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“I understood.”

“Your face says otherwise.”

I read it properly.

By the fifth time, Misha leans against my side. By the sixth, his eyelids lower during the cave page, but he opens them whenever I turn the page.

“Serious men eat jam?” he asks, his voice softer now.

“Occasionally.”

“Mama says too much is bad.”

“Your mother is often correct.”

“Not all the time.”

Vera clears her throat beyond the glass.

I keep my eyes on the book. “A dangerous opinion.”

Misha rubs his cheek against my sweater. “Papa can have my jam.”

I stop reading. He says it casually, but I grip the book tighter. My son has offered me his favorite thing.

“Thank you,” I say.

His head grows heavier against me. I finish the last page, close the book, and check the time. Fifty-eight minutes.

Vera enters the playroom and crouches beside us. “Bed.”

Misha reaches for Vera. She takes him carefully, and his head drops onto her shoulder.

“Say good night,” she tells him.

He looks at me through half-closed eyes. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Vera carries him into his bedroom. Through the half-open bedroom door, I see her settle him beneath the blanket and place the green dinosaur near his chest.

I pack the chess pieces away. My radio vibrates before I close the case.

“Orlov,” Sergei says from outside the suite. “I’m at the secured entrance. Abramov sent someone up. He says it can’t wait.”

Vera is with Misha in his bedroom. Oksana is in the playroom, arranging Misha’s toys in place. I step into the corridor. The suite door locks behind me. Sergei waits there with a north-perimeter guard who holds a clear evidence sleeve. Melted snow darkens the shoulders of his coat.

“What happened?” I ask.

He hands me a printed photograph. “This was fixed to the inner face of the north gate.”

“When was that section last cleared?”

“After the breach. Abramov is checking the patrol rotation now.”

Misha stands in the inner courtyard with his yellow car pressed against his chest. Vera, Elena, and Cara sit around the outdoor table behind him, a glass carafe between them. All four are looking toward the chapel roof.

The picture was taken from above.