Chapter 5

Inna threw her phone on the bed and scrambled to get dressed. Her hangover was still there but it was buried under heavy dread. She wanted him to be right. She wanted there to be a miracle. But the detective in her knew miracles were rare and broken hearts were common.

Inna stood in the center of Vikram’s living room. Burnt coffee and stale adrenaline lived in the room. The audio file had just looped for the third time.

“I had to go dark ... follow the path ... I love you.”

Elara’s voice. Hushed. Certain. Terrifyingly real. It seemed to vibrate in the walls.

The quiet hope Inna had carried home from the bar died right there.

She felt cold. A hollow ache opened in her chest. For months she’d looked at Vikram and seen a tragic figure whose heart was an open wound she might one day help heal. Now that wound had closed. Replaced by a singular purpose.

She looked at him. He was hunched over his laptop. Fingers hovering over the keys. Face lit by harsh blue glow. The haggard defeated man from the Anchor Bar was gone. This Vikram was electric. His eyes were wide.

Burning with renewed life. A man who’d been given a second soul.

He was alive because Elara was alive.

She hated herself for it. She was a detective. She should’ve been praying for this. Instead she felt like someone had just locked a door in her face.

The miracle she’d wanted for him was a miracle that erased her. She’d been ready to be his anchor. His slow path back to the living. But he didn’t want an anchor. He wanted a compass pointing him back to the woman he truly loved.

“Inna?” Vikram’s voice broke the silence. He turned to her. Desperate. “You see it now, don’t you? This isn’t grief. This isn’t a breakdown. This is a lead.

A real lead.”

She swallowed hard. Her professional instincts were screaming. The audio was authentic. The steganography was sophisticated. Elara hadn’t just vanished. She’d executed a tactical withdrawal. This was bigger than a missing persons case.