Raven, sitting in her therapist's office, is curious. Over the past several hours, she has meticulously searched through the files of victims from each crime scene. During her investigation, Raven has noticed something peculiar - there are several missing files on her computer. Determined to get to the bottom of this, Raven has hacked into her own system and iCloud account. After a thorough examination, she has easily uncovered the deleted time stamps and files. This has revealed a significant detail - someone not only accessed her private information and infiltrated her computer, but also left behind clumsy evidence in their attempt to cover their tracks. This lack of sophistication suggests the person who breached her system is not the same individual responsible for the victims' murders.
In the high-stakes world of criminal investigations and therapeutic practice, Raven has learned the hard way that emotions and logic must remain strictly separate. As both a detective and a therapist, she understands the critical importance of maintaining an unwavering, analytical approach, no matter the personal stakes involved. Raven knows that even with her closest comrades, she cannot afford to let her guard down and succumb to emotional impulses. Her clients' traumas and the criminal minds she studies demand a level-headed, methodical perspective untainted by sentiment. While empathy is essential in her therapeutic role, Raven is acutely aware that mixing emotional and logical reasoning can be a fatal flaw when dealing with severe criminal cases. This uncompromising discipline is the harsh reality Raven has embraced in order to be effective in her dual professions.
The door opened, revealing Dominique. Raven sipped her coffee, observing Dominique calmly, betraying no hint of suspicion. Raven analyzed Dominique's demeanor, noting the absence of the anxiety or deception she had displayed in Caral Woodly's presence. Raven stood up from her desk and took a few steps forward. Closing her laptop, she perched on the edge of the desk, coffee in hand. "Dom. Who's been in my office?" she asked, her tone measured despite the subtle unease niggling at the back of her mind.
The warm, caffeinated brew soothed Raven's nerves, but Dominique's prior body language in front of Caral Woodly had set off alarms. There was clearly more that Dominique was hiding than Raven had initially discerned.
Dominique offered Raven a polite, tight-lipped smile, an expression Raven rarely saw directed her way. The smile lacked genuine warmth, as Dominique's cheekbones failed to rise and crinkle the skin around her eyes. Raven knew better than to take Dominique's words at face value.
"Nobody. It's just been me and Mr. Woodly in my office," Dominique said, her tone level and controlled. Though Dominique was Raven's equal in skill as a therapist, she did not rank as highly when it came to detective work and criminal psychology. Still, Dominique showed no clear signs of deception. This brought Raven to consider another hypothesis about Dominique's body language.
Raven set the steaming mug of coffee on her desk, then fixed Dominique with a piercing, icy stare. "I believe you," she said, her tone laced with a hint of menace. Raven's gaze held an edge of intimidation, a cold intensity that even hardened men had recognized as the uncompromising worldview of a seasoned survivor. Her voice deepened, brimming with dark confidence and a thinly veiled annoyance. "So what were you doing on my computer, Dominique?" she demanded, emphasizing the other woman's name with deliberate chill.
This was no mere theoretical exercise - the evidence implicating Dominique was palpable. After all, only Raven and Dominique possessed the key to access this top-floor office, let alone the means to breach the computer's security, which would require a moderately skilled hacker. Dominique was certainly intelligent enough to deduce Raven's password. But if she hadn't infiltrated the system, then Raven knew Dominique must know the identity of whoever had.
Raven's voice was laced with fury as she demanded, "I won't tolerate anything but the truth. You know better than to touch that computer - you've single-handedly ruined your life, and I want to know what possessed you to act so foolishly." Her icy glare bore into Dominique, who lowered her head in shame. Tears threatened to spill from Dominique's eyes as the desperation, stress, and fear consumed her trembling body. She knew she had been caught.
"Does this have anything to do with Caral Woodly?" Raven asked coldly. Dominique shook her head slowly from side to side. Reaching into her pocket, Dominique pulled out a yellow letter envelope and held it out to Raven. Snatching it from her hand, Raven ripped it open and read the contents with laser-like focus.
𝒟𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓆𝓊𝑒,
𝐼'𝓂 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒶 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓃𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓎 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒. 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓉𝒽𝓎, 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓅𝒾𝒸𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓃𝒸𝒽, 𝓎𝑒𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒.
𝐵𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑜𝒶𝓂 𝓊𝓃𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹, 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝓋𝒾𝑜𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓉𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝑔𝑜. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓃𝑜𝒸𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓃 - 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝐻𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓃𝑒𝑔𝓁𝒾𝑔𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒?
𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓋𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓂𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓈.
𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒷𝓊𝓈𝑒 - 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓉𝓇𝑜𝒸𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈.
𝐿𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝒟𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓆𝓊𝑒. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻𝒻 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓋𝒾𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝓉𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓊𝓉𝑒𝓇-
𝒜𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒶 𝒞𝒶𝓇𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓃, 𝐸𝓁𝒾𝓏𝒶𝒷𝑒𝓉𝒽 𝒞𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓁𝑒𝓎, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒥𝒶𝒹𝑒.
I𝓂𝓂𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎.
𝐹𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈. 𝒜 𝒸𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓋𝒾𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓁𝓎. 𝐼 𝓈𝓊𝑔𝑔𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎. 𝑀𝓇. 𝒲𝑜𝑜𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒶 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝒶𝓃.
𝒯𝑜 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝒽𝒶𝓈𝒾𝓏𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇. 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓈 - 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎. 𝑅𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒𝒹, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑒𝒻𝓎 𝓂𝑒. 𝐼 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃. 𝒟𝑜 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝓂𝑒.
𝒮𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎,
𝒜 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓎.
Raven's heart sank, but she remained resolute in her pursuit of justice, knowing that the path to the truth was often paved with difficult revelations. It became clear that Dominique, driven by desperation, had deliberately sabotaged the investigation in a last-ditch effort to protect herself from the consequences of her own involvement in the case.
As Dominique began crying silently, Raven temporarily ignored it, lost in thought about the incriminating letter. This case had grown increasingly complex and sinister.
Reading the letter convinced Raven that Dominique's betrayal and the victims' murders were connected. The sender, a man of power and class, knew Dominique was the real reason the unsub had attacked the victims. Yet, there was something about the letter that piqued Raven's curiosity - the confident, threatening handwriting, the way the "filthy, despicable" criminals were named. This letter had opened up a new avenue in the investigation, one that promised to unveil deeper, darker truths.
Raven's eyes narrowed, her voice dripping with contempt as she stared at Dominique. "Did you send the files to Caral Woodly?" she said coldly. It was clear from Raven's expression that she was deeply disappointed and disgusted with Dominique's actions.
No wonder Dominique's clients had been able to walk all over her. Dominique had clearly been prioritizing her own interests over those of her clients, failing to properly advocate for them. Instead of helping her clients, she had allowed them to spiral further into trouble, leaving them to wander the streets like rats. And Raven knew Dominique was no better.
Tears streamed down Dominique's face as she timidly nodded, confirming that she had indeed sent the files as Raven had suspected. She knew what she had done was wrong, but the damage was done. Raven's brow twitched with barely contained fury. Without a word, she strode to the office door and slammed it shut behind her. "Sit. The. Fuck. Down," she ordered Dominique, her tone harsh and uncompromising.
Dominique let out a faint whimper but sat down on the sofa nonetheless. Her lips quivered slightly as she glanced at Raven. Dominique positioned herself in front of the window, just to the left of Raven's desk. Raven stood at the office door, leaning against the wall. She was too disguised and too livid to sit down.
"First off, what does this letter mean? What did you do to your clients that made a dangerous party privy to everything about them?" Raven asked coldly, treating Dominique like any other criminal under interrogation - cold, calculating, and stern. Raven maintained her composure, but showed no remorse for Dominique's apparent distress.
Dominique began, "I had a professional curiosity..." She knew she wouldn't be able to escape Raven's probing questions. Dominique was never a fighter, and clearly, in Raven's eyes, not much of a thinker either. "Each of my clients showed signs of extreme isolation - even their eyes hinted at deep trauma. Their eyes looked so unfocused and always bloodshot. Yet, none of them exhibited traits of drug abuse." Dominique paused, her expression defeated as she wiped tears from her cheek. "These clients weren't criminals... until after my appointments with them."
Dominique's professional curiosity had been piqued by the clients' emotional states. She was determined to understand the root cause of their isolation and trauma, even if it meant delving into unethical territory. Her sessions had somehow left them changed, no longer in control of their own actions. Dominique was wrestling with the consequences of her misguided attempts at emotional "brainwashing" in the name of research.
Raven's mismatched eyes rolled with irritation. "So you let your clients take advantage of you, all in the name of your research paper and professional curiosity about your brainwashed subjects, correct?" she said icily confidently speaking her deduction as a question. Dominique responded with a slow nod, prompting a scowl from Raven. Raven suspected that Dominique's involvement in the unsub's murder, if any, was just one piece of a larger puzzle. A single individual, driven by his own twisted ambitions, had forged an alliance with a notorious criminal syndicate. The organization's motives remained unclear - were they evaluating this man's skills, or did they seek to harness the capabilities of a true psychopath for their own nefarious ends?
Time seemed to grind to a halt around Raven, the world slowing to a crawl as the shattering of glass echoed and then abruptly fell silent. In that frozen moment, Raven noticed a bullet suspended in mid-air, mere inches from Dominique's head - a chilling sight that made it clear that without some divine intervention, the shot would have struck true, with devastating consequences.