiled at her but gave Chuck a dirty look. "If you knew I was here, you could have come out to help carry this shit."
Chuck gave him his best innocent look. "I am holding the door for you."
Cam huffed and made his way into the foyer and sat his stuff down. "I assume you want to scan for transmissions first?" he asked Kahlan in a whisper.
"Yes. We need to know if there is anything before we accidently happen upon one and let her know we found it."
Cam nodded. "I brought three, so let's split up and each take a floor. I don't need to remind you that. . ."
Chuck grabbed a scanner out of the tub Cam just opened. "No. You don't need to tell us how to do our jobs," he offered with mock offense.
Kahlan laughed and grabbed the one Cam offered to her. "I'll take the top, Chuck, take this floor, and Cam can have the basement."
They nodded, turned the machines on, and headed out to search for anything the stalker might have installed when she was in the house. As Kahlan climbed the stairs toward her bedroom, she prayed that something was found. Even if there is something found, it won't explain the scratches, but it will put Aaron more at ease. She sighed heavily. Please let me find something.
XXXXX
Hotch tried to put his house and the sweep out of his mind as he concentrated on the case. Three police officers had already been killed and the note from the unsub promised a new victim every day until he was caught. They quickly devised a profile but it was generic enough that it didn't narrow down the pool of possibles very much. He spilt his team up with Reid and Mack concentrating on recently paroled criminals who had a beef with the city, Morgan and JJ concentrated on the letter and victims of recent cases, and he and Rossi concentrated on the crime scenes.
By the end of the day, they felt a little closer to narrowing down the unsub, but there was nothing definitive. Hotch finally called it a night a little after eleven. Once he was in his room, he took off his suit jacket and tie and took a deep breath as he took out his phone. He knew Kahlan was waiting for his call, and he prayed that they had gotten something at the house.
"Hey, Hun," Kahlan answered.
Hotch couldn't tell by her tone if the search had revealed anything or not. "Hey, Babe."
"Did you get your message?"
Hotch's brows furrowed. "Apparently not because I don't know what you're talking about."
She sighed. "Did you stop by the front desk?"
"No, we came in a side door. Apparently I need to go down there?"
"Yes, please."
"And you don't want to. . ." he started.
"Not until then," she told him quickly.
"Then, I'll call you back."
"Yep."
He ended the call and went to the hotel desk. Sure enough, there was an envelope waiting for him. He opened it as he made his way back to his room. He stopped in his tracks as he read it, but a small smile formed on his face. 'Listeners were found in the bedroom, the dining room, and family room; but Cam couldn't trace the signal. I left them where they were so we could decide how to handle them. I don't want to talk about anything while at the house, so you will have to call me at work tomorrow when/if you get a chance to really discuss this. I would think we should use them against her, but we can discuss that once you're back home.'
He quickly read it again once he was back in his room and then took out his phone to call his wife back. "That's good news, right?" he asked as soon as she answered.
She giggled. "I guess you could say that."
"I would," he offered. "So can I be. . ."
"I'm not sure," she offered quickly knowing he was wondering if he could be heard.
"I guess we better play it safe then."
"Yeah. How does the case look?"
"Not good. Maybe a couple days, maybe a little more."
"Well, don't stress yourself or you'll have an even harder time. Things will work themselves out," she offered.
"I know," he knew she was talking about the case and his stalker.
"Where's Rossi?" she asked as she realized she hadn't heard him in the background.
"In his room. Garcia is keeping track of things. There's no sign of anything," he assured her.
She took a deep breath. "Aaron. . ."
"I'm fine, Babe. If I thought that it was warranted. . ."
"But. . ."
"But nothing," he insisted. "I'll be fine." Do not need a babysitter!
She bit her lip to stop her from saying what she really wanted to, but if he wouldn't accept the fact that his stalker had gotten her hands on him before, he definitely wouldn't consider that she could do it again. "Alright, Aaron," she conceded. "Promise me that you will keep your eyes open. An unsub like that could be dangerous."
"I know," he answered quickly knowing she was referring to both his stalker and the unsub they were searching for. "I got this."
She tried to relax. "I know. You all are the best. I better let you go so you can get a decent night's sleep. I don't need you too tired to do your job," she tried to joke.
"Yeah. I'll call you tomorrow as soon as I get a chance."
"Alright. I don't have anything on the books, so call my office."
He chuckled. "Being extra careful, huh?" he joked knowing that she wanted him to use the land line just in case.
"One can never be too careful."
He laughed. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Hun. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Babe," he told her and then ended the call.
He took a deep breath as he put his phone on the nightstand. He smiled to himself as he got out his pajamas and headed to the bathroom. That's how she knows those things. She has heard me and Kahlan in the bedroom.
