Chapter 1

It wasn't a pretty sight.

A young woman, couldn't be older than thirty, had carvings cut onto her body in a most disturbing way. Hearts of all sizes sliced into her skin along with a large knife wound in her back. Her blue eyes wide, blank and lifeless.

"Victim's name is Arianna Walters," JT announced as Gil and Malcolm walked in.

"When was she found?" Gil asked.

"About three hours ago when a cleaning lady came into the apartment to clean up." Dani explained

"What do we know about her?" Malcolm asked as he knelt to examine the body.

"She's twenty-eight. She worked as a fourth grade teacher at a nearby elementary school. Much like our last two victims, there's no obvious connections as to why they would be targets."

"Yet she has similar markings as the last two." JT said with frustration.

"Not quite, this time, the markings are hearts, not stars. Clearly whoever did this..." Malcolm started as he stood up, "Clearly wanted to make it seem like she had been tortured."

"Seem like?" Gil questioned.

"She was stabbed first. The knife wound clearly would have killed her within minutes and she wasn't bound, nothing to suggest that she put up a fight. No, our killer wanted to cause her pain but didn't want her to feel it."

"Bright is right." Edrisa said as she finished examining the body, "I don't have exact time of death but she was killed sometime after midnight and cause of death was in fact a knife or some kind of blade with a similar shape." She shook her head, "The carvings on her body were created post-mortem, unlike our first victims. She didn't feel a thing."

Malcolm raised an eyebrow, "As far as torture killings go... this was a merciful death, almost like he cared enough to make sure she was dead before creating these marks on her body."

"But why would he make her death merciful?" Dani asked, shaking her head, "She's not his first victim."

"That..." He started before he stopped and turned his head in another direction, "I will have to get back to you on..." He started to go down the hallway.

"Bright?" Dani called out. She and Gil gave each other a look as they followed him, leaving JT and Edrisa with the body. They found him by a closed door, his ear against the wood. They both reached for their guns, "Bright, do you hear something?"

He nodded, "I don't think you need your guns though."

Gil furrowed his brows, "Malcolm, what you talking about?"

"Listen." Malcolm advised. It was faint but there was something there. He grinned, "You hear that?"

Dani raised an eyebrow, "That can't be-"

"I'm pretty sure it is." He pushed the door opened and the three entered a nursery. Malcolm sighed, "Our victim was also a mother. That's definitely different from our other two victims."

The nursery wasn't anything too special. It was of a white and pink theme. Malcolm's eyes fell to the crib. He took a deep breath and hoped to God that he wasn't about to find another victim. He walked over to give a sigh of relief when he saw a baby girl in the crib. She was wide awake and unharmed.

"She's okay!" He called out as Dani and Gil ran over to the crib.

The baby looked up at him with big blue eyes and gave a giggle as she clapped her hands. "She's definitely our victim's daughter." Gil said, noting the same blue eyes and dark curls the victim had. The little girl raised her arms towards Malcolm and started grabbing at the air, giving a slight whine. Gil chuckled, "Bright, I think the little lady wants you to pick her up."

Malcolm gave a nervous chuckle, "I-I don't know-"

"We have to get her out of here anyway."

Malcolm takes a nervous breath, "Okay..." He gingerly took the baby in his arms as she gave a tiny squeal. She relaxed her head on his shoulder, her tiny hand grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and she tugged on it slightly. She seemed comfortable but Malcolm was just trying to remember not to drop her.

Gil chuckled at the anxious look on Malcolm's face as he helped adjust the baby in his arms, "You should place your other hand by her head so she doesn't hurt her neck."

"Right, right..." Malcolm adjusted the way he held her. Dani couldn't help but smile at the baby girl who giggled when she made eye contact with the detective. Malcolm cracked a tiny smile at the happy baby but his smile quickly faded. She clearly had no idea what was going on.

Dani noticed the change in Malcolm's face, "Come on, let's get her out of here."

Malcolm looked up at the decorative letters above the crib, "Isabella..." He smiled down at the little girl, "Come on Isabella, you're safe with us." He picked up the blanket and plush that were in the crib and Isabella was quick to grab hold of the plush with a squeak. With Gil and Dani's help, they wrapped the baby in the blanket so they could get her out without her seeing the bodies.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Malcolm was walking back and forth, bouncing baby Isabella on his hip as she seemed content. After a much needed diaper change and getting fed, who wouldn't be happy? "What do we know about Arianna and Isabella?"

"Arianna lived a relatively normal life. Went to college, got a job and just lived for herself." Gil sighed, "Isabella was born eight months ago." The woman never even got to see her child turn one.

"What about her parents?" Malcolm inquired, wondering if there was a family member to take care of the little girl.

"Arianna's mother died in a car accident about twenty years ago and her father passed away from a heart attack three years ago." Dani read off the file.

"Any siblings?"

She shook her head, "Arianna was an only child."

"And Isabella's father?"

"According to Isabella's birth certificate, Arianna doesn't know who the father is and if she did, she probably had no intention of sharing the information."

Malcolm's attention returned to the baby girl in his arms when she patting his face with her tiny hand. "Don't worry; we're going to find your family." She patted his face again and gave a slight whine. He curiously raised an eyebrow and smirked, "What is it?" Her eyes started to collect water as cheeks puffed. Malcolm's eyes went wide as his nervous energy returned, "Whoa, okay, seriously, what's wrong?" Isabella just started crying and Malcolm was quick to hold her at arm's length. He turned to Dani and Gil as his eyes were screaming with questions of what he should do.

"Hand her to me." Dani said as she got up from her seat and took the baby from the profiler. Dani held Isabella close, letting the little girl cry as the detective started to gently pat her back and lovingly shush her. Slowly but surely, the eight-month-old started to calm down.

"That's amazing." Malcolm said in wonder.

Dani smirked, "Well, I grew up being one of the oldest cousins in my family so I was almost always given babysitting duties. Wasn't so bad as it helped pay for my eyeliner addiction in middle school."

"Still, you got her calmed down in less than a few minutes. You're some kind of miracle worker!"

Dani smiled, "Or I'm just used to dealing with babies. You're going to see why Isabella was upset in three... two..." Before Dani could finish, Isabella let out a very high-pitched burp. After her little release of gas, she started smiling and giggling again.

Malcolm, Gil and Dani all let out a chuckle. "So she was just gassy, not grumpy." Gil joked. Isabella turned her head as her eyes landed on Malcolm once more and pointed at him.

She nearly lunged out of Dani's arms wanting to go to him; luckily Dani was able to hold her back as Malcolm step forward to take her. "She's clearly quite taken with you."The detective smirked

Malcolm chuckled as he adjusted the baby to sit comfortably in his arms and the little girl started attacking his shirt by tugging at it again, "I think she's just fascinated by shirt collars."

Just then JT walked in with a confused and slightly disturbed expression on his face. "JT?" Gil spoke up, snapping his detective out of it.

JT shook his head and looked to Malcolm, "Bright, some woman who looks way too young to be your mother is demanding to see."

As Isabella continued to tug on his shirt collar and gurgle, Malcolm's face deflated into a look of pure exhausted frustration, "Oh God, no..."

Hey there! So this is not my first ever fanfiction that I'm writing but it is the first I'm writing for Prodigal Son, a show I honestly did not think I would like as much as I do. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of 'Carved in the Cradle'

Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear some feedback and hopefully, I've done the show justice XD