Chapter 8

Kahlan sat in the same seat she had used on the way to South Dakota. She could clearly see the change in the mood of the team. They were happy to be going home, and they were happy their family members weren't in any danger, but they were still discussing the case of the missing boys. Kahlan shook her head. She would have sworn once they had their own kids back that they would have given up on hers. She had never been more wrong. She didn't regret what she had done, hell it got them to take the case. She had tried to use normal means, but she couldn't get the help she needed. She thought now, though, that she should have just set up an appointment with Agent Hotchner. She realized that the man would have done something, even if had not taken the case personally. No, he would have taken the case. That's just the type of man he is. She found herself truly impressed by him. Well, maybe a little more than impressed.

Hotch sat next to Rossi and thought about Kahlan. He just couldn't get a handle on the woman. She had admitted to having medical problems, but Garcia couldn't find any medical records. She had all but immobilized Rossi with a flick of her hand, but she had nothing in her past to suggest she would know a move like that. She had a perfectly forged FBI ID, and that was not something that could just be made on a computer.She had said she had associates watching Jack and them, not friends, associates. What kind of associates could she have that would volunteer to guard two adults and two children? What had she told them to get them to do it? Garcia had told him she didn't have that much money in the bank, so she couldn't have paid them. What had bothered him the most, though, is what he had seen her eyes when she pulled away from him in Utah. He wasn't sure what he saw, but he was sure the flicker in her eyes was dangerous. On paper, she seemed like a normal widowed house wife, but Hotch knew she was anything but normal. Being one of best profilers in the country, Hotch prided himself on being able to read people, but he couldn't read this woman enough to fully understand her.

He had convinced her to give up Jack, and he was wondering if he could convince her to open up about who she really was. He looked at her and his breath hitched just slightly as he realized she was looking at him. Rossi saved him by asking him something. He didn't hear it, so he had to turn to ask him what he had said.

Kahlan watched Hotch for a few more seconds. He had caught her looking at him, and she felt her face blush. She bent down and took out her iPod and head phones. She put the headphones on and turned toward the window, still trying to figure the man out.

They landed without incident, and Hotch, JJ, and Kahlan took one SUV to the Residence Inn Marriot in Woodbridge, VA. The boys were only twenty minutes away from them the whole time. Hotch also knew that the Marriot was not a cheap hotel, and again, he knew there was more to her than what Garcia's computer told them.

"Remember, they have no idea that this wasn't real," Kahlan reminded them.

"What about the people watching them? Do they know the truth?" Hotch asked her.

"Not. . . exactly. They are real Marshalls who thought they were assigned to protect them," Kahlan said with a look at Hotch through the rear view mirror.

Hotch raised his eyebrows in surprise. How the hell did she manage that? He would have to ask her about that later, too.

"And you're with the FBI?" JJ asked to make sure the story was straight.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Kahlan told her with a grimace. "You can add 'impersonating a federal officer' to my list of crimes, but you have to wait to charge me until after you find out what happened to Wyatt." She knew Hotch had said he wasn't going to arrest her, but she was sure that only meant until after they solved the case.

Hotch pulled up to the front entrance and left the SUV blocking the entry way. He didn't care if the hotel liked it or not, he was there on official duty, well, official father duty. They made their way through the lobby, and when the man behind the desk started to ask them what they were doing. Hotch and JJ just held up their badges and kept walking. "What room?" he asked Kahlan.

"Suite 204."

They quickly ran up the stairs, but slowed as they approached the Marshall stationed in the hall. They didn't need to spook the man who thought he was protecting kids. Hotch noticed his hand go toward his pistol, but he stopped as soon as he saw Kahlan. "Agent Dunmire," the man smiled, but sent Hotch and JJ a quick worried glance.

"Mitch," she nodded to him. "This is SSA Hotchner and SSA Jareau. They are here to pick up their families."

Mitch smiled widely. "You caught the bastard, huh?"

"Yeah, finally," JJ told him with a smile.

"They'll be glad about that. I think they were all getting a little stir crazy," Mitch told them with another warm smile.

"I bet," Hotch told him returning the smile.

Mitch turned, unlocked the door, and opened it to allow them to enter. Hotch stepped in first and was followed by JJ. Kahlan stayed in the hall to tell Mitch that the protective detail was over and had him go home.

"DDAAADDDDDYYYY!" Jack yelled as soon as he saw who had come in the door. He quickly ran and slammed himself into his father's lags. After steadying himself, he picked Jack up and hugged him.

Henry ran just as quickly to JJ, but was too emotional to say anything. JJ scooped up her son and buried her head in his neck. Will, who had been watching TV with the boys, jumped up and added himself to the family hug.

Kahlan step out into the hall to get control of her emotions. Seeing the happy reunion made her miss her own son even more. It also made her feel even more guilty for having deceived the agents. She quickly wiped the tears away.

Jessica came out of one of the adjoining bedrooms. "Aaron?"

"Hey, Jess." Hotch told her as he walked up to her. "I am really sorry about all this." He looked at Will to include him in the apology.

"We understand. Believe me, we would rather be whisked away to a hotel for a few days, than be worried the whole time about someone getting to Jack or Henry," she told him with a smile.

"It's over, though, right?" Will asked JJ.

"Yes, you guys are free to go home," she told them.

"Yay! I'll go get my stuff," Jack said as he wiggled out of his father's arms and ran to the bedroom he and Jessica had been sharing.

They all quickly got everything packed up. Kahlan called Hotch over to the side as everybody else headed down the hallway. "I'll just stay here," Kahlan told him.

"What?"

"It's already paid for, and then I won't have to find someplace else."

Hotch studied her, again. He really couldn't come up with any reason why she shouldn't, but something in his gut didn't like it. "Alright. You better come get your bag," he told her and quickly caught up with Jack. Kahlan followed at a distance.

XXXXX

Wyatt struggled to carry a five gallon bucket of water into the barn. As he walked to the horse stalls, he tripped over his own feet and water splashed everywhere. Water got on the old man's boots, and before Wyatt could even apologize, the old man back-handed him onto the ground. A cut on his cheek started bleeding as his eye started swelling. "Now go fill it back up!" the old man yelled. Wyatt got up without a word and went back to the spicket to fill the bucket again.

The old man continued to the stall in the back. Damien Brant was balled up on the floor in the fetal position, asleep. "Wake up you stupid little bastard!" the old man said as he kicked the young boy.

Damien yelled and jumped to his feet. "I'm sorry, sir!"

"What's your name, boy?" the old man asked in a yell.

"Damian Brant, sir."

"What?" the old man back-handed him and he went flying to the back of the stall.

The boy started crying as he put his hand on the wounded side of his face. The old man bent down, grabbed the boy's hair, and brought him to a standing position in front of him. "What's your name?" he asked, his voiced more lethal.

He boy sucked in his bottom lip. "Damian Holt, sir!" he answered correctly and the old man smiled at him.

"That's right, boy, and don't you forget it again!"

XXXXX

The next day, Hotch walked into Garcia's office. "So what did you find on Mrs. Hunter?"

Garcia gave him a look that told him she was perplexed by what she found. "Nothing, but yet something at the same time, something is very strange." She started typing and bringing up documents.

"She was born in Colorado. Her dad was in the Army, so I can trace his movements and follow her as she grows up. They left Colorado and went to Alaska when she was still under a year old. Alaska to South Dakota, South Dakota to Virginia, several places in Virginia, then back to South Dakota when she was in fourth grade. . ."

"I don't think where she went to elementary really matters, Garcia."

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"Just start with what you think is strange."

"Well, I can track her all through growing up. She actually graduated high school two years early. According to those records she has an IQ of 172. Wow, she's almost as smart as Reid." Hotch nodded; he could believe that. "I even found where she started college at Shepherd University in West Virginia, but she just disappears her junior year in 1992."

"What do you mean, disappears?"

"Seriously, just poof." She emphasized it by putting her hands together and separating them quickly. "I can't find anything else about her until she shows back up again in South Dakota in 2002."

"So for ten years, you have nothing on her?"

"No sir, and I have checked every agency I can think of, and none of them have any record of a Kahlan Williams. She didn't become Kahlan Hunter until June of 2003."

"Did you by chance check for a passport or any international travel?"

"Really? You think you have to ask?" She smiled at him. "No record of a passport, so no record of travel."

"Could someone have erased what was there?"

"Erasing something normally leaves some sort of trace, and I didn't find any. If anything was erased, it was done by somebody way beyond my talent."

Hotch looked at her. If it impressed her, then it must have been good. "That has to be what it is, though, right?"

"I don't know, sir. It's like she stopped existing for those ten years."

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. He was hoping that Garcia's searching would provide answers, not more questions.

"Could she have gone into one of the agencies under a different name?"

"Oh, my humble leader, why do you doubt me so?" She asked with a wounded look. "I checked all females who entered into the agencies within those years with her description."

"So, no connection between her and the Marshall service either?"

"Not that I could find. I'm sorry, sir."

"Alright. Thanks, Garcia." He left her and thought about going to Kahlan and confronting her about it right then and there, but decided against it. He decided instead to wait to visit her after work, and he was going to invite Rossi to go with him. Maybe they both could get her to open up.

XXX

Hotch knocked on the door to Kahlan's room. After a few moments, he knocked again a little harder.

"Maybe she's not here," Rossi said simply and turned to head back to the stairs.

"Yeah, but where is she and what is she doing?" Hotch asked as he followed Rossi.

"Well, she doesn't have Jack and them anymore, so why do you really care?"

"Just wondering. Don't tell me you're not at least a little bit curious."

"Curious about what she's doing, or curious about her?" Rossi asked him with raised brows. He wasn't sure, but he had the feeling Hotch was beginning to like Kahlan.

"Both, I guess." Hotch had told Rossi about what Garcia had found.

"You like her, don't you?" Rossi asked him with a smile as they left the hotel.

"What?" Hotch asked as if offended, but Rossi could tell he wasn't.

"Oh, come on Aaron. I can tell you're impressed by her."

"She's a puzzle I want to solve, but I don't know about 'impressed'," Hotch lied.

Rossi pulled out his phone. "Well, let's find out where she is," Rossi told him as he dialed.

Hotch stood by the door of the SUV and waited to see if Kahlan would answer. She did and Rossi was talking to her and looking around the parking lot. Within a couple minutes he ended the call. "So?"

"She's in the bar across the street," Rossi told him as he started walking toward it. Hotch caught up with him quickly. They crossed at the light and entered the bar to find Kahlan at a small table in the back. Hotch noticed two glasses of scotch waiting for them.

"Well, what brings you two gentlemen out this evening?" she asked them as they sat down. Rossi had told her on the phone that it didn't have anything to do with Wyatt, so she wasn't worried about getting bad news or anything. She was curious as to why they wanted to talk with her, though, if it wasn't about the case.

"We didn't want you to get too lonely being stuck in that hotel alone," Rossi told her with a smile. With the look Kahlan gave him, he knew she didn't believe him.

She finally smiled back at him, took a drink of her beer, and turned her attention to Hotch. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Hotch took a drink of his scotch. This isn't going to be easy.