Crawford's words echoed in his memory.Dozens of disciples all over the country.Each with their assigned element.The scope of it was staggering.Not just isolated killers, but a coordinated network of murder spanning the entire periodic table.
In San Francisco, Diana Hartwell had been gold.Crawford, here in DC, was fluorine.But what about the others?Not just the ones he had been looking into over the past three years, but all of those to come.How many more would die while the FBI and several other federal agencies continued to scramble around for answers?Now that his theory was very much being taken seriously, things at least had a clearer direction.But that didn’t mean it would become easier.
Miles pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Hayes's number.He punched it, but the call went straight to voicemail.
“Hayes, it's Sterling,” he said.“I know I'm supposed to be on leave, but we need to talk about Crawford's interrogation.About what he said regarding other disciples.This isn't over, and I think we all know it.Call me back.”
He hung up and immediately felt restless.Sitting in this kitchen where Elena had died, surrounded by reminders of their lost future, was driving him slowly insane.He walked through the house, trying to avoid looking at Elena's things but seeing them everywhere anyway.Her yoga mat rolled up in the corner.Her medical journals stacked on the desk on her office.The wedding dress hanging in the bedroom closet, still in its protective plastic.
His phone rang as he stared at it.He expected it to be Hayes, but it was Vic's name on the caller ID instead.He answered it, still staring at that damned dress.
“Yeah?”
“Hayes asked me to call you,” Vic's voice was gentle but professional.“He got your message and thought it would best if I reached out.”
“Why?”
“Miles, you need more time before jumping back in.”
“Time for what?To sit here and go crazy thinking about Elena?To let more people die while we pretend Crawford was working alone?”
“To grieve.To process what happened.To—”
“Crawford told us there are dozens of them, Vic.Active killers using different elements right now.While we're having this conversation, someone somewhere is planning their next purification.”
Vic was quiet for a moment.“I know.I've been thinking about it too.And that’s the direction this case is going to take now.Resources and teams are already being assembled.But Hayes wants you to take at least two weeks before—”
“Two weeks?”Miles felt anger building in his chest.“How many people will die in two weeks while I'm sitting here grieving?”
“Miles, you just lost your fiancée.And you nearly beat a man to death.A man you had no business dealing with in the first place.That’s really not sitting well with Hayes.You need time to—”
“I need to catch the bastards who killed her.”The words came out harder than he'd intended.“Elena's dead because of this Elementalist and his… hisnetwork.Every day we wait gives them more time to kill more innocent people.”
“And what happens if you burn out?If you push too hard and make mistakes that let them escape?”Vic's voice carried the weight of experience.“I've seen good agents destroy themselves trying to work cases that were too personal.”
Miles knew she was right.Knew that grief and rage could cloud judgment, lead to errors that compromised investigations.But sitting in this empty house, surrounded by reminders of Elena's murder, felt like abandoning her memory.
“She was going to be my wife,” he said quietly.“We had the wedding planned.Five months from now, she was going to walk down the aisle in that dress hanging in our closet.”
“I know.”
“Crawford and his Elementalist took that away.They decided Elena was molecularly corrupt and murdered her for it.And according to Crawford, they're doing the same thing to other people right now.”
“So what do you want to do?If you could come back to work tomorrow, what would you do?”
Miles walked to the window and looked out at their small backyard.Elena had planted flowers there last spring.Tulips and daffodils that would bloom again without her.
“I want to bring them all down.Every single disciple.Every follower of this Elementalist's teachings.I want to track them across the country and put them in prison or in the ground, I don't care which.”
“That's a big mission for one person, Miles.”
“Then help me.”Miles turned away from the window.“You know this case as well as I do now.You understand what we're dealing with.”
Vic was quiet for a long moment."You'll see things a bit differently when you do come back.What I'm about to tell you is just between me and you… Do you understand?"
“Yes.What is it?”
“Hayes is all in on this Elementalist cult, or group, whatever.Like I said, there are teams being assembled all over the country to watch out for signs.And here, locally, it looks like you and I are going to be his leads.”
