Ghosts • Aaron Hotchner

Chapter Eighteen

There was no time for rest. As soon as the team got back on the jet, it was right back to D.C. where they started their hunt for Foyet. 

They tracked his prescriptions, they searched through every alias he had. They checked every database, made every chart, and worked the geological profile as best they could, until finally they got a break. Garcia found one of Foyet's prescriptions that couldn't be substituted, and then they lowered down the list of names until they found him under the name of Peter Rhea. 

Fallon stood at Hotch's side, his jaw clenched as he stared at Garcia's screen when Foyet's alias and address on it. She cleared her throat quietly and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. They would find him, and they would end this. 

Hotch glanced over at Fallon, and gave her the smallest, tight lipped smile, squeezing her hand back. She nodded slightly and then moved away slightly. It was go time. 

***

"God damn it," Fallon cursed as they ran through Foyet's false apartment building. He had been alerted and he was gone. The team quickly cleared the apartment and then found his computer. They all watched as file after file got deleted. Fallon got Garcia on the phone and she started hacking into the software, rebuilding what Foyet was desperately trying to destroy. 

Pictures started flashing across the screen, but Morgan called for Garcia to pause it. It landed on a picture of Sam Kassmeyer, the U.S. Marshal that was assigned to protect Haley and Jack. Hotch tried calling his phone, but it went straight to voice mail. 

The team all collectively panicked silently. The situation was getting worse and worse. There was no time to call another SWAT unit, which meant that they had no back up going into this situation. Hotch rushed out of the apartment, and all of them trailed quickly behind him. They were doing this by themselves. 

The cars pulled up in front of the house that Kassmeyer had been staying in. All of them were out before the cars had completely stopped. It was a terrifying feeling, running towards a house where they were expecting the worst, but all Fallon could do was keep her grip on her gun, and pray that Haley and Jack were alright for Hotch's sake. 

The team rushed in the door, only to find Sam laying on the floor, beaten and bloody. 

"I'm sorry," he told Hotch, and everyone's hearts dropped. What had happened?

"What are you sorry for?" Hotch asked.

"I-I tried," Sam said, struggling to breath. 

"Are Jack and Haley safe?" Hotch asked, and Sam's silence was enough to make them all start worrying. Fallon put a hand over her mouth, to mask her horror about the situation. "Sam, tell me what happened."

"I don't know how he got in," Sam told Hotch. 

"Sam, I need to understand. Does he know where Jack and Haley are?" Hotch asked, calmly. Almost too calmly. 

"I didn't..." Sam trailed off before he could say anything else.

"What about her phone number? What's her safe phone number?" Hotch asked, his voice getting more urgent. He was panicking, but he was trying to keep himself together. The paramedics arrived, and Hotch went with them to the hospital while the team searched for anything in Kassmeyer's house. 

Fallon's phone rang about twenty minutes later, and she pulled it out to see Hotch calling.

"Guys, it's Hotch," She called and the team gathered around her and the phone, before she answered. "What's going on?"