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I sit straighter. “How early?”

“Before six.”

“What was she doing?”

“I don’t know yet. She came through the side entrance and left the frame before the camera picked her up again.”

“Find out. Check the rest of the footage and speak to everyone who was awake.”

“I will.”

I hear movement on his end, followed by Elara’s voice.

“I’ve looked everywhere. It isn’t in my bag.”

My heart reacts before I can stop it. “What happened?”

Sergei pauses. “Elara can’t find her phone.”

“She may have left it at the hospital,” I say. “I’ll check the waiting area and the gift shop. Have someone search the car.”

“I’ll send a man down to the security desk.”

“No. I’m already here.”

I end the call and look at Anya. She’s still asleep, her hand curled around the rabbit. I adjust her blanket, then step into the corridor. I start with the waiting area, checking the chairs, the table near the vending machines, and the floor beneath them. Her phone is not there.

The gift shop is next. I ask the cashier whether anyone has handed in a phone, then check the counter and the small seating area near the entrance. Nothing.

On my way back to Anya’s room, I hear Viktor’s voice coming from the family waiting area.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” he asks Irina.

I stop before they see me.

Irina stands with her arms folded, facing the windows. “Because he would’ve reacted exactly like this.”

“You’re a selfish woman,” Viktor tells her.

I should walk in and demand an explanation. Instead, I remain in the corridor, listening, because Irina’s fear is more revealing than anything she might say if she knew I was there.

“Really? And what does that make you? You and I are both equally responsible for this shit.”

“And did you stop to consider one moment what this means for your niece?”

She looks toward the corridor, and I step back before she can see me. Her gaze passes over the empty space where I had been standing.

“I told you I would handle it,” she says.

I wait until Viktor leaves the waiting area before stepping away from the door. Irina follows him a few seconds later, her face composed again, but I can still hear the fear in her voice.

I take a breath, keep my hands at my sides, and let the anger settle into something colder.

I will find out what happened.

I go back to Anya’s room and find her fast asleep.

Her face is turned toward the window, one hand resting on the rabbit’s back. The sight of her should settle me. Instead, every other thought becomes louder.