CHAPTER 15

Hotch sat in his car after coming out of his lawyers' office. As he glanced at the clock, he could see he was barely going to make it back to the BAU in time for conferencing. However, even noticing that, he couldn't get himself to move.

Since he had found Emily adoption papers the previous evening, he had been anxious about what he was going to discover when started asking questions.

He thought he was ready for whatever answers he would receive. Planned on quietly returning the adoption papers to the lockbox when he arrived home before Emily would realized they were even missing once he clear up his confusion.

But he hadn't been wrong. Unfortunately he had just gotten confirmation from Mr Anders that he was in fact correct.

As ready as he thought he had been for the information Mr Anders had given him, he was unsure now where this path would take them.

When he arrived at the law office, he had met with Mr Donovan for their scheduled meeting. As expected their meeting had been short and straightforward.

After giving him the envelope with the receipts and appraisals, Mr Donovan reviewed the status of their court cases. In addition to the estates, he was also updating him about the suits against family attorneys.

When Mr Donovan had gone to court the week after the will reading, the judge had agreed to the delay requested by Emily's stepfather since he had needed to find a new lawyer.

While in court, Mr Donovan had filed requests to start the process of eviction for Mr Sinclair from the Prentiss family home and another that prevented him from removing any of the furnishings. That request had been filed when Mr Sinclair claimed everything inside the house belonged to him.

Mr Donovan was planning to present the receipts and appraisals as evidence to refute Mr Sinclair's assertion about the ownership of all of the house's furnishings.

He also informed Hotch that they had finally had made progress with holding the Prentiss family attorneys accountable for their actions or in this case, inactions.

The day after the will reading they had contact Mr Donovan to offer a settlement for their errors. What they offered, while generous, was binding and had included an NDA which only resulted in infuriating Hotch and Emily. They quickly refused, not wanting the firm to be able to sweep the incident under the rug.

The same week Mr Donovan had filed a complaint with the court concerning their negligence in their position as trustees. The first hearing had occurred a few days later and the judge had been less than impressed with their conduct. The next hearing was this week as well.

This was in addition to the complaint that Hotch was in the process of filing with the Virginia Bar Association.

And last not not least, Emily had spoken to the FBI's White Collar Crime Unit about investigating the firm. They had started their investigation the previous week to determine if what happened to the Hotchners was a one time oversight or an ongoing pattern of fraud within the firm.

They concluded their meeting after Mr Donovan had shared the court schedule for the week along with the promise to keep them updated. The two men shook hands before Hotch walked out of his office.

Arriving back at the main reception desk, he asked the receptionist to let Neil Anders know he was there.

While Emily had been in the shower that morning, he had sent a message to Mr Anders requesting an urgent meeting when he had time available mentioning when his meeting time with Mr Donovan was that morning. Mr Anders had responded that he was working in his office in the morning and to have them alert him when Hotch was ready and he would make the time.

After greeting each other with a handshake, Mr Anders escorted Hotch back to his office. After he sat down at his desk and Hotch took a seat in one of the chairs across from the desk, Mr Anders asked, "What can I do for you this morning Aaron?"

Hotch looked at him nervously before asking, "I wanted to know what you could tell me about the trial of Henry McRae and Peter Howard?"

Mr Anders looked up at him surprised as he asked, "Where did you come across those names? As far as I know,they are both still in prison and have no possibility of parole."

Hotch sighed before he answered, "I remember the names from when I worked in the federal prosecutor's office. I need confirmation that they are parties in the case I believe they are involved."

Mr Anders paused and took a close look at Hotch. A couple of minutes later, he shook his head as he had been unable to gleam from the profiler's face what his interest in this particular case was before he answered, "of course. McRae was a family court judge and Howard was a lawyer that specialized in private adoptions. I don't recall which state they were licensed and practiced in. They, along with others, were both convicted for a series of charges including kidnapping, human trafficking, conspiracy, falsifying documents, fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. The case was federal ,in part, because the child victims were from multiple states. Is this the case that you anticipated?"

As he spoke, Mr Anders could see the man in front of him become pale and very still.

"Unfortunately. I was hoping that was misremembering." Hotch answered quietly.

He then pulled his briefcase up on his lap and opened it. After checking the document on top that it was the correct one, he handed it to Mr Anders. Mr Anders looked back at him confused as he took the document and begun to read it. Hotch could tell the moment he realized what he was reading when his brow shot up and he looked up at Hotch before looking back down at the document.

After a few minutes, he reached the last page and gasped as the answer to why Hotch had asked the question was staring back at him when he saw the names and signatures listed on the page.

Looking back up at Hotch, he asked concerned, "Does she know?"

Hotch shook his head before he said, "Not yet. I saw the document last night for the first time. I wanted to get confirmation before telling her because I didn't want to worry her unnecessarily." Hotch paused and took a few deep breaths before continuing, "Emily is also going to want details and I don't know what to tell her."

Mr Anders looked down at his desk before suddenly looking back up at Hotch as he said, "It was a member of your team investigating a kidnapping that finally broke into the whole operation and that led to their arrest."

"Do you remember who it was?" Hotch asked hopefully. This case would have been before his time at the BAU but depending on who handled it, he may be able to talk to that person to get more information

Shaking his head, Mr Anders responded, "I don't. I only remember it because it was the first time I had heard of profiling and the FBI's department."

"OK. I'll check when I get back to the office."

"Before you leave, we should let Michael know. My understanding is he is going into court this week. I don't want him blindsided if it is brought up."

"Understood. I wasn't trying to keep it from him. I wanted to confirm it with you first."

####

Hotch had arrived back at the BAU slightly late for conferencing and had just gone directly to the conference room. The meeting at the lawyer's office had taken longer than expected because of the added meeting with Mr Anders.

When he arrived in the conference room, the team had already gathered and were still laughing about Emily's visit.

As soon as they saw him, Dave quipped that he had just missed his better half which instantly had the group burst into another peal of laughter.

Once she had calmed down enough, Garcia then recounted what happened when Emily had come over to visit earlier.

It was clear from the reactions that the team was happy to have her visiting them again at work.

With an already late start for conferencing, Hotch quickly had them switch gears to get to work once Garcia finished her story.

####

Later that day as Hotch was walking back to the BAU after a meeting, he saw Sam Cooper walking down the hall coming towards him. When Cooper started to turn when he reached an intersection, Hotch called out to him, "Cooper".

Cooper stopped and looked around before spotting Hotch. He gave a small wave and walked over to where Hotch was standing before saying, "Hey Hotch, how are things going on your team?"

"We're doing well. Busy. But it seems we all are."

Cooper chuckled before saying, "true. We just got back into town last night from Oregon. I'm hoping we can get through the weekend before getting called out again. So how is that little baby of yours? I've heard she looks just like her mom."

Hotch smiled back at him, "She is doing well and yes she is a carbon copy of Emily."

"In that case, you may just need both of your guns." Both men laughed as Hotch knew Cooper spoke from experience having teenage daughters at home.

"And the shotgun we have at home." Hotch answered though he knew that he wouldn't be the only one in line if anyone ever hurt his little girl.

Hotch thought back to why he stopped Cooper in the first place before asked, hoping the other profiler had time to meet, "Cooper, do you have a couple of minutes?"

Cooper smiled and gestured to the hallway that he had started to go down that led to the office space his team used, "sure, I'm just supposed to be finishing the paperwork from this last case but we both know how I feel about paperwork."

Hotch laughed before saying, "Strauss won't be upset if it's late." It was a tongue in cheek comment because it was well known that somehow Cooper could work the same magic over Strauss that Dave could about delays in paperwork being OK. Magic that apparently only the two of them possessed.

Cooper smirked and waved off the comment, "Nah, she loves me." as they had reached Cooper's office. Cooper walked over and sat down at the table at the side of the room and pointed at another chair for Hotch. "What can I help you with Hotch?"

Hotch sat in the chair Cooper had pointed out before he said, "It's a question about a case from before I came to the BAU. Someone from the team broke the case and I am looking to find out who."

Cooper nodded and said, "I'll help if I can but it's been a few years and I was off the team for a while when I was working with the taskforce. Have you looked it up in the database?"

Hotch shook his head, "Not yet but it would be in the archived records. I thought I'd ask since I ran into you."

Cooper cocked his head and gave Hotch a long look taking in the other man's serious demeanor, "That old huh. What's the case?" Cooper stood up and walked over to his bookshelf looking over a series of books that appeared to be logs from the writing on the outside.

Since Dave had come back to the team, every time Hotch was in Cooper's office he had wondered how Cooper, Gideon and Dave had peaceful coexisted in the one room bunker that had, until about 7 years earlier, housed the team.

Cooper's office was always organized but cluttered. He claimed to have a filing system though no one understood it. However when asked he had always been able to produce whatever was being asked of him promptly.

Gideon's office on a good day had always been an organized mess that quickly transitioned to a complete mess when he was stressed or obsessed with a case. More than once he had been at a loss as to where certain items had ended up in his office.

This was directly in contrast to Dave's office in which everything had a place and everything was always in its place. After rejoining the team, he had quickly designated a small table near the door of his office for incoming files and document to be placed instead of directly on his highly organized desk. This had led to the team speculating about their new member that included at at one point Emily's amusing description of him as a 'fussy anal retentive neat freak.'

Once again being back in Cooper's office Hotch wished he could have been a fly on the wall during that time in the BAU's history. It would have been rich profiling information to see how they had interacted on a daily basis.

Hotch shook off the random thoughts as he noticed Cooper looking at him expectantly before answering, "It was a kidnapping case that involved a judge and an adoption lawyer."

Cooper stopped and looked back at Hotch before shaking his head, "That doesn't ring a bell with me. Was it kidnapping of kids?"

"Yes."

Cooper walked back to the table and sat back down in his seat, "In that case, it would have been either Katie or Jason. Cases involving kids were always assigned to one of the two of them. At least when I was on the team."

Hotch sighed at the answer. If it was Gideon that worked that case, he would have to consider talking to the case agent a dead end. No one had heard from Gideon since he left the team a few years earlier and disappeared. "OK. Thanks."

Cooper noticed his dejected demeanor and wondered what the deal was with this case that closed at least 10 years ago, "Have you asked Dave? He was with the team longer than I was." He found it unusual that Hotch would come to him when his office was about 30 feet from Dave's and the timeframe coincided with the time Dave was with the team before his retirement.

Hotch nodded, expecting the question, "Not yet. When I started with the BAU I learned early he didn't work cases with kids. I thought you may have." Cooper nodded sadly at Hotch comment as he knew why Dave hadn't worked cases with kids.

While this was true, that wasn't completely the reason. Hotch was trying to avoid having Dave or anyone from the team finding out what he was investigating right now, especially until he could talk to Emily about it.

The team knew about Emily's adoption and if they learned that Hotch was asking questions about a closed case involving a judge and adoption lawyer, it wasn't going to be a huge leap to put together why he was interested in this case.

While they would most likely eventually be sharing what Hotch found with the team, he wanted to talk to Emily first as well as gather some background information.

"Do you know Katie? I know she left before you started." Cooper asked realizing that asking Gideon for information would not be possible.

Hotch sighed before answering, "We've met a few times and the team worked a case with Crimes Against Children a few years ago with her team."

Hotch had gained a great deal of respect for SSA Katie Cole during the case they had worked together a few years earlier. He had already decided to call her when he got back to his office.

Hotch stood up as Cooper said, "Wish I could be more help. If you don't have luck with Rossi or the database, contact Katie. Hope you find what you are looking for."

They shook hands and Hotch walked out and headed back to his office.

####

Hotch hung his phone and groaned. His call to SSA Katie Cole's office had resulted in him needing to leave a message because she was out in the field.

He sat back in his seat frustrated that he hadn't been able to make any progress on finding out more about this case. He was heading home in 4 hours and needed to have something to tell Emily when he talked that evening.

He then looked at the ever growing pile of BAU paperwork that he hadn't even touched today. Given he didn't share the same magic that Dave and Cooper did with Strauss, he knew it was just a matter of time before she started calling inquiring about when he was going to be sending over his team's completed files.

But today he couldn't worry about that. He did have the files he had worked on the previous evening that he could send her. He would try to power through this pile this afternoon.

But he had one more person to talk to who may be able locate the files with information he could use. But he was going to go down to the 4th floor and scare the crap out of Kevin by showing up unexpectedly in his office. From their interactions, Hotch knew that just his mere presence had the fashion challenged tech geek shaking all the way down to his sandal covered feet.

It wasn't a secret that Kevin was intimidated by him. Most of the time, Hotch only used that power to keep him out of Garcia's office when the team needed her working on BAU business.

But today, he was going to have Kevin run the search for him after making him promise not to tell Garcia or anyone else from the team what he was searching for.

As with talking to Cooper instead of Dave, Hotch needed someone with the skills to locate the case file he needed in the archived records but wasn't a member of the team. He knew from experience that Garcia could do it. It would make sense that Kevin would also be able to access the files he needed.

####

It was 5:30 when Hotch looked up from the clock after spending the last 3 hours working on his inbox. He was pleased at the progress he made and hope Strauss wouldn't notice that it was less than what he generally submitted.

He put his briefcase up on the desk and took out the files he had put in the evening before to send off to Strauss along with what he completed this afternoon.

He had a stack of files to put in his briefcase to take home but then shook his head and put them back in his inbox. After the kids went to bed, he and Emily needed to talk about what he found. There was no chance after that particular conversation that he was going to walk away from her to go sign off files for work. She was going to need him after what he needed to tell her.

Kevin had been somewhat successful in the searches earlier. Hotch now had some basic information about the cases surrounding the pairs' arrest and well as a breakdown of their operation that he did place in his briefcase. Kevin had said he was going to keep working on finding the entire case file and that he would forward it to Hotch when he did.

Hotch also placed in his briefcase the information he received from a former colleague who still worked in the prosecutor's office. It was a fairly short but comprehensive summary however Hotch was sure he could get the whole file if they wanted to see it.

With that he looked around his office as he closed his briefcase. Picking it up he walked over to the door and turned out the light before walking out the open doorway. Pulling the door closed behind him, he walked down the stairs noticing the lone bullpen occupant. Saying good night to Morgan who was starting to pack up to leave, we walked out the glass doors to meet Emily near the elevators.

AN: Katie Cole was a character in S2 episode 02(P911). In the next chapter, Hotch and Emily talk and decide how to proceed. I will post the chapter as soon as it's ready though I've barely started it. I'm hoping next week.