Shaman - the Awakening by Vr McCoy

always knew the right things to say and do when it came to cheering me up. Her empathy also made her an expert at getting inside someone's head. She was our lead interrogator. She just had a knack for it. I still wasn't sure if she was assigned to be my handler or my partner. It was clear we had crossed the lines when it came to partnership. We were more than just professional partners, but was that also her assignment? I was paranoid when it came to the government and law enforcement, even though I worked for them.
    I quickly dismissed this conspiracy notion as a side effect of the sleeping pills. I was depressed and feeling sorry for myself. By the time we completed breakfast, Dianna had lifted my spirits with discussions about us and our Christmas evening spent together. We also discussed future plans outside of work.
    Agent Gracie Mullins was the first to meet us at the door of the FBI Office. She was dressed in a blue pantsuit, white blouse and blue high heels. She had dressed up more than at our previous meeting when she had on dark blue BDU's and boots. The dress code was casual at most of the satellite offices. She had dressed up because she saw us with suits on yesterday, but today we wore casual clothes. We always wore suits while traveling, but on the ground we preferred comfort to formality
    Gracie was young, ambitious and attractive. She didn't seem to be thrown by our attire, but it was obvious that she was attempting to impress us. Steven invited her and Agent Trace Burkhart to join us for the briefings, since they would be working with us. Steven had dressed down as well. We didn't have to be advised on what to wear. We just adapted to the environment we were currently investigating.
    The team was assembled in the conference room area. The rest of the ViCAP team was anxious to see me and get an update on the missing person. As I entered the room, they could see it on my face. They knew me well and were some of the best profilers in the FBI. I didn't have to say it, but I expressed to everyone my unfortunate news on Melissa Sykes. It was like delivering a death sentence. The team took it in stride and moved on, but I still felt upset that I couldn't give them something more to go on. Steve immediately went to the front of the room and began his brief, without another word spoken on the subject of my dreams.
    “OK, people, here's what we have thus far. We have four females, all in their twenties. They are of different races and different backgrounds. We don't have any bodies or traces of them. There was no evidence of a struggle. They were allegedly abducted a night. So tell me, what's the signature?” Steven inquired.
    Then the rest of the team joined in, adding to the profile.
    “The subject is a visionary male, a predator who abducts at night; pretty young females in their twenties. He knows the area very well, therefore he has lived in this area for an extended period of time. He knows how to avoid cameras and densely populated areas. He has to store the victims, so he's a loner who lives in a secluded place with room to house the women, or he has an unknown disposal site. If he is a collector, then he has abandonment issues or issues with being alone,” the team called out in sequence.
    “So let's enlarge our parameters today to include the rest of the women, and attempt to discover some sort of link between them. Max and I will continue with victimology. Paul and Amber will look into the local criminals that may fit the profile, and Dianna and Chris will work on the current abductee in line. The clock is ticking, folks,” Steve stated as we paired off again.
    Gracie Mullins bounced our way, eager to get started. “Here are the magazines and correspondence from Melissa Sykes' apartment, Christian. Do you still need them?” she inquired.
    “Sure, I'll look over them later. Let's head to Felicia Holmes' residence and then to her place of work, but first stop off at the diner where Melissa worked, so I