More Than a Hotline Fling

-37-

Damian's POV

The morning after I left Mt. Sinai hospital, my resolve was hardened and renewed. A bright spring sun shining wasn't enough to brighten my mood, even with the heavy reminder I strung around my neck and buried under my undershirt. Hidden from sight, the weight pressed into my bare skin. It left a mark, but I wasn't bothered by that.

I grunted at every set of sympathetic eyes that greeted me at work. Behind my closed office door, I dived into any and all leads.

"Sir?" A fist pounded on my door drew my eyes up to Detective Mattias' frown. His other hand dragged over his cropped gray hair. "I need to speak with you."

"Come in," I tipped my head back as he shut my door. A glance at my desk clock showed I'd worked two hours already, echoed by the numbness prickling my feet. I raised my eyebrows when he locked it and coughed.

Dropping his eyes, he mumbled, "There's no other way to say this -"

"Spit it out," I snapped, then closed my eyes. "Sorry. Sit down, please."

"Don't be." He flashed his palms, then clasped his hands over his protruding belly. "Cerrato's desk audit came back."

His serious tone of voice paused my foot tapping under the desk. "And?"

"Details are in my email." He nodded at my monitor. Buried within my inbox, I found his email from this morning. "I don't think the kid's... working for us, sir."

"Really?" My eyebrows shot up and my mouth parted. Maria's departure follow-up revealed the two had a dating history, but she claimed to want nothing to do with him anymore. Subsequent surveillance of her house showed no suspicious activity. "Have you shared this with anyone else?"

"No, sir." His gray-haired head shook. "I've been around long enough, only the IT auditor and now you know. After what happened to -"

"Thank you, Mattias," I cut him off in a curt, sharp tone. Tension tugged at the corners of my eyes as I blinked. "Appreciate your discretion. I need to ask for one more favor."

"Anything, Rivera." His chin lifted and his eyes met mine. Aged with experience and lined with wrinkles, his eyes had seen a lifetime's worth of lucky breakthroughs and heart-breaking losses.

I should have asked him if I was a fucking fool, having so much hope that I bought June's ring. I already knew the chances she was alive dwindled the more time that passed without a trace of her.

And yet... I couldn't.

So, instead, I held my fist to my chest. The contact pressed the weight of my hope for June into my skin. "Start the warrant process."

He pulled back, retracting his head into his neck like a turtle. His skin wrinkled under his jaw, giving him the appearance of a double chin. His eyes blinked, he palmed his hips, and licked his lips. "Sir?"

"Quietly," I shifted my eyes back down to Jenks' updated reports, condensed summaries of following up anonymous leads. We got hundreds the first day of my press conference that announced June was missing. A week later, they trickled down to a dozen per day.

Won't be the only one, I assume.

He nodded, took a step back, then hesitated. "Only one problem, Sir."

"Which is?"

"Cerrato's been missing for two days." He dragged his hand over the back of his neck. "Verified it with the timekeepers before coming in here. He hasn't clocked in."

A heavy sensation sank into my stomach. The hairs on the back of my neck and forearms prick up. "Secure the warrant. Trace him home."

"Yes, Sir."