"I don't believe it." Laurel had waited to comment until after they were in the car with the engine running. "That really seems to have worked!"
"She was in the wrong and she knew it," Hotch explained as he guided the car out of the parking garage. "Plus, she knows that if we report her to the Bar Association they will disbar her and she will never again work in any branch of law enforcement. She can't afford to risk that."
"Our next stop," Rossi was in the back seat reading from his smart phone. "Is the lawyer for the charity that runs the homeless shelter. Garcia sent me the address."
"Another blitz attack?" Hotch suggested as he caught Rossi's eye in the rearview mirror.
"Since it worked so well the last time – " Rossi smirked back.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The lawyer was outraged. "I will have you know that when I took over this practice from my father, who took it over from his father, the Fallen Angels Charity had already been a client of ours for three generations," he told them. "And there has never been a hint of impropriety in our handling of their legal business."
"I am not saying that anything was handled improperly," Hotch told him patiently. "What I am saying is that this matter was never handled at all. You need to check with the charity's insurance company on why payment was never made."
"Then you need to call this CPA firm," Rossi again handed over a business card. "And let them know when to expect the money."
"Well, I never!" the lawyer blustered.
"Maybe you had better," Laurel advised him as she stood up to leave his office.
"We will expect to hear from you within 24 hours," Hotch added as he and Rossi escorted Laurel out the door.
"That is enough for one day," Rossi declared when they were back in the car. "Let's settle in for the night. We can get something to eat, get some rest, and prepare to tackle the really big guns first thing tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good to me," Hotch agreed. "Laurel?" He glanced over at her in the seat next to him.
"I am shaking," she replied, holding her hands up so that the men could see them. "I have never done anything like this before and I don't know – "
"Don't worry," Rossi reached over from the back seat and patted her shoulder. "We are here for you. Now, we are going to go somewhere familiar, and you are going to relax and catch your breath, and we can start again tomorrow."