Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.
— Viktor Frankl
"You were in retirement for 10 years."Linda Barnes said, from across the conference table. "You only came back when Jason Gideon left."
"I got bored," Dave drawled and dropped his shoulder. "My books were selling like hotcakes and I had nothing better to do."
"Are you still bored, Agent Rossi?"
"With this interrogation?" He responded with a shrug. "I'm getting there." He slid his phone out of his pocket and pulled up his emails.
"What about with The Bureau?"
"Can't say I am." He said, without looking up from his phone.
"You were reassigned from a field agent to teaching. How are you adjusting?"
"Helping to shape the younger generation of profilers is very satisfying."
"And what about in your personal life?"
"Eh, I have some things I'd like to get back to. So…" he let the sentence hang.
"You haven't taught your class in at least two weeks, correct?"
"I said, I enjoy helping shape the next generation. Even though I haven't been in the classroom in the last two weeks, I was consulting on the class."
"How exactly do you do that, outside of the classroom?" She continued.
"I build the lesson plans and record videos for facilitators to present. If I'm not available to be in the classroom."
"And you're still being paid by The Bureau?"
"I'm still teaching." He said flatly and slid his phone in his jacket pocket. "The Bureau likes it when the teachers do their Bureau rewards us in the form of money."
"Agent Rossi," Barnes said sharply. You can stop with the sarcasm now."
Dave sat up straight in his chair, "Agent Barnes, rest assured sarcasm is my default setting." She was attractive and near to his age, the committee put her in charge of interrogating him because they thought she could relate to him. He might let his guard down with her in a way he wouldn't, with a middle-aged man.
"Figure out a way to reboot and speak seriously. There's a hefty sum of money unaccounted for and you look like the prime recipient."
"How's that song go?" Dave paused to think for a moment and scratched his chin. "Oh yeah…'it ain't me."
"Can you think of any reason why-"
Rossi cut her off, "Isn't this a bit below your pay-grade as the Assistant Director? You've kept me in here for hours, wasting both your time and mine, asking the same questions over and over again. Redundancy may be the hallmark of government bureaucracy, but this is bordering on the ridiculous. It is also a frivolous waste of taxpayer money, since this committee and I both know this sham of an interrogation is nothing but a fishing expedition. Neither Erin Strauss, nor I have done anything illegal. The only thing we are guilty of is doing our jobs. If you had any evidence to the contrary, we wouldn't be here in this room, you would have already formally submitted an indictment to the grand jury. That tells me that something else is going on behind the scenes. So what is it that this committee thinks they can get me to confess to by dangling an attractive woman in front of me? It must be a mighty important agenda to convince the Assistant Director of the FBI, to go along with this sideshow."
"I reviewed the other interviews, the rest of The Ethics Committee believes-"
"That you can break me?"
"That you were a target for an embezzling scam. Erin Strauss funneled thousands of dollars into your account, for her own gain."
"Prove it. I'll show you my records, if you show me yours."
10 hours and counting. Tick Tock. Run out the clock.
Erin was consulting quietly with Stan when the interrogation room door opened and Agent Thomas walked back in. She didn't say anything for a minute, just stared at Strauss with her head cocked to the side like she was trying to figure something out.
"Back to take another crack at me?" Strauss asked the other woman.
"Not take a crack at… I'm here to crack you and...trust and believe, I will!" Thomas snarled.
"I see someone ate their Wheaties today and is suffering from delusions of grandeur. You can give it your best shot, Agent, but better agents than you have tried to bring me to my knees." Section Chief Strauss told her while looking down her nose at her. Strauss might have been sitting down, but somehow, the haughty look she gave the other agent, was a clear sign of who was operating from a position of power in that room. On the inside she was an emotional wreck, but on the outside, she had on her 'hell on wheels' gameface.
Before Thomas could respond, the door opened again and Agent Lambert came into the room.
"Oh Goody Stan, looks like it's time for good cop, bad cop." Erin quipped. She was tired, irritable and sick of playing their games.
"You said Agent Rossi is an asset to The Bureau, can you explain that?" Agent Lambert asked.
"He's a good agent, the team relies on him."
"How so?" Agent Lambert asked.
"If that's the case," Agent Thomas cut in, "why did you pull him out of the field to teach instead of hunting serial killers, when his team depends on him?"
"I put him on Light-Duty after his heart attack. It wouldn't serve The Bureau to have one of their best agents keel over in the middle of an active investigation."
"Now, Agent Hotchner pulled him from the field before the heart attack, is that correct?" Agent Lambert asked, looking up from his case notes.
"That's right. I put Agent Rossi on Light Duty."
"Why?" Agent Thomas fired back."Did you compromise Agent Hotchner?"
"Agent Rossi was-"
"I don't see how that's relevant," Stan cut in. "My client made a judgement call for one of her agents who was unwell. That's part of her job as Section Chief."
"He was taken out of the field because he was sick."
"Because you cared about him-" Agent Lambert said quietly.
"Because I thought he had a cold, I didn't think he was sick enough to be pulled from duty completely."
Suddenly, Erin couldn't tell which of her interogaters was talking. Questions came like rapid fire and she couldn't keep up. Instead, she looked back and forth between the two agents, pelting her with questions.
"Why didn't you order him to have a physical?"
"He had-"
"Why did you stick him in a classroom, when he's more useful in the field?"
"Did you consider that his health might have been in jeopardy, before you put him in the classroom?"
"You left your best team down by two agents."
"How do you expect them to function properly?"
Erin glanced back at her attorney, she was rapidly losing control of the situation. She needed help, fast.
"STOP IT!" Stan thundered, spittle flew from his mouth and he slammed his hand on the table. Suddenly, the chattering ceased. A cold and deadly silence filled the small space.
Stan drew in a breath, it was clear who owned the room. "My client." He said tightly, "is only able to answer one question at a time."
"Let's cut to the chase here," Agent Thomas spat. Her voice rose and Erin was sure that the plexiglass window rattled slightly. "You pulled Rossi out of the field because you wanted to keep him close. You raised his pay and funneled an extra five-hundred dollars a month into your joint bank account."
"Agent Thomas- is there a question in there somewhere or is this a stand-up monologue?" Strauss' attorney asked to show his displeasure with how this interrogation was proceeding.
"Admit it," Agent Thomas roared, "Admit that you stole money from The Bureau!"
Erin stayed silent. Glaring at Agent Thomas, clearly the other woman was unstable. Erin wondered how the other blonde was allowed to carry a gun. "If you were in my unit, I'd recommend getting an early Psych Eval." Erin said cooly, and checked her manicure.
"I think you were trying to cover your tracks by paying Agent Morgan more than necessary."
"What in the world does Agent Morgan have to do with any of this?"
"Agent Morgan has everything to do with this investigation, since it has come to light that you funneled some of the funds you planned to embezzle through him by paying him over what his agency salary should have been."
"He asked for hazard pay, I authorized it. No more, no less." Erin said, dropping her shoulder, "check the records and while you are at it, read the FBI manual on hazardous duty."
Suddenly, Thomas's phone rang and she hurried out of the interrogation room.
Hotch sat back in the hot seat, for the second time in less than 48 hours. This time Assistant Director Barnes sat in front of him, tape recorder dutifully between them.
"Agent Hotchner," She glared at him through narrowed eyes. "Tell me about your relationship with Erin Strauss and before you ask, we are the FBI. There are no secrets here. I know you helped her check into rehab under a false name."
Hotch stayed silent, biting his tongue. The longer Barnes talked, the more information she gave him.
"That makes me think you are a lot closer with your Section Chief than either of you let on. Maybe you feel some kind of loyalty to her."
"Only from a professional standpoint. I'm loyal to the oath I took when I became an agent."
"And you opted to keep her secret."
"Only in a professional capacity. Now, if that's all…" Hotch let the sentence hang.
"One more question. How many of your superiors have you driven home because they weren't feeling well? In a professional capacity, of course."
"Several as a matter of fact. I don't have an eidetic memory like Agent Reid, but I can list the ones I remember for you, if you'd like. With that said, Hotch proceeded to do just that. After the third scenario, he'd proven his point and the committee had evidently had enough as he was subsequently dismissed, with a curt, "That's all. Send in Agent Morgan."
8 Hours and counting
Two and a half hours after Morgan was summoned to appear before the investigating committee, he entered the room. The committee wasn't happy that they had to wait for his arrival but he had been in the middle of an extremely important conference call consultation with a multi jurisdictional task force, consulting on a major child abduction ring. During the call, they had received news of another abduction that had just taken place. Agents on the scene had found a key piece of evidence, allowing Derek as an Obsessive Behavioral expert had been able to add to the profile that he had spent the last week building and they were finally able to crack the case. When he hung the phone, plans had been drawn up for a multistate, simultaneous, takedown of the suspects.
"What is the point in all of this?" Derek asked, ramrod straight in front of Linda Barnes. "You've paraded my entire team in front of the Ethics Committee, because you want dirt on Section Chief Strauss."
"I'm trying to find out where thousands of dollars were allocated." Agent Barnes said, staring Derek down.
"Isn't that a job for the highly paid and under used, FBI accountants, Ma'am?" He added as an afterthought.
"Agent Morgan, I don't know if you're aware but it's not your job to decide what role anyone plays in this investigation."
"You're absolutely right, Director Barnes. That's why I'm wondering what I'm doing here, with you, in front of this committee instead of out there, doing my actual job."
"Agent Morgan, as your superior, I determine what your actual job is. Do you remember the part in your contract that reads, other duties as determined by the needs of the Agency."
Morgan was quiet for about three minutes, as he seemed to be contemplating the question in his head. "To be honest ma'am, it's been a few years since I signed my contract, so I do not remember the exact verbiage. If you had a copy on hand with my signature on it, that I could look at to refresh my memory… After all, I wouldn't want to lie to the committee by stating I remember something that I don't remember.
"That won't be necessary, Agent. Let's just move on with the questioning." Assistant Director Barnes stated. "My next question, Agent Morgan…" and with those words, Derek's interrogation began in earnest.
Agent Lambert loomed over the table, "Let me be frank with you. You're looking at prison 're going to see your children grow up with plexi-glass between you if you don't confess." He slid a yellow legal pad and a pen across the table. "Just write a statement saying that you overpaid your agents. We can help you cut a deal. Just work with me and we won't let your children grow up without their mother."
Erin shook her head and pushed the pad and pen back across the table. "No, thank you."
"Come on now Erin." Agent Lambert persuaded, "Do you really want to miss out on your children growing up, when you could help us help you so you can stay with your family. With all of the time you're looking at, your grandchildren will be graduating high school before you see the outside of a prison again. Think about all of the events you will miss in your children's lives: first words, first steps, first day of school, school dances, high school graduation, college graduation, birth of your first grandchild. I am sure it was a simple mistake. Tell us what happened and we can help you. If you don't give us something, Agent Rossi will go to jail as an accomplice. Do you really want your unborn children to grow up with neither of their parents?"
Erin swallowed past the lump in her throat, she and David were innocent, but the thought of her children growing up without their parents infiltrated her brain. She picked up the pen and weighed her options. Someone had to stay out of prison.
"Erin," Stan said sharply, "Leave it alone. Don't let them get under your skin."
"Maybe you didn't want to do it but were being blackmailed." Agent Lambert cajoled. "I'm sure that's what happened. You didn't think anyone would get hurt, but that doesn't matter now. You need to work with us. We're on your side. If you admit your wrong doing now, we will put in a good word for you with the prosecutor."
She kept her head held high, but inside, she was shaking. What if they were right? Maybe she did mess up the payroll? "That sounds well and good, but I'm not writing a statement." Erin said, pulling away from the table. She turned to glance at Stan, he nodded his head.
"My client isn't looking to strike a deal. Give this case a proper investigation and you'll see that she's innocent. At this point, I think you're trying to close the case, instead of discovering where the money went."
The door to the interrogation room swung open and Agent Thomas filed back inside. She kept a tablet in her hand and her phone to her ear.
"Fine," she snapped and put the phone in her pocket. She turned to Erin, "Write your statement. Tell us what happened in your own words."
Erin took the pen in her hand, "What do you think, Stan?"
This was the part of his job that he hated, interrogators knew how to make a suspect doubt themselves, resulting in false confessions. Dave would kill Stan and bury him in his own mother's backyard if he let Erin incriminate herself to save him. Stan knew Erin was smarter than to fall for their tricks, but he couldn't risk her taking a misstep and falling on a landmine.
He took the pad in his hand and withdrew a pen from his pocket. He tore the page off the pad and wrote a note. Nobody is going to jail. Don't let them trick you. You know you're innocent. They're running out of time.
Dave checked his watch, Derek was the last member of the team to be interrogated and he hadn't come out of the conference room in over 3 hours. A frantic knock at the office door caused him to pause his pacing.
Penelope burst into the room, pale and horrified.
"What's wrong, Garcia?"
"Rossi, you gotta see this!"
"All due respect, Ms. Barnes." Derek said, in a tone that said he meant absolute disrespect. "My working relationship with my team, including my supervisors, is none of your concern. You can check the cameras, the records...everything. You know there's nothing untoward going on in my unit."
"I don't understand why you drove Erin Strauss to the rehabilitation center-"
"I was doing her a favor."
"Why?" She asked, the word shot passed her lips like a bullet. "Because you knew, when the time was right, you could cash in your chips? Pardon the pun." Linda laughed a little at her own joke.
Agent Thomas was seething inside. They almost had her, if it hadn't been for her lawyer, Strauss would have written that statement and they would be getting ready to go home, with another case in the books and a bad agent out of the FBI and behind bars. Thomas hated crooked agents; They eroded the public trust and made the rest of their jobs harder. Once they brought Strauss down, Rossi, Morgan and anyone else involved would follow like a set of Dominos. All she and Lambert had to do was to push her a little harder and she would fall off the edge of the cliff she was teetering on. Using her lover against her was the key. Nothing they had done previously had Strauss even thinking about confessing until they mentioned sending the father of her children going down with her. How could they exploit that angle? Should they try to make her think they are going to play one against the other? Would she confess if she thought that they believed Rossi was the mastermind behind the whole scheme and that if she confessed to her part and agreed to testify against him, that she would maybe avoid prison time and be able to raise her kids, both the ones she had and the one she was pregnant with? Or was she one of those women who were so loyal to their man, that she would take the fall for him, even though it meant she would do more time? Thomas realized that she and Lambert needed to discuss strategy, they were running out of time to get the evidence they needed to prosecute and they couldn't have that discussion in the room with the suspect. She gave Agent Lambert the signal and they stepped outside the room.
"Why'd you pull us out of there, she was ready to spill her guts?" Lambert asked her with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Her lawyer blew us out of the water with whatever he wrote on that paper. It was evident she wasn't going to write a statement after that and we would be better off, regrouping and coming up with another strategy before we have to charge or release her. "I have a few ideas, but I think first, we should go down to forensics and see if they were able to get anything incriminating off of her work or personal computers. Hopefully they have been able to get around the extra security measures installed on their personal devices.
"Yeah if it wasn't for us needing that information to make our case, it would be hilarious what happens every time they think they have broken the code. I don't know which is funnier, the scrolling hand giving them the finger, the large font psychedelic looking word psyche while the song Helter Skelter plays in the background, the man in chaps bending over and mooning them or the picture of the braying donkey looking in the mirror." Lambert said as he and Thomas walked down the hall towards the elevator.
"Not gonna lie," Thomas said, "I think the donkey is my favorite."
Morgan didn't find the Assistant Director's humor the least bit funny. It angered him that she could sit there so callously and make jokes while two people he knew and cared about were fighting for their freedom. The handsome agent wanted to rip her a new one but he knew that would solve nothing, in fact it would hurt their case, as it would make it seem like he was hiding something. Morgan also knew that when cooler heads prevailed, a person was less likely to make a mistake and say something he or she would regret later. Nope, his best course of action was to treat this committee like an unsub, that he had to be careful not to spook by tipping his hand too early. Morgan took a few minutes to study A.D. Barnes and the rest of the people who were interrogating him. He'd spent more than enough time in the room with them to form a preliminary profile of each one; All were ambitious and would step over a dying man to climb the proverbial corporate ladder. He could also glean that they were all Type A personalities. They were expecting him to fly off the handle and be uncooperative so Derek knew he could throw them off their game by doing the opposite of what they expected. He didn't want them to peep his game so he decided to appear to let his face speak the words,his mouth wouldn't let slip out. "You couldn't be more wrong." Derek said, his voice turned dark and Linda felt his eyes burning holes through her. If looks could kill, Linda Barnes would be taking a one-way trip to the morgue. She took a steadying breath, "Explain it to me."
"Let me break it down for you," Derek continued. "My colleague needed help, so I helped her. That's it. I got the address for the center from Director Robinson and I drove Chief Strauss there. That's all I did."
"What's going on, Penelope?" Dave asked, jogging to keep up with her on their way to her office.
"Wait." She threw her arm out, stopping him while she unlocked her office.
"I already sent the DOJ what I found." She said and secured the door behind them. "But I can't guarantee it's going to do any good right now. It's 3am..I don't think anyone with executive power is awake right now."
"Which is?" Dave urged her, "what did you find?"
2.5 hours and counting. Tick Tock.
She clicked away at her keyboard, "it turns out, what Kevin lacked as a boyfriend, he also lacks as a decent human being." Penelope swiped her hand across her face, feeling stupid. She trusted him, she cared about him and let him in her life. All for him to turn his back on her and destroy her team.
"Kevin? What does Lynch have to do with all of this?"
Penelope turned to face him, "I found his hacker code in Strauss's personal copy of the financial records. They came from her personal computer."
"What about the-"
"No, Sir." Penelope interrupted, "There's nothing on her Bureau reports."
"Only on her personal devices?"
"That's right."
Dave paused, the dots connecting in his head, "Kevin framed Strauss." Rossi saw red, hot sparks of anger coursed through him. The rat bastard framed Erin, probably in their own home.
"I think so...Rossi, I'm so sorry. He should've never- I shouldn't have left him alone."
"Penelope, stop. You know you didn't cause this." Dave squeezed her shoulder. "Just help me get Erin home."
"Ready and able, Sir."
Agents Lambert and Thomas crammed into a small room at the DOJ, amid stacks of evidence boxes. They huddled together, reviewing digital files. He had the Bureau's copy while Agent Thomas poked through the records found on Strauss's personal digital devices.
"So, do you think they did it?" Lambert asked, scanning the records on autopilot. He hated a digital paper trail, it was boring as hell.
"Can't say I care either way," said Thomas. "As long as someone pays for the crime, but I wouldn't mind being the one to put Strauss under."
"That's..if she's guilty, right Thomas?"
"Oh, of course. Of course... If she's guilty." Thomas shrugged.
"What do you have against her, anyway?" Lambert asked. "Aren't we a little past the stage in life where we hate people for breathing?"
"Ha!" Thomas croaked, "You might be."
Lambert turned back to his screen, when something caught his eye. "Do you have this image on your copy?"
"Let me see," she leaned across the desk to look at his screen. "No." Thomas sneered, disappointed.
"Well," Lambert closed his laptop. "It looks like you won't be bringing Strauss down today. We need to get this verified by the computer geeks upstairs. Something doesn't add up here."
Tick tock. 2 hours and counting.
Erin paced to regain some energy. She was ready to drop, "I can't do this anymore, Stan."
"We're down to two hours, Erin. You can do it, just ride out the clock until someone comes to cut you loose."
"What if they don't?" She turned to glare at Stan, she was losing control of the situation. "Thomas and Lambert convinced themselves that I'm guilty. What if-"
"Stop!" Stan said sternly. "I know you let them get into your head. You have to forget about what they said and remember who you are. Do that and nobody goes to jail."
She blew out a breath, "you're right."
Penelope pounded on the door to the conference room, all sense of decorum had gone out the window. There was an innocent woman in custody and Penelope had proof. "Assistant Director Barnes!" She yelled, "Derek!" Penelope wracked her brain, how the hell had Kevin hacked Strauss's personal files without anyone noticing?
"Derek!" Penelope tried again to get the attention of the occupants of the conference room.
The door burst wide open, with Penelope's fist hanging in the air. "Ms. GARCIA!" Assistant Director Barnes spat. Absolutely horrified by Penelope's behavior. Apparently, when the sun went down at the BAU, no bets were off and all manners and good sense went out the window.
"A. , there's something you have to see!" Penelope said, brushing past Linda and storming the conference room.
"Ms. Garcia!" Linda said, aghast, "this is a private interrogation."
"What's going on, Garcia?" Derek asked, coming to Penelope's side.
"There's no time for that!" Penelope pulled her laptop from her bag and plugged in the flash-drive.
"What is all this?" Linda spat, looming over Penelope with both hands on her hips.
Garcia pulled up the contents of the flash-drive and angled the screen towards Barnes. "This is proof that there's an innocent woman in custody. The files were manipulated by Kevin Lynch."
There it was, in bright technicolor. Kevin's identifying icon, an elephant doing the two-step, danced in the corner of the screen.
"What is it I am supposed to be looking at?" Barnes asked, since she had no idea what the technical information in the computer script meant.
"This cute little elephant," Garcia continued, "Is Kevin's online signature."
"How do you know?" Barnes asked, skeptical.
"Ma'am, I helped Kevin make that icon. I know that's him."
"But can you prove that it is him, Ms. Garcia?" One of the men on the committee asked. "Not that we are questioning your integrity, T.A. Garcia, but we must have proof that T.A. Lynch or anyone else was behind this before we can close this investigation and ask the DOJ to release Section Chief Strauss. We also must be convinced by a preponderance of evidence, that Chief Strauss, was in no way, shape, form or fashioned, involved in this incident. We need to follow the proper protocol so that we can build an airtight case and the perpetrator is not able to get off on a technicality."
Hearing this information, the head interrogator decided to speak up. "A.D. Barnes, we need to call in one of our forensic analysts and another Technical Analyst to verify this information."
"Fine, call anyone who is on duty."
Soon, one of the Forensic Analysts and Technical Analysts on duty, was summoned down to the conference room to sort through the information. Luckily for the committee, neither of them had ever worked closely with either Garcia or Lynch, so there would be no hint of bias or impropriety. Barnes warned the two on the record, about the sensitivity and confidentiality of the investigation. The two analysts moved as far away from everyone else as possible in the room, before they began to work. First they looked at the evidence independently and then they quietly consulted with each other before they came to a consensus that backed up the facts as presented by Penelope. The committee thanked the two agents for their help and then sent them away.
"We need to talk to Kevin Lynch," The head interrogator said.
"And we will," said Barnes. "Tomorrow. At this point, we don't have any evidence against Section Chief Strauss, we're over the 48 hour mark. If we don't cut her loose, her attorney is going to eat us for lunch."
Derek grinned, as he and Penelope walked down the hall, away from the conference room. Look at you, Penelope Garcia. Comin' in clutch, Baby Girl!"
Penelope looked at her sexy best friend and said in a sensual voice dripping with sinful promise, "Baby Boy, that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what I can do and if you are ever fortunate enough to get me in your clutches…. She stopped and waited until he stopped and turned to look at her "I'll have you worshipping at this goddess' altar."
"Name the time and place, sweetheart" Morgan said with a wink as he resumed walking back towards the Roundtable room where the rest of the team were waiting. Everyone had decided to work there together so they could provide emotional support to each other.
Garcia watched Morgan walk away, thinking about adding a new picture of him to her photoshopped collection. "My place, tonight after work she whispered, so softly she didn't think anyone would hear her."
"It's a date, future baby mama," Morgan said, as he continued to his destination. He knew she didn't think he heard her but it was time she cashed that check she had been teasing him with all these years.
"Mmm…" she hummed, so low that only he could hear. "Can't wait."