Chapter 27

Kahlan was in an office that seemed to have walls made out of screens. They ranged from eighteen inch computer screens to big fifty-five inch plasma screens. A man with long brown hair was using one of the many keyboards on one the desks. "Come on Cam, there has to have been at least one satellite pointed down around Quantico yesterday," Kahlan told him as she paced.

"If you had any idea how many satellites there are or if you had any idea how much information I have to go through to find the right one, you would be the one in the chair," Cameron told her.

"But that's what I have you for."

"Yes, and if you would stop pacing I might actually be able to concentrate."

Kahlan stopped and gave a dirty look to the back of the man's head.

"I saw that," he said with a smile.

"You must be slipping. I would have thought you would have found it by now."

"Attacking me mentally isn't going to make me work faster," he told her as his fingers moved so fast on the keyboard that Kahlan couldn't keep track of them.

Kahlan sighed and slid down the door to sit on the floor.

"You must really like this guy, huh? I don't think I've ever seen you so wound up."

"Just find it, Cam."

"So you do like him. . . Do I detect maybe even a little love?"

"This really isn't the time, Cam."

Cameron laughed. "Yep. I will take that as a yes." He craned his neck and smiled at her. "I can't believe the stone cold queen has actually opened herself up to some guy. Although, Chuck was impressed with him, so I guess he's more than just some guy, huh?"

"A lot more. How you found it yet?"

"Jesus! Go grab a coffee or something. I'm working as fast I as can."

"No thanks, I'll just wait."

"You have never been a patient person, Kay."

"Nope."

"Why isn't his team trying to find him?"

"They are, but they don't have the access you have."

"Most people don't. You should be glad I like you so much."

"That I do. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Cameron smiled. "Ah ha!"

Kahlan jumped up to look at the screen directly in front of Cameron. She watched as he zoomed the image in on the neighborhood.

"It's from a weather satellite so it won't be very clear, but you should be able to get something from it," he told her as he narrowed the image to look at Hotch's house and surrounding area.

He manipulated it so that it ran in fast forward. She saw Hotch's car pull up and watched him go to his house. Several vehicles drove past Hotch's house but none of them stopped. She was getting impatient again and she drummed her fingers on Cameron's desk. Finally she noticed a van pull up along Hotch's back yard. "There."

Cameron slowed the image down to normal time and they watched someone leave the van, go through the gate in Hotch's fence, and slowly make his way to Hotch's house. Kahlan couldn't be sure, but she thought it was a man from the build and the way he walked. Six minutes later, the figure emerged carrying Hotch in a fireman's carry. She watched as he put Hotch in the back of the van, slam the doors shut, and take off. "Any way to change the angle and get a look at his plates?"

"Not with this one, but now that I know the exact time, I might be able to find another one with better coverage."

"Can you send me a video of it?"

He clicked a few keys and her phone chimed. "Just did."

"Can you print me a picture of the van?"

"Done," he said before she even heard the printer start.

She walked over to the printer and looked at the picture. Cameron had been able to blow the image up some, but the only thing she could be sure about is that the van was white and had some sort of dark image on the side of it.

"I'll keep searching and see if I can find something better. Keep your phone on," he told her as he stood up and gave her a hug. "Good luck."

She hugged him back. "Thanks, Cam. I owe you, again."

XXXXX

Hotch brought his head up off his chest as he heard a door open and shut somewhere behind him. He craned his head around as far as it would go so he could see who was approaching. It was a big muscular man, but Hotch didn't recognize him, but he thought it was the man Morgan had chased in New York. He was carrying a bag over his shoulder and Hotch noticed that he wasn't in a hurry. The big man stood in front of Hotch looking at him. Then he dropped the bag on the floor. By the sound of it, Hotch figured there was something made out of metal in it. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Hotch asked him in an even tone.

"Just another job," the man told him with a smile.

Shit! He's being paid to do this, so someone has hired him. Shit! "Yeah? Who hired you?"

"That doesn't matter. All that matters now, is how much pain I can give you before you die."

Hotch swallowed hard, but he kept his face passive. "Do you know who I am?" Hotch knew he didn't have his badge on him when he was attacked.

"Yep. You're Agent Hotchner with the FBI. I've never made a mistake in identities."

"And someone hired you to kill me?"

"Yep."

"May I ask how?" Hotch really didn't want to know, but it might give him a clue as to who had hired him.

"Didn't care, just as long as it was done. Told me to use my imagination." He smiled again. "I have a good imagination."

Great! A hit man with an imagination, just what I need!

XXXXX

Kahlan took out her phone as she walked to her car. She dialed Dave and waited for him to answer before she started her car.

"Hey Kiddo, I assume you have something."

She smiled. "Yeah. Where can I meet you?"

"Can you come to the bullpen?"

"Sure. I'll be there in about forty five minutes," she told him then hung up and headed to Quantico.

XXX

Rossi waited for her at the front desk. He signed her in and they headed up to the bullpen. Once they were through the glass doors, he finally asked her what she had found.

She showed him the video on her phone of Hotch being abducted. Then she handed him the photo of the van. "That's as clear as it could get, but I figured Garcia could search traffic cams for anything like it at the entrance to the neighborhood."

"Nice. Your friend at the CIA?"

"Yeah, but Garcia's hooked into the local system better than Cam is," she told him as he led her to Garcia's lair.

Once Kahlan stepped into the office she laughed. Garcia spun in her chair at the noise. "What's so funny?" she asked desperately. Kahlan realized that she was not handling Hotch's disappearance well.

"I'm sorry. I should have realized your office would just be an extension of you. I just came from an office sort of like this, but Cameron's is very sterile compared to all this," Kahlan told her as she gestured to all of the colorful things around the room.

"Oh," is all Garcia said. "Give me something to do Rossi. I can't handle not doing anything to help in the search for my liege."

Rossi smiled at her. "That's why we're here, Kitten. Kahlan has figured out that this van was used to take Hotch," he told her as he handed her the photo. "We need you to search traffic cams to see if you can find it entering and leaving Hotch's road."

"No problem," she told him and attacked her keyboard. "What else has my Double-O agent found?" Garcia asked apparently speaking about Kahlan.

Kahlan chuckled. "That's it so far, sorry it isn't a better picture."

"I don't care if there are a hundred white vans. I will track down every last one of them," Garcia promised.

"Alright. Let us know when you find something," Rossi told her as he squeezed her shoulders.

"But of course."

Rossi then led Kahlan to the conference room. The rest of the team were compiling lists of possible unsubs. Reid was looking into recent cases, JJ was looking at people who had been released from prison, and Morgan was going through Hotch's files to see if there was anything in them that they didn't know about. Kahlan noticed that Blake wasn't there and figured she must have been teaching. They all stopped what they were doing when Rossi and Kahlan walked in.

"Hotch was abducted by I believe a man, and he was driving a white van," Kahlan told them. "Here, there's a video on my phone if you want to email to one of you so you can bring it up on the screen," she told Morgan as she handed him her phone.

Morgan took it and within minutes the video played out in front of them large enough for them all to see it at once. They all watched in silence as the man made his way to Hotch's house. Kahlan could sense the anger in them as they watched him carry Hotch to the van, though. She couldn't blame them, she was pissed, too.

"Garcia's searching traffic cams as we speak," Rossi told them.

"There's no way to manipulate the image to get a better shot of the man?"

"No. That was first image we could find, but my friend is still looking for a better one."

"Well, at least we can scratch any females off the list," JJ told them.

XXXXX

"First I want to use you in an experiment," the big man told Hotch as he knelt down beside his bag.

Hotch tried to keep his breathing steady, but fear was creeping its way up from his stomach. He had seen to many horrible things in his life, and he was imagining all kinds sick experiments.