Chapter 16
Hotch awoke to Kahlan starting to stretch in his arms. He smiled as she snuggled back up against him and smiled up at him. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the top of her head. "Morning, babe."
"Morning, Hun. How'd you sleep?"
He chuckled. "Like a cat on a window sill."
She laughed. "I do think you were purring at one point last night."
"You make me purr," he told her as he scooted up into a sitting position.
She got up and went to her bag. When he was about to ask what she was doing she held a finger to her lips, so he watched her as she took something out of her bag and then went to the bank of windows. She stood the thing up and within seconds it looked like a mini umbrella that the wind had blown inside out. She smiled as she made her way back to him. She leaned down to give him a kiss. "Now no one can hear us."
Horror filled his face. "You think Emily and them were listening to us?"
She giggled as she made her way to the bathroom. "Or our unsubs."
"Jesus Christ, Babe! Why didn't you set that damn thing up last night?" he asked her as he slipped on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.
She laughed. "If they were keeping tabs on us, they needed to see that we were just a couple enjoying their vacation." She emerged with her pajamas on and took in how pale he was and she felt a little guilty. "I don't know that they were," she offered innocently.
He took a deep breath and prayed that no one had been listening. He shook his head and sat on the bed.
She sat beside him and looked at him seriously. "I think you need to talk to Emily."
He looked at his watch. "She should be here soon," he told her and then realized her look meant something else. "About what?"
Kahlan got up and started to pace a little.
"Babe?"
"She's holding out on you."
"What do you mean?" he asked as he went up to her and halted her pacing with a hand on her arm.
She sighed and put her arms around his neck. "I know you love her and trust her because she was part of your team, Hun, but she just as much a spy now as she was when she was younger."
He studied her. "She wouldn't hold out on me." She raised her brows. He shook his head and stepped back from her. "You know something."
"Only what I observed last night."
"You saw something that bothered you because you weren't tense until you saw it. The unsubs didn't bother you before that." She bit her lip. "Just tell me," he pleaded.
"Maybe you should ask Em," she told him as she went to her bag to get her clothes. "I could just be paranoid."
He huffed. "If I can't trust your instincts, then I can't even trust my own," he told her as he pulled her to the table and made her sit down and he sat down next to her. "Tell me what you saw and what you are thinking."
"You're going to be mad."
He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and his work face emerged. "Tell me."
"I think our unsubs are dangerous as hell."
"The five guys?"
"Maybe not them physically, but the men under them definitely are, and they only follow orders."
He thought back to the night before. "There was something you wouldn't let me see."
"It's not that I didn't want you to see them. . ."
As he pictured it in his mind, he realized that wasn't it at all. "No, you kept putting yourself in between me and it," he shook his head. "It was someone else, and he bothered you so much that you thought you needed to shield me?"
"One of them was a stone cold killer, Aaron. I could see it in his eyes."
"One of them?" He got up roughly and turned away from her as he felt his anger rising. "So you're saying Emily and Clyde have pulled us into something really dangerous?"
She sighed and went and put a hand on his shoulder. "Aaron, Emily only wanted us to go in and get out. She probably didn't realize you would get us this far with them."
He turned to her and she could see the anger in his eyes. "She should have told us!"
"Clyde probably wouldn't let her. He is so used to using people. . ."
"She is my friend! I wouldn't have done it to her!"
She put a hand on his chest. "But you are a rare man, Aaron," she told him with a smile. "She probably thought we were perfectly safe doing what they wanted. You are the one who took this further."
He relaxed a little as he considered it. "Clyde knew that if they told us, I wouldn't have agreed to do it. They both know I would never want you to be in on something dangerous." He shook his head.
"And now we can't back out."
He huffed. "Of course not. Not when we may actually have a chance at saving some of those kids."
She put her arms around his neck again. "Don't be mad at Em."
He smiled. "If I know her, she's probably tearing herself up enough for it."
She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "You are going to be ok with today, right?"
"Maybe you should stay here," he started and she pulled away from him quickly.
"Don't start that, Aaron. I don't trust Clyde to protect you if it comes to that." She could tell he was about to argue. "Besides, you're the one who told them you wanted me to be able to pick a child out. It won't work without me."
He sighed heavily as his shoulders drooped. "What if those men are there?"
She could see the concern in his eyes. "Remember, together we can do anything."
He smiled weakly, but worry for his wife was making his gut tighten.
A knock on the door signaled Emily's arrival. Kahlan shot him a look and then went to the door.
As soon as Emily came in the door, Hotch fixed her with his stare, and she froze in her tracks; her hands holding a tray of coffees and a bag of muffins.
"Aaron!" Kahlan exclaimed and smacked him on the chest.
Emily quickly put her items on the table and looked at Hotch. "I am so sorry, Hotch," she told him honestly because she could tell they had deduced some things about their unsubs.
He shook his head at her, and she could see the disappointment in his eyes. "I would have never thought I couldn't trust you, Prentiss."
Hearing her maiden name drove home the betrayal she felt. "You weren't supposed to be doing this today. You were supposed to get in there, work your magic, and then get out. You'd be safely back at that castle if you weren't so damn good at your job!"
He huffed and looked away from her.
Kahlan saw a ghost of a smile cross his lips and she knew Emily's compliments had softened him just like she had planned. Damn, Em, I think I would have loved working with you. "You need to tell us everything, Em, so we can be prepared for our meet today."
Emily looked at her. "I am sorry, Kahlan. I would have told you had I known."
"I know," Kahlan told her as she glanced at her husband who had yet to turn back around to look at them again. "But we need to know the truth."
"We can't talk here," Emily started.
Kahlan smiled. "Yes we can."
Emily looked at her questioningly. "But Clyde. . ."
Hotch finally turned to her. "I don't want to hear it from Clyde! I want to hear it from you."
Emily sighed and sat down in one of the chairs around the table. Kahlan went to Hotch and pushed him toward the table to sit down and she sat down next to him. Emily quickly gave them their coffees and took a deep breath.
Hotch took a drink of his as he patiently waited for Emily to start. When she seemed hesitant he put his coffee down and looked at her. "Exactly how dangerous is today going to be?"
She winced and he felt his stomach flip. "I need to fill you in on the back story. When they first showed up on our radar, Clyde sent a team out so they could figure out who they were and such."
Kahlan studied her. "And they ended it up dead."
Emily's look told her that she was right, and Hotch shook his head. She sighed. "Yes, but we didn't know exactly what happened, so we didn't realize it was our guys for sure." She started picking at her nails and Hotch knew how bad it was. "So Clyde sent out a few specialized people just to do surveillance. After they got some stuff and we knew they were trying to set up a branch here in England, he sent a couple more people out."
"Assassins," Kahlan put in.
Hotch shot her a look of disbelief and then looked at Emily. "Is she right?" he asked and Emily could tell from his tone that he hoped Kahlan was wrong.
Emily winced. "Yes."
Hotch got up roughly and walked away from the table shaking his head the whole way.
"Hotch. . ." Emily started but Kahlan held up her hand to stop her.
"Just tell us what else has happened. Apparently the assassins were killed?"
Emily looked at Hotch for another moment and then looked at Kahlan. "Yes, but again, we didn't have any clue as to who had actually done it. So we started following them from a distance. That is when we realized we had no idea who the actual leader was." She paused and looked at Hotch again. "So we've been watching them and trying to build a case. . . And then you showed up and we knew about the Gala. . ." she got up and went to him. "It was my idea to ask you. It's my fault you are in this."
Hotch turned around to look at her. "So everyone who has gotten close to these men has been killed, and when I show up your first thought is to have me try to do your job for you?"
Emily shook her head. "No," she told him as she picked at her nails. "Well, not exactly."
"I came here on vacation with my family! Your husband fed my kids! And you show your loyalty to me by allowing me to put my wife in a situation like that?"
Kahlan shot him a look. Of course you're not mad about the danger she has put you in; you're just mad because of me.
His anger made Emily wilt a little. "No! We were discussing the unsubs a couple days after I saw you, and I made the statement that if it was your case you would have been able to figure out who was on top easily. I was just making conversation and Clyde. . ."
Hotch ran a hand down his face. "Clyde can go to hell! You had the chance to tell us, and you chose not to. Even if you truly thought we were safe, you should have told us!" He shook his head. "Did you know their goons were there? Did you know that the men who probably killed your agents were there?"
"What?!" The look of shock on her face told them she didn't.
He huffed and turned away from her again.
"How do you know that?" Emily asked him quickly.
He turned back around so quickly that she took a step back. "Because Kahlan saw them!" he told her as he pointed to his wife. Kahlan was still sitting at the table quietly letting him handle the conversation.
Emily turned to her with shock. "How?"
"I didn't see them," Hotch started and Emily looked back to him. "Had I known there were other men in the picture, I might have been on the lookout, but since all I knew about was the five, I concentrated on them."
Emily turned back to Kahlan. "Are you sure? We have never seen anyone else."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure," is all Kahlan offered.
"When you got Hotch the water? That's what you were doing?"
Kahlan shrugged. "I felt we were being watched and I decided to check it out. There were three of them."
"Oh my God, I am so sorry," she told her quickly and looked back to Hotch. "We had no idea," she entreated. "I swear to you, Hotch."
Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where does this leave us for today?" he asked both women.
"Sit down, Hun," Kahlan told him as she held his coffee out for him.
He sighed and did and Emily sat down, too. "Did you make sure to get them on your feed?" she asked Kahlan.
"Of course. Show me the feed and I'll show them to you."
Emily started nodding as she was thinking. "With the locators Kahlan placed, we were able to find out where they were staying. We can just track them to wherever they go next. You two don't have to do anything else."
Hotch started shaking his head. "They might not go to the kids without us." He took a deep breath. "No. We started it and we'll finish it."
"But those new men might be. . ."
"We will finish it," he told her in a tone that told her not to argue.
Emily looked at Kahlan pleadingly. "You could tell what type of men they were. . ."
"And we'll finish it."
Emily shook her head. "You are just as stubborn as he is!" she exclaimed as she stood up and turned away from them.
Kahlan shot Hotch a quick grin, and he returned it.
"Do you have a laptop?" Emily asked as she turned back to them.
Kahlan got up to get it and sat it down in front of Emily. She started typing as soon as she had it open and on the internet. "We have a secure server." After a lot of clicks and typing she showed Kahlan the video from her camera. Kahlan fast forwarded it to the end and then pointed the three men out. Emily froze the images and then sent them in an email to work. "I'll get them started on it right away. Are you going to wait here for the call?"
Hotch nodded. "Yes. I suddenly don't fell like being too exposed in the city," he told her dryly, and Emily winced.
"You'll need a car," Emily started.
"No. I will take care of that if you don't mind. The less we have to do with you and your group the better," Kahlan told her.
Emily looked at her questioningly. "Why?"
Kahlan bit her lip and cut her eyes away from her.
"Kahlan?" Hotch asked as he put his hand over hers.
She shook her head and looked back at them both. "Well, either these men are really, really, good; or you have a leak. Either way, I don't like it."
Emily balked. "You think that is why all of our agents have been killed?"
"Oh no." Hotch's face lost all of its color as he considered the implications and studied his wife's face. "You think it's a leak."
"In my experience, no one is that good," is all she offered.
"Then you definitely can't do it!" Emily demanded. "If it is truly a leak, you could already be compromised."
Hotch ran a hand down his face. "And if there isn't and we don't do this, those kids might not have a chance." He looked at Kahlan.
"Welcome to the world of spies, Hun."
He huffed. "The more I see of it, the more I hate." Kahlan gave him a small smile to apologize and he sat back in his seat. After a few heart beats, he smiled. "Is it too late to say I want to go someplace nice for vacation? Maybe someplace like Disney World?"
Kahlan and Emily both laughed.
He stood up and looked at Emily. "Get your Garcia on those men and find out all you can about them, and send us a file of what you complied on our quartet."
"Right," she told him with a smile and then left.
Kahlan laughed as she shook her head as soon as the door shut behind her.
"What?" Hotch asked as he picked up his coffee and then took a drink.
Kahlan got up and put her arms around his neck. "You."
"Me? What about me?"
"You just told the head of London's Interpol how to do her job as if she was still your employee." He winced as he thought about it. "You probably have most of the London office doing your bidding right now."
"I overstepped my bounds?"
She laughed, and leaned up to give him a kiss. Once she pulled away, he looked at her questioningly. "I love my supreme alpha."
He shook his head and blushed a little.