If Max is right—as my growing suspicions suggest—then the locket won’t be enough and Dimitri will finally have to admit the real purpose for everything he’s done these past fifteen years.
“Are they okay?” The question has been eating at me for days.
Boots scuff against grit as Max shifts his position. “Who?”
“The women we used. The kindergarten teacher. The archivist. The journalist’s daughter.”
The silence stretches on as Max processes my real question. Not just are they alive, but are they all right after what I did to them?
“They’re safe. We’ve got them in the family.”
In the family.
The Kozlov family. Thinking of that as a safe place seems implausible.
“That’s good. I’d like to meet them so I can apologize.” Funny how the women found safety from me in the very organization I’ve spent fifteen years plotting to destroy. “Guess that’ll never happen.”
Headlights sweep over the windows, momentarily lighting up the husk.
“I’ll take you to them. They’d all love to know the backstory. Just don’t expect instant acceptance. More than one of them are still dealing with the trauma of that night. You’re not the only one who saw a parent die.”
That twists the knife wedged in my chest.
My mother’s death triggered this whole crusade, and I inadvertently used other women who found themselves in similar situations.
I’m just as bad as Dimitri. Or worse.
As long as I find out the truth, maybe I can still make things right.
Dimitri gets out of his car, and two men follow. Anton, fresh-faced and blond with the body of a surfer, and Pavel, older, bulkier, and darker. Both are from the handpicked inner circle of our little mercenary group.
He’s brought me backup in case things go sideways.
Time to get to the bottom of this.
Dimitri throws the lodge door open and rushes to me. “Kai, thank God. Are you okay?” He projects worry and relief in a way I used to think meant he loved me.
Even as hope bubbles up, I raise up a hand to stop him before he can get too close. He halts in his tracks, and the others linger by the door, closing it but shifting uncomfortably.
“Anton, Pavel, good to see you.” Both men nod when I acknowledge them, their faces blank and uncaring. Good. Let them all realize this isn’t the easy reunion Dimitri expected. “Who sent the note about Sasha Pisarev to the detective?”
“Why are you asking about Sasha?” The warmth leeches from Dimitri’s tone as his eyes land on the locket hanging at my neck. “What’s going on with Max, Boss?”
Boss.
That word again. As if I still believe he means it while he works behind my back and pushes his own agenda. “Who. Sent.The. Note?” I’ve got no patience for his game. The more he dodges, the more my anxiety spikes.
Irritation sparks in Dimitri’s eyes. “Sasha’s nothing. Why are you even asking about him? I removed him. It was all part of the plan.Yourplan, remember?”
Myplan.
As if any decision was ever truly mine.
Why did I never question a grown man’s willingness to follow a child’s scheme? “You never told me you were going to frame him as a traitor.”
“What are you saying?” His gaze narrows as he glances around the empty room, no doubt searching for Max. “Listen, Kai, your plan was good, but it needed improvements. I enacted them. When it was time, I would have?—”
“You talk a lot for a dead man.” From the mezzanine, Max’s voice cuts through the silence.
