𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 ━━ 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧

『12』

"There's my favorite lady." I could hear Derek come from behind me.

"And there's my favorite...guy." I punched his shoulder gently.

"Brought you something." He handed me a to–go cup. I smiled warmly at his thoughtfulness and took a sip of the warm coffee. Then, I spit it out into the sink.

"What did you get me?" I tried to get the taste out of my mouth while Derek laughed his ass off.

"Hotch's orders. You've been limited to a cup of coffee a day." He informed me.

"Great. This is what I get for working with my brother." I rolled my eyes. "So what is this?" I took another sip and hated it even more.

"Matcha latte with five pumps of chai. It's supposed to be good for you." He leaned against the countertop.

"It isn't...good." I shook my head in disapproval. "You should try some." I held up the cup to him.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to—" Derek waved his hands as to say no, but I pushed the cup further towards him. He let out a sigh but took a sip. When he made a face, I covered my mouth to hide my giggles. "Okay, I'll get you your regular chai latte." He tossed it into the trash.

"Conference room, now." JJ let us know before walking past us.

"Better get going." I turned to Derek. "Oh, you've got a little..." I wiped the drop of matcha and chai latte from the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks." He gave me a mile that made me melt.

"Walter Derbin, age 52. His body was found in his cab in East Harlem. He was blindfolded and shot once in the chest. Death was caused by a knife stab through his ear. The UnSub broke off the handle and put the blade lodged in his brain." Aaron went through the crime scene photos on the monitor.

"It's the same signature as two other murders." JJ took over. "Rachel Holman, 24. Found in her apartment three weeks ago on the lower east side. And Kaveh Surrani, 30. The police found him two weeks later in his painting studio in Hell's Kitchen." She passed around some pictures.

"Different locations, different victimology. It's possible we're looking for someone who'll hunt indiscriminately." Aaron pointed out.

"NYPD have any leads?" Elle inquired.

"Guy's a ghost. He kills at night. There's no witnesses." JJ replied.

"Is the NYPD feeling the strain?" Gideon stared up at the monitor.

"Well, they've withheld details, so the press hasn't sniffed out a link between the murders." JJ mentioned.

"With no discernible victim patterns, the killer's practically impossible to stop." Derek kept clicking his pen.

"Did you know the original Zodiac Killer actually continually changed his victims. Young, old, men, women, black, white." Spencer mentioned.

"Exactly. And he killed for thirty years without ever being caught." Gideon added. Soon, we were on the plane on our way to the crime scene. For once, we were congregated around the same table and seats than scattered across the entire plane.

"This is not how I planned to spend a few days home in New York." Elle sighed.

"I'd kill for an afternoon at Barneys and dinner at Il Cantinori." JJ, Spencer, Elle, and I were playing a card game.

"And I wanted to go to a Broadway musical." I pouted.

"I'm looking forward to seeing New York." Spencer piped up.

"You've never been to New York?" Derek looked up at him.

"We've never had an UnSub there." Spencer shrugged his shoulders.