The Stone Wall and His Weakness [A.H.]

XXV

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"Hey guys!" Spencer smiled as we walked into the round table room.

"Hi uncle Spencer." Henry replied as he was lifted up into a hug.

"How are you guys?" Spencer kneeled down to be eye-level with Henry.

"Good. Everybody's gonna hang out at mom's work today."

I looked over at Penelope, who was typing away on her laptop. She paused for a moment, looking up at me, worried.

"Oh, that sounds super fun!" She looked over to Henry, who had turned to look at us.

"Have you been practicing that magic trick I taught you, Jack?" Spencer asked, standing up.

Jack stared at the floor, "Can I go to my dad's office?"

"Yeah, of course." I spoke gently, looking over at Will, who had come in with Michael as soon as JJ had told him what happened.

"Here. Come on, fellas, let's go find something to get into. Come on." Will took Michael from JJ and walked with the boys to Aaron's office. As soon as they were out of ear shot, everyone turned to look at me and JJ.

"It's bad." I sighed.

"How much did he see?" Spencer asked.

"All of it, which is why we figured this was the safest place to bring them."

"Just got word," Rossi interjected, his ringing phone in hand, "He's downtown."

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"Today will change everything."

"How did they do that?" I asked, barely containing the stress coursing through me. I sat at the round table with the team. Penelope was across from me, with JJ to my right and Reid to my left.

Penelope explained, "Spoofing tech makes it seem like it's coming from Hotch's cell, and using his voice, that takes skill."

"It's subtle, but his inflection changes. It sounds like the words are spliced together." Spencer voices.

"Let's look up all BAU press conferences led by Hotch." JJ told Penelope, just as Rossi entered the room.

"He's being held by the DOJ, the Inspector General's office."

"Okay, that makes sense," I reasoned, "It's the internal affairs of the parent agency of the bureau. They probably heard what we heard."