Page 18 of For Mercy

She paced the length of the room, her mind racing.The killer had left no digital footprint, no physical evidence.It was as if he'd never existed at all.Morgan could feel the case slipping through her fingers like sand.

"How do we catch someone who doesn't leave a trace?"she wondered aloud, more to herself than anyone else.

The tech shrugged helplessly."I don't know, Agent.We've tried everything we can think of."

Morgan stopped pacing, her eyes fixed on the monitors displaying dead-end after dead-end.Then, slowly, a new idea began to form.

"Ghosts might not leave traces," she said softly, "but they do leave shadows."

The tech looked at her, confusion evident on his face."What do you mean?"

Morgan turned to face him, a spark of determination in her eyes."We've been so focused on chasing the killer, we haven't been looking at the victim closely enough.If we can't track him directly, we need to flip our approach."

She grabbed her jacket from the back of a chair, already heading for the door."Instead of chasing the killer, we need to focus on Judge Hawthorne.There has to be a connection there, something that made him a target."

As she reached the doorway, Morgan paused, looking back at the team."Keep digging into that email.Even if you can't trace it, there might be something in the way it's constructed, the language used.Anything that could give us a clue about who we're dealing with."

With that, she strode out of the room, her mind already racing with new possibilities.The killer might be a ghost, but even ghosts had stories.And Morgan was determined to uncover this one, no matter how deeply it was buried.

***

Morgan burst into the briefing room, her eyes immediately locking onto Derik.He was hunched over the table, surrounded by stacks of files, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Derik," she said, her voice tight with urgency."We need to change our approach."

He looked up, his eyes questioning."What do you mean?"

Morgan strode to the table, her fingers drumming against its surface."Judge Hawthorne.We need to dig into his past cases.All of them."

Derik leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair."That's a lot of ground to cover, Morgan.The judge had a long career."

"I know," she replied, her gaze sweeping over the scattered files."But it's our best lead right now.We're looking for cases that might have made him a target for revenge."

She began sorting through the files, her movements quick and purposeful."Violent offenders, Derik.That's what we need to focus on.Criminals who got the book thrown at them by Hawthorne."

Derik nodded, already reaching for a stack of files."Makes sense.Someone with a grudge, someone who felt wronged by the system."

Morgan paused, her hand hovering over a particularly thick file."And there's one more thing we need to pay attention to," she said, her voice low."Release dates."

Derik's eyes widened in understanding."You're thinking our killer might be someone who just got out?"

"Exactly," Morgan confirmed, her mind racing."Someone who's had years to plan, to nurture their resentment.And now they're finally free to act on it."

As they settled into their task, Morgan couldn't shake the feeling that they were racing against time.Somewhere out there, a killer was watching, waiting.And she had a sinking feeling that Judge Hawthorne was just the beginning.

Morgan's eyes burned as she pored over yet another case file, the fluorescent lights of the briefing room casting harsh shadows across the scattered papers.Her fingers traced the edge of a particularly worn folder, pausing as a name caught her attention.

"Derik," she called, her voice cutting through the silence."I think I've got something here."

Her partner looked up from his own stack of documents, eyebrows raised in question.Morgan slid the file across the table, tapping a finger on the name at the top.

"Marcus Walsh," she said, her tone tight with anticipation."Take a look at this one."

Derik leaned forward, his eyes scanning the page."Voluntary manslaughter," he murmured, frowning."Fifteen years ago.What about it?"

Morgan stood, pacing the length of the table as she spoke."It was a crime of passion.One moment of violence that spiraled out of control.But look at the sentence Hawthorne handed down."

Derik's eyes widened as he found the information."Fifteen years?That's..."

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