Chapter 93 – The Breakthrough
Chapter 93 – The Breakthrough
(Luca’s POV)
The call came mid-afternoon, right when I’d started to believe today would be like every other day for the past three months — full of false leads and dead ends.
My phone buzzed on the counter. An unlisted number.
“This is Luca.”
“We’ve got the DNA results,” Detective Marrow’s voice came through. Flat, but with something under it. “You should come down here.”
The way he said it made my stomach knot. “Just tell me now.”
A pause. Too long. “In person, Luca.”
Levi was across the room, already pulling on his jacket before I hung up. He didn’t even ask who it was. He knew.
The precinct felt smaller than it used to. Every pair of eyes we passed seemed to follow us — curiosity, suspicion, maybe pity. I didn’t care which.
Marrow was waiting in one of the smaller interview rooms, a manila folder on the table in front of him. His posture was stiff, his face unreadable, but the tension in his shoulders told a different story.
“Sit,” he said.
Levi didn’t. He stayed standing, arms crossed, eyes locked on the folder. “Open it.”
Marrow’s gaze flicked to me before he pulled the file closer, flipping it open with deliberate slowness.
“The blood on the floor in Eden’s apartment wasn’t hers,” he said finally.
My pulse kicked. “Whose was it?”
Marrow’s jaw tightened. “It belongs to a Daniel Cross.”
Levi’s head snapped toward him, eyes narrowing. “Do you mean your partner, Detective Daniel Cross?”
The words hit like a gunshot in the small room.
Marrow’s mouth pressed into a line. “Yes. My partner.”
For a beat, all I could hear was the hum of the fluorescent light above us. Harper’s voice came back to me in fragments from a week ago: You didn’t see her after the first time she was with him… She was worse.
I stared at Marrow. “You’re telling me your partner is the one who took her?”
“I’m telling you the DNA matches him,” Marrow said. “I don’t know how… I don’t know why. Cross has been on personal leave for weeks. He told me he was going out of state to see family.”
Levi’s voice was low and dangerous. “And you didn’t think it was strange he vanished right when she went missing?”
Marrow looked down, like he couldn’t hold our gaze. “I thought it was a coincidence. Until now.”
Levi’s attention snapped to me suddenly. “Harper. The ‘first time’ she mentioned — she was talking about him, wasn’t she?”
My chest tightened. “She knew him. More than knew him.”
Levi’s tone was pure venom. “She dated him.”
Marrow’s head jerked up. “Dated—? Eden dated Daniel?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. The truth was already in the room. Harper hadn’t given us a name because she hadn’t wanted to believe it could happen again.
Levi’s hands curled into fists. “And now he has her. Again.”
Marrow leaned back, his voice grim. “If Cross took her, he knows the system inside out. He’ll know how to stay ahead of us, how to erase his trail. He’ll anticipate every standard search method.”
“Which means we don’t go through you,” I said flatly.
His eyes narrowed. “You think I’m going to cover for him?”
“I think you’ve been his partner long enough that you don’t know what you’ll do until you’re looking at him with her in the same room,” I said. “And I’m not risking that.”
Levi stepped forward, his presence filling the space. “We’re not asking permission. We’re telling you — this isn’t a police matter anymore. Not for us.”
Marrow didn’t argue.
He slid a single piece of paper across the table — an old address. “This is from his file. It’s not current, but it’s the best place to start. If you’re going after him, you didn’t get it from me.”
Levi grabbed it, already halfway to the door.
Marrow’s final words followed us out. “Be careful. If he’s kept her this long, he’s not going to let her go without a fight.”
Levi didn’t slow. “Good,” he muttered. “I’m counting on it.”