The team, Garcia included, sat around a table at one of the local cafes. They all had food, though Joey ordered nothing but water and fries, not sure that she could eat anything more with her churning stomach.
After a few moments of chewing in silence, Morgan put his sandwich down. "Alright, I'll bite. What's going on? We know something's up with Ryan…so what is it?"
Joey said nothing but glanced at Hotch, who merely stared back, both unsure of how to start.
Prentiss stepped in instead. "You're being blackmailed aren't you?"
Joey opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"By Chief Pearce?" Morgan finished.
Joey paused, closed her mouth, and nodded once, grabbing her water to give her hands something to do.
"What?" JJ and Garcia cried in unison. Reid's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
Joey looked to Hotch again, who nodded. She carefully placed her glass down on the table, unsure of how to start. "It's…been going on for a while now. Several months."
"What has he been having you do?" Morgan asked.
Joey shrugged. She didn't feel safe revealing this kind of information in such a public place. She wasn't even sure she wanted to tell her team, but they had cornered her into it. "Just…errands, I guess? Pick up stuff, give people rides. Most of it isn't legal, from what I can tell, but I don't know much. He intentionally keeps me in the dark for most of it."
"What does he have on you?" Prentiss asked.
Joey reached or a fry, then decided against it, dropping her hands into her lap. "Information… a file." She answered vaguely. When she found the rest of the team staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate, she sighed. "It's just…information that needs to stay private."
"But what kind of—?" Morgan started, but Prentiss cut him off.
"She's entitled to a private life." She said with a slightly warning glance.
"But if he's using it against you…" Morgan trailed off.
"It's just stuff from my past." Joey said, taking a drink again. She wished her stomach would calm down. It felt like a hurricane was raging inside her.
Morgan didn't press anymore, but he furrowed his brow thoughtfully.
"What are we going to do?" JJ asked, looking to the team leader.
Hotch paused. "We're going to put a stop to it." The team all waited so he addressed Garcia. "I'll need your help. You, Prentiss, and I are going to try and find the file Pearce has against Joey."
"And we're going to arrest him?" Garcia asked hopefully.
Hotch nodded severely. "That's the goal, yes."
"But we need evidence, solid evidence." JJ pointed out.
"We'll get that." Hotch said, looking at Joey. She wondered what he had in mind. "I also need you to look into Pearce's past." Hotch continued to Garcia. "This might not be the first time he's done this."
"But we have to be careful." Joey spoke up. The team looked to her in surprise. "He… he watches the cameras in the office, and he tracks my phone. I don't know what else, but he can see almost everything."
Garcia huffed. "I'd like to see him try and stalk me. My bat cave is impenetrable, and I'll be damned if he's going to use my computers against me."
Hotch nodded. "Garcia's office will be our safe room, but we can't all be in there all the time. He'll get suspicious."
"And we have to keep taking cases." Joey continued, and Hotch nodded in agreement. "If we drop everything to focus on this, he'll catch on and run."
"But we don't have another case. Do we?" Morgan asked, glancing at Garcia, who shook her head. "So where do we start?"
"When we get back, Prentiss, Garcia, and I will start to go through Pearce's things. Garcia, you'll need to make sure he doesn't have any extra surveillance in his office. If he does, disable it." Hotch instructed.
"What?" Joey cried, nearly choking on her water. "You can't go through his things!"
"We have the chance now." Hotch explained calmly. "Pearce is leaving for two days to go to a briefing with the head of the DOJ and the Secretary of Defense. That's what he came to see me about this morning."
Joey said nothing, but swallowed thickly. She didn't like this idea. The rest of the team nodded and stood to leave. Joey shoved a few more fries into her mouth and stood with them.
They all headed back to their cars. Joey had carpooled with Reid, so she climbed into the passenger's seat, lost in thought. She had a feeling something was going to go terribly wrong in their investigation.
Reid climbed into the drivers seat and paused before starting the car. "Thanks for telling us." He said quietly. Joey looked at him for a moment, taking the time to appreciate Reid's kind eyes. He didn't wait for a response, but merely turned the ignition. He pulled away from the curb and the two of them rode back to the office in silence.
In the parking garage, the team collectively walked up to the elevators. As they did, the doors slid open and out walked Chief Pearce, followed by a few of his colleagues. Joey's step faltered for a moment. Pearce nodded curtly to Hotch before sliding his eyes to Joey's. He ever so slightly raised an eyebrow above his threatening gaze, and Joey quickly dropped her eyes to her shoes, following JJ into the elevator.
As the doors slid shut behind them, Morgan exhale heavily. "I just can't believe it. How can he get away with it?"
"He won't." Prentiss replied simply. "We'll catch him…we have to."