The Fugitive
- Chapter Three -
"There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution."― Oscar Wilde
"You don't think he actually killed someone? Do you?" Elizabeth Prentiss asked as she sat in front of her daughter outside the police station.
Emily had contacted her after Aaron had been arrested, and Chauvin had given his statement incriminating Hotch more. This was supposed to be a fun day, they were supposed to be at the lake fishing and having fun. All the guys were supposed to be showing Jack how to fish and Spencer how to water ski. It was a day to laugh at the shenanigans of Morgan and Reid while Aaron and Dave drank beer and expensive Scotch. JJ, Penelope and her were supposed to be making lunch and drinking mimosas while everyone else enjoyed the day as one big, happy family. They were supposed to come home tired and sun kissed, and her husband and her were supposed to put their children to bed, enjoy a few glasses of wine and make love. She wasn't supposed to end up at a police station being interrogated after her husband had allegedly murdered someone, and she most definitely wasn't supposed to be sitting next to her mother asking for help. She had sworn many years ago that she would never ask her mother for anything ever.
"No." She said without hesitation. "Of course not, I know Aaron would never hurt anyone."
"But you think he did have an affair with the woman?" Her mother asked cautiously. She was a very powerful woman, and she would do anything she could to help her daughter and son-in-law, but she needed to know the truth.
"I don't know…I honestly don't know what to think anymore." The last person she wanted to share her feelings with was her mother of all people.
"Em, I know you just want to protect him, but I need to know what we're getting ourselves into."
Emily took a deep and shaky breath, knowing this would change her relationship with her mother forever. She could already hear her saying, "Emily, I told you so you are such a fool."
"We started having issues a few months ago." She confessed, ashamed. "This woman was practically throwing herself at him, and he just kept saying it wasn't anything." She looked away from her mother, blinking some tears away.
"What's your heart telling you?" Her mother asked gently, surprising Emily.
"Umm..." She swallowed the tears. "That I love him and that's clouding my judgment and vision to see the truth."
"Which is?"
"That he grew tired of me, he was bored and he decided to find what I couldn't give him somewhere else." She finished, as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She hadn't really told anyone but her and Aaron were having more than just issues, their sex life had decreased in the past few months and it wasn't his fault, it was hers. All her insecurities and fears that he was cheating on her had messed with her head so much that she had been unable to enjoy their intimacy and reach orgasms so, therefore, she had avoided having sex with him. And it wasn't because she didn't desire him, she loved him madly, but she was afraid that he could see right through her and catch her faking an orgasm which more than likely would lead to another fierce argument.
"Oh honey…" Her mother came closer. "I'm so sorry you're going through all of this. The first time your father cheated on me, I was devastated and felt like my life was falling apart. I didn't think I could keep going on, and one does begin to wonder..."
"How come you never said anything? I don't think I ever saw you doubt yourself."
"Oh Emily, love, I doubt myself all the time." Her mother said gentry, wiping her daughter's cheek. "It's just not showing it, that's what being a diplomat is all about, but this isn't about me, dear, just tell me what it is exactly that you need me to do."
"I don't even know mom." Emily said honestly.
"You still want to help him no matter what the cost is, am I right?"
"He is the father of my girls." Emily said looking down. "Him cheating on me has nothing to do with that.
"But, that's what got him arrested, Em."
"He didn't kill that woman mother; of that I'm sure."
"You were also sure that he would never cheat on you."
"Yeah, I know." She said sadly. "But, he is not a killer, whatever mistakes he made…he doesn't deserve to pay for a crime he didn't commit." It hurt Emily to think about him like that, it really did.
"The situation here, dear, is whomever set him up did a very good job."
"I don't know what to do!" Emily said desperately. "Lewis Davenport, our lawyer, is useless, he doesn't think he can come up with a defense, and after hearing the Director's statement, he doesn't have an alibi, that and the evidence they currently have...it makes him the prime suspect."
"Ambassador Prentiss." A tall Caucasian woman said, walking toward them and hugging the ambassador. "It's nice to see you again."
"Oh, how delightful to see you, Dana." The ambassador said in that obnoxious tone Emily hated so much.
"Emily, this is Dana Venable." Emily had heard of her through the political aspect of her work; Dana was one of the most powerful attorneys in the nation, a very ferocious woman she had heard.
"Dana, this my daughter Emily."
"It's a pleasure meeting you, your mother speaks so highly of you."
"Somehow I doubt that." Emily said as her mother rolled her eyes. "Thanks for coming so quickly."
"Dana, as I explained…my daughter and her husband need help, and I couldn't think of anyone better to represent her case."
"It's a privilege to meet you…is it Miss Prentiss?"
"It's actually Hotchner, but please just call me Emily."
"All right, Emily, your mother told me the details of the case over the phone, but I would like to meet with your husband directly and get his side of things before I decide whether I'm taking his case."
"Absolutely, I understand." Emily said, standing up and leading her toward the entrance of the police station.
Dana spoke to the officers and several detectives, and after a few minutes, they finally buzzed her and Emily inside a room to talk to Aaron.
"Agent Hotchner, your attorney is here."
Aaron looked up to see a woman and his wife walking into the room; he was expecting to see Lewis Davenport, their family lawyer and Dave's friend.
"I'm sorry, I was expecting to see someone else." He said with a knit brow.
"Aaron, this is Dana Venable."
"I know who you are." Aaron said, of course he knew her, not only was he a prosecutor at some point of his life, but Dana was a famously-recognized attorney.
"Thanks for coming. I still don't know what you're doing here."
"Did you ask your mother for help?" He asked confused, knowing full well Emily's complicated relationship with her.
"Can you just talk to her, please?" Emily begged.
"I don't need an attorney, I didn't to anything!"
"I'm sorry we're meeting under these circumstances." Dana said, shaking his hand.
"Emily, this is an attorney-client meeting and I know you guys are married, but I would like to speak to Agent Hotchner alone."
"Of course." Emily said, giving her husband a hard look leaving them alone, while both of them took a seat.
"Agent Hotchner, I know you're aware of this, but I need to remind you again that everything we discuss is covered by attorney–client privilege, it's confidential." Hotch turned to the black two-way mirror anyway.
"Not even Emily will know what we discus." Dana said, looking in the same direction and then looking at him trying to read his reaction. Was he scared of anything? Did that mean he was guilty.
"I understand that, thank you."
"So, why don't you tell me what happened this morning?"
"I was home with my family getting ready to spend the day at the lake when these officers came and arrested me…allegedly saying I had killed my assistant; I didn't kill anyone." He said vehemently
"Do you have any idea why the detectives think it was you?"
"No."
"You don't?"
"They think...they're saying I was having an affair with her."
"Why do they think that?"
"I have no idea."
"There must be something that led them to believe you had an intimate relationship with the victim."
"I told you I don't know; can you understand that they're trying to set me up?"
"Why would they want to set you up?"
"I have no idea, but I know they are..."
"See, that's a problem, because I don't need you to be innocent, I need you to be able to assist in your own defense."
"I didn't kill anyone, counselor. I'm married, and I have children, why would I kill anyone and lose everything that I've ever worked for?"
"Let me make something clear, Agent Hotchner, I'm not here to judge you, I'm here to defend you. My goal right now is to keep you out of jail, but in order to do that, I need a narrative. I need to know your story and your side of things. If you slept with her, I can work with that, what I cannot work with is a client that lies to me. If you slept with her and your DNA is in her house, I have no way to prove your innocence. Do you understand what I'm saying?" She asked more firmly, looking at him severely.
"I understand."
"I will ask again; did you sleep with her?"
"I didn't sleep with her."
"Lying to me could mean the difference of you going home, or spending the rest of your life in prison. So let me ask this more clearly, is there anyway your DNA can be tracked to her house, or her belongings?"
"No, there isn't." He said angrily, I'm not lying to you, I never laid a finger on her EVER!"
"Good, because if I am going to risk my career taking this case, I need to know everything. Let's start with what you're not telling Emily. Why do they think you were having an affair with the victim?" Aaron sighed, looking at Dana and knowing he had to be completely honest.
"Some people believe she was way too friendly with me, too attentive."
"Who's they?"
"My friends, Agent Rossi, Agent Morgan, even Emily."
"What do you mean by friendly? Can you describe friendly for me?"
"She would arrive at the office too early, even before me, and she would leave right after l left. She was always 'on top of my needs', annoyingly so."
"What else?"
"She brought me dinner once. I had to stay late for a meeting with the board, and she ordered take out."
"What did you do about it?"
"I told her I couldn't accept that, that it was inappropriate, and it could get us both in trouble."
"How did she take that?"
"She apologized and left."
"Did you two have any other interactions, anything outside of work that could have led her to believe there was a chance with you?"
"No..." Hotch said, then hesitated.
"What is it?"
"About a month ago, I arrived at the office and she was crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she said her boyfriend was cheating on her."
"What did you do or say?"
"I told her that she deserved better."
"Is that all?"
"No, I said that any man would do anything to be with a woman like her."
"Were you actually thinking about yourself when you said that?"
"NO! Of course not!" Hotch said angrily, "I was trying to be understanding and friendly."
"But, she took it as a green light that you were attracted to her." Dana concluded.
"Maybe, I definitely wasn't trying to give her the wrong idea, like I said, I was trying to be nice."
"The detectives say they have proof of an argument happening between you and the victim. Can you tell me what they're talking about?"
Hotch sighed angrily. "It wasn't an argument."
"She had gone into my office and rearranged some files in my cabinets…when I asked her about it, she stated she was trying to be helpful. I told her I didn't want her going into my office without my permission, and reminded her that I had already talked to her about professional boundaries."
"How did she take it?"
"She was…", Hotch stopped, running a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner knowing how it must look. "She started crying and said she didn't mean to make me angry and she said it would never happen again. She then left for the day."
"Can you tell me why you didn't discuss any of this with your wife?"
"Because she was already mad about the situation, I didn't want to make things worse, I don't discuss every single interaction I have with my employees with her."
"Except she doesn't think you're sleeping with all your employees, only her."
"I didn't want to make things worse between us, things were already difficult."
"What do you mean by difficult?"
"We're going though a rough patch."
"Because she believed you were cheating? Or, is there another reason?"
Hotch paused, trying to think for just a minute without giving away his micro expressions.
The kids were already in bed, it was late at night, and he was trying to have some quality time with his wife. For the past few months, they hadn't really had a lot of time for themselves, Emily was very busy at the academy working later nights, and he had been dragged into budget and procedure meetings almost every week. He usually tried to make it a habit of having a date with his wife once a month, but lately, time had not allowed it. So, now they were in their room drinking wine and just cuddled together on their bed talking.
"I didn't think Dave wanted to run the team?" Emily said, holding her glass of wine.
"He doesn't, but if Morgan goes to L.A, he's going to have to, we both know JJ doesn't want the job, and well, I can't picture Reid as the unit chief." He laughed.
"I can't either." She laughed, accenting the kisses her husband was giving her. "Wait, I don't want Derek to go L.A either!" She said sadly.
"Truthfully, baby, I don't think he's going to go, but I really don't want to talk about the team right now."
"Oh no? What do you want to talk about then?" She teased.
"Actually, I don't want to talk at all." He said as he covered her mouth kissing her passionately; it had been a very long time since his wife got his undivided attention, and he wanted to do something about that.
But, the more he kissed her and the more clothes were thrown away, the more out of it she became, it was like she wasn't even there. So, he stopped kissing her.
"Honey, if you don't want to have sex, just said so, I don't want to make you..."
"You're not." She said uncomfortably. "I want to be with you…it's not that."
"Then, what is it?" He asked concerned. "Are you in the middle of your lady problems?" He asked knowing he might had missed the cues. He was usually so good at anticipating his wife's needs.
"No, I'm not on my period." She said, pressing a soft kiss on his lips.
"Then, what is it baby?"
"Nothing…I don't know, I'm sorry, Aaron...I don't know what's going on."
"It's okay, baby, I just don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"You're not making me uncomfortable, I promise you. I want to make love with you, I swear, it's just…." But, she didn't even know how to tell him without making him feel bad or uncomfortable; how could she tell him she wasn't having orgasms with him lately without hurting his male pride. And it wasn't that he was doing anything wrong, on the contrary, it was her own stupid insecurities.
"Baby, I don't care about sex, I care about how you feel, that's what matters the most to me."
"Can you just hold me, please?" She begged, ready to change the conversation.
"Of course, sweetheart." He said, pulling her close to him, unsure of what had just happened. Little did he know, this would affect their sex life for the next few months.
"What is it, Agent Hotchner?" He took too long to respond.
"Aaron!" She said a little more forcefully.
"Emily and I were having some issues with our intimate life." He said, a little ashamed.
"How do you mean?"
"I don't know how to explain...this isn't exactly a very comfortable topic for me."
"Why don't you try the best you can...like I said, everything we talk about here is confidential, and I'm here to help you."
"Emily's sexual appetite began to decrease." He said, his skin turning a shade of pink.
"Did that made you angry?"
"No, not at all, I was actually worried."
"Do you think she was seeing someone else?" She guessed.
"No, of course not!" He stated, a little offended." We had a very heathy sex life, and I don't know what changed, but I was worried she didn't want to be with me because she totally believed I was seeing someone else."
"Did you ever talk to her about this?"
"No, I didn't want to make her uncomfortable."
"What you're telling me doesn't really help at all, if anything, it gives them more motive. You and your wife were having marital issues, this woman was basically throwing herself at you."
"I didn't sleep with her."
"I believe the jury isn't going to see it like that."
A knock sounded on the door interrupting both of them; they looked up to see the detective that had been questioning Aaron earlier.
"Counselor, can I have a word with you?"
"Of course." She replied, standing up and heading outside with the detective.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting with your client, but this just came in." The guy said handing a file to her.
"What is this?"
"The forensic exam for the crime scene." He stated with s very stern expression.
Dana stood there looking at the report with a concerned expression. For a minute, she didn't know what to say, so she looked at the detective in shock.
"The fingerprints match your client's DNA. I'm sorry, but your client did murder Beth Clemmons."
Dana took the file angrily and headed back into the interrogation room. She shoved the file in front of him looking at Aaron with piercing eyes.
"I thought I asked you to be truthful with me, I took this case as a favor to the ambassador, and not even ten minutes into our conversation, you're already lying to me!" She said angrily.
"I didn't lie to you." Aaron said confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Then explain to me how it is that your DNA and fingerprints were found all over the victim's house?" She was so furious she was shaking. She didn't like to loose cases and this would bring a lot of bad publicity to her career.
"That's impossible…I have never been there." Aaron said in horror, this was becoming more serious than he thought. Someone really wanted him behind bars and now his DNA was at the crime scene. This was not good, this wasn't good at all.
"Do you want to rethink your answers to me?" Dana asked, sitting back and glaring at him.
"I didn't do this, I have never been to Miss Clemmons' house."
"Your DNA is all over her house,Agent Hotchner! How did it get there!"
"I don't know that."
Dana shook her head, crossing her arms and smirking at him.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for the ambassador, but your face is all over the news. Taking this case could mean an end to my career. I am risking everything for you, the least you could do is have the decency to tell me the truth…now, you fucked up, I get that, but you need to be a man and own up to what you did. I can't work with a client…."
"Get out!" Aaron said furiously.
"Excuse me?"
"I am not your client, thank you for your time, but you can go now! He said in a firm tone. Dana smirked, getting up from the table.
"If you think you can find a better attorney...I can assure you I'm the best out there...and…"
"I don't need the best attorney, I need a lawyer that believes in me, and if you're not willing to understand that I think it's best if you leave…."
"You're facing the death penalty, are you sure you don't want to reconsider that?"
"Have a good day, Miss Venable."
Dana didn't say anything else, she smirked and walked away, furious that she had wasted her time coming all the way there.
"Dana, what happened?" The ambassador asked with a frown, as she watched her friend walk away angrily.
"I'm sorry, ambassador, I thought I could do this, but I think you're gonna need more than just a good lawyer to help your son-in-law."
"What happened?"
"He fired me. Or better yet, he refused to take my help."
"He what? Why would he do that?" Emily asked.
"You should ask your husband that, Mrs. Hotchner. Whatever lies he wants to keep telling is up to him. There is no way to help him, he keeps denying everything and refuses to talk to me."
"Is there any way he could be telling the truth?" The ambassador asked.
"The forensic results just came back; his DNA is all over the crime scene."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hotchner, I know you want to believe the best, but your husband is guilty!
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love."―Fyodor Dostoevsky
