It was the last thing he’d expected, and he did, for just a moment, feel vindicated.“You’re sure?”
“Positive.But for that to work, you havegotto be a team player.If he thinks you need to be on leave for a few weeks, then you shut up and take it.Things are going to be different when you come back.”
Miles felt something shift inside him.Purpose, maybe.Or just the need for revenge disguised as justice.“Fine.
“You know, Miles… if he puts us as the leads on this and itisas wide-reaching as we think it is, it could take years.It could consume your entire life.”
Miles thought about this.About the choice between moving on, finding some way to heal from Elena's death, or dedicating himself completely to hunting the man ultimately responsible for her death.There wasn't really a choice at all.
“Elena's gone,” he said.“Our future together is gone.The life we planned doesn't exist anymore.All I have left is making sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.”
“Okay,” Vic said simply.“Then we do this together.In two weeks.”
“Okay.Hey… thanks, Vic.”
“Of course.Now don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.”
“Actually, I… yeah, there’s one thing.Could you swing by and pock up her wedding dress?It needs to be returned and I can’t… Jesus, I just can’t.”
“Of course, Miles.I’ll come by after my shift.”
After ending the call, Miles felt something he hadn't experienced since Elena's death.Not happiness, exactly, but determination.A sense of forward motion that replaced the crushing weight of grief.
He walked through the house one more time, looking at Elena's things with different eyes.Not reminders of loss, but motivation for what came next.Every photograph, every personal item, every trace of the life she'd lived became fuel for the mission ahead.
Miles climbed the stairs to his home office, to the room Elena had teased him about.She’d often referred to it as his Cave of Obsession, and she wasn’t too far off.The periodic table poster still hung on the wall, marked with colored pins and notes.File cabinets contained his research on dozens of suspicious deaths, all element-related.His computer held databases of chemical signatures and crime scene analyses.
For three years, this had been academic, a theory he was trying to prove.A pattern he'd suspected but couldn't confirm.But now it had not only been proven true, but it was also very personal.
Miles sat at his desk and pulled out the first file folder.Detroit, 2021.Hydrogen cyanide poisoning that had been ruled as suicide, but showed signs of sophisticated delivery.He'd studied these cases for years, looking for connections and patterns.This had been the first.And now that Crawford had indeed confirmed that there was one man at the center of all of this, Miles wondered if there were different angles, different paths that might help them find the Elementalist.
If so, he was going to find it all.Every death, every disciple, every connection that led back to The Elementalist.And not just for Elena, but for every future victim who might be saved if he could expose the truth about the Elementalist and his cult.
Slowly, Miles lost himself in the documents and research.Greif would always be there, and mourning would take time.But for now, he had a hell of a lot of work to do.
