Page 160

Rudenko turns from the window. “He’ll grow.”

No one answers him.

The guard behind me shifts his weight, and his holster brushes my elbow. The catch is closed, but the strap has loosened.

I keep my hands still.

An engine growls inside the loading bay. Every guard in the office turns toward the door.

Belov checks his watch. “Thirty-four minutes.”

The loading-hall door opens behind me. I twist around as far as I can. Two guards bring Alexei inside.

He wears black trousers and a black shirt buttoned badly over a fresh dressing. Blood darkens the fabric near his abdomen. His left leg drags slightly, and his face is pale beneath the harsh lights.

One guard carries Alexei’s pistol. The other holds a scanner and runs it over his sides, back, and ankles.

Alexei lets them search him.

His eyes drop from my face to my shoulder, then to the restraints biting into my wrists. His jaw tightens as his gaze sweeps over the guards, exits, captains, and weapons.

Belov spreads his hands. “The Volkov strategist arrives alone?”

Alexei walks toward the table. “You gave me an address.”

The guard behind me grips my upper arm. Alexei sees it but keeps moving until Belov raises one hand.

“That’s close enough,” Belov says.

Alexei stops several feet away.

“Release her,” he says.

Belov lifts Misha’s photograph. “First, we settle what she has cost you.”

Alexei looks at the photograph. “She saved my life.”

“She hid your son.”

“She kept him alive.”

Belov turns the picture toward the captains. “Listen to him. Once, Alexei Orlov would’ve put duty before a woman’s reasons. Now he’s defending her for hiding his son from all of us.”

Alexei glances at the men seated along the wall. “If any of you have a question, ask me.”

Kozlov leans forward. His guard moves with him, but he signals the man to remain back.

“Is the boy yours?” he asks, looking directly at Alexei.

Belov watches for hesitation.

Alexei gives him nothing.

“Misha Markova is my son.”

My fingers tighten against the restraints, but Alexei keeps his eyes on the captains.

Zaitsev looks at me. “Did Orlov know?”