*Sorry for the delay, but the site wouldn't let me into my 'Manage Stories' page to post it. I really hope once they let me, that it actually posts.

Chapter 54

Kahlan stared at her phone on the nightstand and then looked at her husband's matching nightstand on the other side of the bed. She had found the listener on the back of it. She was glad they hadn't found any cameras; listening in on them was bad enough, and she didn't want to consider anyone watching them. She apparently got her fill of Aaron through his laptop. She huffed. Thank God I never had mine anywhere near me after hours. She shook her head and hen laid down. She stared at the ceiling as she thought about what they could do to use the bugs to their advantage.

After a few moments she rolled over on her side. That's pathetic, Kay. You can't go to sleep because you know someone's listening? She felt her anger rise. No, it's because you know for sure she has been in your house and she's after your man! Fucking bitch!

She rolled over onto her back again, and her heart sank as she thought about her husband's stalker some more. What kind of woman have you come in contact with, Hun? She picks locks, she has bugs. . . She slammed a fist down onto the bed. She seems an awful lot like me. Son of a bitch! And she uses computers like Cam and Pen. . .

She got up and went down to the kitchen. She grabbed a beer out of the fridge and went out onto the back deck. The yard was free of listeners, so it gave her a little peace. So she has training. . . or she has friends who can do stuff like that. . . Is it someone I know? She shook her head and then took a drink. No, anyone I know would know not to mess with me, right? She pursed her lips as she considered the implications of it being someone like herself. Her chest tightened. My God, Aaron could be in serious danger! She shook her head as her anger started to rise. If she wanted him dead, he'd be dead already. She's had her hands on him so she could have easily killed him. So she wants him alive. . . Shit! What the hell does she want with you, Hun?

She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. Don't stress over something you're not even sure about. She took another drink and felt herself relax a little. I have to figure out who it is. I have to get her to give me some clue as to who she is. I need to provoke her into giving me something I can use against her. Her brows furrowed as she thought about it. You're not a stupid woman, Kay. You can figure something out. She nodded and took another drink. A smile formed on her lips. Not a big smile, but the little smile was definitely evil. I can't wait until you call me again.

XXXXX

Hotch laid in the hotel bed and stared at the ceiling. The case wasn't keeping him awake; it was thoughts of his stalker that kept blissful sleep just out of reach. She isn't just some random woman. She has training. . . She has bugs. . . She can hack a computer and a phone. . . He shook his head roughly. This has spy written all over it! His heart skipped a beat as he considered exactly how dangerous the woman could actually be. Son of a bitch!

He rolled over onto his side and grabbed the extra pillow and hugged it to his chest. Try as he might, he couldn't get the nagging feeling deep down in his gut to go away. After a few minutes he threw the pillow away and sat up. It's time to change things up a bit. I'm tired of playing this game. If she likes to sit and run things from a distance, then I'll just have to take the fight to her. His eyes sparkled as the corners of his mouth tilted up in a slight smile. She wants me and Kahlan to break up, then that's exactly what we're going to do.

He got up and took a drink of the cold coffee he had left on the table. He nodded as he thought about it some more. She wants me. . . then she's going to have to come and get me. He took a deep breath and felt himself finally relax. He laid back down; finally having a plan let his mind rest and sleep came quickly.

XXX

Half way through the next day, a shudder ran through Hotch as he looked over the newest crime scene. He wasn't sure what the feeling was, but it left him a little uneasy. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the officer giving them a report. Another dead cop had the whole precinct in foul moods, and the BAU couldn't blame them because they felt the same way. Once the officer was done, Hotch stepped off to the side and Rossi joined him. "What?" Rossi asked questioningly; he had noticed Hotch's behavior change.

Hotch shook his head a little. "I don't know," he admitted.

Rossi faced morphed into outright concern. "It's not Kahlan?"

Hotch's head snapped to him; he hadn't thought about that. "I don't think so," he offered weakly. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the feeling. After a few moments, he shook his head. "No, it's not Kahlan, but something's not right."

"With what?" Rossi asked slowly.

Hotch looked around slowly. "I don't know yet."

Rossi brows furrowed as he studied him. "Well, when you figure it out, let me know."

Hotch nodded and then went back to the scene.

XXX

By the end of the day, the feeling had never left Hotch and he finally figured it out; he was being watched, and it pissed him off. He wasn't sure if it was his stalker or the unsub. When he shared his feeling with his team, they were all deeply concerned. "Are you going to tell Kahlan?" JJ asked him as they sat around the conference table eating a quick meal of takeout burgers and shakes.

"No, it might be the unsub. Garcia hasn't found anything in the computers," Hotch tried.

"Yeah, but if it's her and she's here, she wouldn't need to be in the computers. Now would she?" Mack asked and then ate a fry.

Rossi shot Hotch a look that told him he agreed with Mack.

"Yeah, Man," Morgan started and then swallowed a bite of burger. "If it's her, then maybe she has decided to take this to a new level."

Hotch shook his head. "We can't assume it's her. We need to focus on the case. . ."

"True, but you need to be extra careful just in case," Reid told him sternly.

Hotch looked at him. Reid was never that forceful and Hotch knew exactly how worried he was. He looked around at his team; they were all worried. He took a deep breath as he sat his burger down. "Fine. I will promise to not be alone. Is that acceptable?" He didn't want any of them to call Kahlan because he knew she would rush down there to protect him, and he wasn't sure it really was his stalker.

"Including in your room?" JJ asked him quickly.

Hotch stared her down, she swallowed hard but didn't back down. After a few seconds, Hotch sighed deeply. "Fine."

Rossi shot JJ a grin and she returned it proudly and stuck a fry in her mouth.

XXX

The next day, they had narrowed down their unsub and had split up to trace down a few leads. Hotch wanted Rossi to interview a couple of older retired police officers, but Rossi didn't want to leave Hotch. Hotch was going to take Mack with him, but Morgan suggested that he go with Hotch and Rossi agreed with a smile. Hotch didn't particularly like the idea of his team deciding things for him, but he relented to pacify them and their worry.

After interviewing a witness, they had a description: a twenty to thirty year old man with medium length brown hair, and brown eyes. That general description fit about six men on their short list, so they set out to interview those six. Hotch and Morgan pulled up to the second house on their list. "Looks a bit shabby," Morgan offered as he studied the house as they walked up the drive. The unkempt lawn was another testament to the owner's lack of pride. Morgan shook his head. The old house could be beautiful with a little work.

"Our profile says that the unsub would have withdrawn from society," Hotch offered as they approached the door.

Morgan nodded as he peaked in the window closest to the door. "Yep, and the inside looks even worse," he offered on a hushed tone and then knocked on the door.

After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a mountain of a man. His brown hair hung in disgusting, oily clumps as looked at the two agents before him. "What?" a deep tenor asked.

"Steven Piles?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, and you are?"

"We are Agents Morgan and Hotchner with the FBI," Morgan answered as he and Hotch both took out their credentials and showed them to the man.

Piles studied them some more. "And?"

"We'd like to ask you a few questions," Hotch offered as he moved a little closer to the door.

"About what?" Piles asked not moving from the doorway.

"Could we come inside?" Morgan asked him with a smile.

"Whatever," Piles offered as he turned from the door and headed into the house.

Hotch and Morgan followed him slowly as they studied their surroundings. They shared a look as they noticed a room off to the side; there was a shadow box that held a revolver and a badge hanging on the wall, but the pistol wasn't there. Their profile had suggested that the unsub may have been a former police officer and ballistics identified the slugs removed from the victims as belonging to a .38, an older standard police issue. Hotch took a deep breath and turned to Piles who had sat down on the couch in the family room. Garcia had told them that Piles had been on the force for thirteen years, but a shooting had left him unable to keep his position as he wasn't able to fully use his right arm anymore. "We were wondering what you have been up to these last couple of days, Mr. Piles," Hotch told him as he studied him.

"Oh, you know, this and that," Piles offered with a grin.

"No, we don't know," Morgan answered as he folded his arms across his chest.

Piles smiled. "Is this about those shootings?"

"Why can't you answer the question?" Hotch wanted to know. He was starting to get an uneasy feeling.

Piles stood up and started for the kitchen. "You two want a drink?" he asked as he went towards the fridge.

Morgan shot Hotch a look, and Hotch knew Morgan was getting the same feeling. This is our unsub. Hotch moved to follow Piles as his hand went to his pistol on his hip.

Piles turned suddenly and slammed into Hotch before Hotch could draw his weapon.

Morgan had his gun out and pointed at Piles within a split second.

"I wouldn't," Piles offered as he stood behind Hotch. His right arm held Hotch to his chest roughly as the other hand held the pistol he had taken out of Hotch's holster aimed at Hotch's head.

Morgan locked eyes with Hotch and then held his hands up in submission. "Let's talk about this."

Piles smiled. "I've been watching you all. It's sad that Marlow had to call in the FBI to help with this case. My beef wasn't with you, but I guess it doesn't really matter now. Drop it!"

Morgan licked his lips as he weighed the odds of Hotch getting hurt if he didn't comply.

"Now!" Piles demanded.

"Alright!" Morgan exclaimed and dropped his pistol. He knew Hotch still had his backup pistol.

"We're going to take a ride, and I don't want you following," Piles told him as he continued to back up towards the door.

"You know you are never going to get away with this," Hotch told him as he tried to position his legs differently.

"Oh, I think I might," Piles told him coldly as he wrestled Hotch backwards.

"You don't need him. You can get in your car and go," Morgan offered quickly.

"But I do," Piles offered with a sickly evil smile. "He's coming with me." He stopped and shook Hotch. "Dump your pockets."

Hotch eyes darted around as he considered what to do. He didn't want to get shot, and he definitely didn't want Morgan to get shot because of him, so he reluctantly emptied his pockets onto the floor.

"We wouldn't want your phone being traced, now would we?" Piles asked.

Morgan winced. That had been his first thought. I hate unsubs who have been cops! They know all of our tricks.

"Now we are going out the door, and if I see your sorry ass, I will shoot him," Piles told him as he started for the door again.

"And then I'll shoot you," Morgan told him seriously.

Piles chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you would, but from what I've seen, you all care too much for each other. You won't risk him."

Hotch swallowed hard. Piles was right. Son of a bitch! I knew we were being watched.

Piles let go of Hotch to open the door, and for a split second, Morgan was worried that Hotch was going to try something, so his look pleaded with Hotch to be careful. Piles was too quick, though, and he had ahold of Hotch again and pulled him out of the door. He slammed it shut and then forced Hotch down the driveway to his car. "You can drive," he told Hotch.

He opened the door and got in as he caught a glimpse of Morgan looking out the window. Hotch smiled mentally; Morgan was already on his phone. Hotch pulled on his seatbelt and silently hoped that Piles wasn't smart enough to put his on. The car was older, but it did have a driver's side airbag. Piles open the passenger door and then turned to the SUV Hotch and Morgan had driven. He shot out both tires on the side facing him.

Hotch mentally cussed. Well, I guess Morgan won't be following us.

Piles got in the car and tossed his keys onto Hotch's lap and Hotch smiled mentally again as he noticed the passenger side didn't have an airbag. Hmmm. . .

Hotch started the car and looked at Piles; he was aiming Hotch's pistol at Hotch's side. "Which way?"

"Just start towards the main road," he told him as he took out a phone.

Hotch put the car in reverse. What the hell? Who are you calling? Are there two unsubs?