Shadow Of Hearts (Emily Prentiss X OC)

Chapter 34: A New Mystery Unfolds

The sun was just beginning to rise as Emily Prentiss pulled into the BAU parking lot. She felt a mix of exhaustion and a strange sense of renewal after the night she spent with Echo. Their relationship had crossed into uncharted territory, and while the intensity of their connection was thrilling, it also carried with it a weight of uncertainty. Could they keep their relationship under wraps? How would it affect their work, especially with their roles in such a high-stakes environment?

Emily shook off her thoughts as she walked into the building. There was work to be done, and the team had barely had a moment to breathe after capturing Kane. The halls were quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos they usually faced, but Emily knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.

She made her way to her office, dropping her bag on the chair and sitting down to review the reports from the previous case. She was just about to dive into the paperwork when her phone buzzed on the desk. It was JJ.

"Hey, JJ," Emily answered, her voice a little more upbeat than usual.

"Morning, Emily," JJ replied. "Hotch just called for an urgent meeting in the conference room. We've got another case."

Emily's brief moment of peace evaporated. "On my way," she said, hanging up and quickly gathering her things.

As she headed to the conference room, Emily caught sight of Echo, who was also making her way there. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, the rest of the world seemed to fade away. There was an unspoken understanding between them-what had happened the night before was just the beginning, but for now, their focus had to be on the job.

"Ready for another one?" Echo asked, falling into step beside Emily.

"Always," Emily replied, giving her a small, knowing smile.

When they entered the conference room, the rest of the team was already there, looking as tired as Emily felt. Hotch stood at the head of the table, his expression grim. Garcia was seated beside him, her normally cheerful demeanor subdued.

"Good morning, everyone," Hotch began, wasting no time. "We've got a new case. Garcia, fill them in."

Garcia clicked a few buttons on her laptop, and the screen at the front of the room lit up with a map. Several locations were marked, each one in a different part of the country.

"We've got a string of murders across multiple states," Garcia said, her voice steady but with an edge of concern. "At first glance, the cases seemed unrelated-different M.O.s, different victim profiles-but something caught the eye of a field agent in Indiana."

She clicked again, bringing up a series of crime scene photos. "Each victim had a small, carved wooden figure placed somewhere on or near their body. At first, it was dismissed as just another creepy detail, but the figures are identical in each case, despite the geographical differences."

"What do the figures represent?" Rossi asked, leaning in to get a better look.

"That's the thing," Garcia continued. "They're all different, but they share a common theme-animals. One victim had a wolf, another a bear, another a raven. The carvings are incredibly detailed, like someone spent a lot of time on them."

Emily frowned, studying the photos. "So we have a possible serial killer who's moving across state lines, leaving these carvings as a signature?"

"Exactly," Hotch said. "We've got victims in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Local authorities are stumped, and the media is starting to pick up on the similarities. We need to get ahead of this before the killer strikes again."

"The victims," Reid interjected, "are there any similarities between them?"

Garcia shook her head. "That's another thing-there doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern. We've got different ages, races, genders, and socioeconomic statuses. The only commonality is that they're all from small towns or rural areas."