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I point to the screen. “He sees her.”

“Yes,” Sergei says. “That's what we think. The vehicle slows briefly before the curve, then accelerates after she steps into the road.”

I hand the tablet back. “Someone told him when to come through.”

“Possibly. We're looking into the school schedule and the security arrangements.”

“Look into the maintenance truck, too. Kirill was distracted by a call about the western exit just before this happened,” I say, a mistake I can’t overlook that easily.

Kirill has been responsible for Anya's security for four years. He knows her routines better than almost anyone in the household, and she trusts him enough to forget that protecting her is his job. If someone wanted to create an opening in her security, distracting him would have been an obvious way to do it.

For a brief moment, I wonder whether the distraction was the only part of this that involved him.

I dismiss the thought almost as soon as it comes.

I've known Kirill too long, and I've seen him put himself in danger for Anya more than once. He would have taken the impact himself if he'd reached her in time. His failure today is serious, but I have no reason to believe it was deliberate.

Still, I will have the entire security detail reviewed. Trust doesn’t mean ignoring what happened.

“We've already identified it. The school approved the work three days ago, but the contractor says somebody from the administrative office changed the timing this morning,” Sergei says.

“Who?”

“We don't know yet. The call came from a prepaid number, and the phone is switched off,” he says.

I look at Kirill. “Did you see the truck yourself?”

“No,” he says. “The secondary vehicle reported that the exit was partially blocked. I was asking whether they needed to move when Anya walked away.”

He doesn't offer an excuse, and I don't ask for one.

“Find out who made that call and who knew Anya would be at the eastern entrance,” I tell Sergei. “I want the school staff checked, along with our own people. Anyone who had access to her schedule.”

“Already started.”

“And don't make it obvious. Whoever arranged this needs to believe we're still looking for a stolen car and a reckless driver.”

Sergei closes the file. “Understood.”

We get into the SUV, and I spend the first few minutes of the drive reading the preliminary report. There are names, times, camera locations, and a list of people who have already been interviewed. I know most of the names connected to my own security detail, but the school has more employees than I realized, and Anya's schedule passes through too many hands before it reaches the people responsible for getting her home.

That will change.

I set the tablet aside. “Has Bennett's background check come back?”

“Most of it,” Sergei says. “She's twenty-five, has a master's degree in finance and economics, and worked briefly as a junior analyst before leaving that position. Since then, she's been doing temporary bookkeeping, tutoring, delivery work, and some translation.”

“Why did she leave the analyst job?”

“The employment record says personal circumstances.”

“That could mean anything.”

“We're still checking.” He scrolls through the report. “Her finances are strained, but there's nothing unusual about them. Student debt, inconsistent income, no criminal record. We haven't found any connection to the school beyond the delivery, and nothing connecting her to us.”

I think about the way she looked at me when I told her I'd had her investigated. She had every reason to be angry. I would have been more concerned if she hadn't been.

“Family?” I ask.