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“Tell them I’m an old friend. The same for Josh. At least until he’s had some time to get to know me. Then we can tell him the truth. Together.”
Kat frowns and doesn’t respond. Together, we walk out of the house, and I lock the door with the spare set of keys from my pocket. She stares at me in disbelief as I lead her around to the passenger seat of her Jeep and secure her seat belt. Just like old times. When my arm brushes hers, she looks away, but it doesn’t change the fact that she still shivered like it was the first time.
The Jeep takes three attempts to start, and it bothers me that she’s been driving this piece of shit around like this.
“I’ve been meaning to get it fixed.” She stares out the window.
“I’ll take care of it.”
I pull out of the driveway and turn onto the main road. Kat doesn’t bother to give me directions. By now, she’s aware I don’t need them. The chatter from the radio is the only sound between us, and I don’t like it.
“Can you just tell me one thing?” she croaks.
I glance at her across the seat. “What?”
“Did Nina suffer?”
My fingers tighten around the steering wheel as I consider how much to tell her. I meant what I said about honesty earlier, and I know that goes both ways. It might hurt her to hear the truth, but if I expect the same from her, I won’t be a hypocrite.
“I know she put up a fight,” I admit. “She bit the man who was there with me. I was downstairs, and I didn’t see it happen. But it happened quickly. Five, maybe ten minutes. He shot her before I could get to her.”
Kat releases a painful sob and more tears begin to spill down her cheeks before I reach over and touch her arm.
“I am sorry, Katya. I’m sorry that I couldn’t save her.”
She squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head. “I should have taken her with me.”
“It isn’t your fault,” I assure her.
We pull into the parking lot of the school, and I kill the engine and turn to her, wiping away the evidence of her tears.
“No more tears today,” I say. “Josh wouldn’t like to see his mother upset.”
At this, she nods, attempting to gather herself together as she pulls down the visor and looks at her reflection in the mirror. “I’m a mess.”
She digs through her purse and finds a compact, which she uses to dab her face with powder. After a couple of minutes, she grumbles that it will have to do and shuts the visor. I walk around to help her from the car, and it happens naturally that we fall back into this rhythm. She waits for me and doesn’t protest when I place my hand against her back, but I wonder if she’s considering my warning as we walk inside the building.
“We still have a few minutes,” I inform her. “Let’s go to your desk first.”
Her shoulders tense, but she allows me to lead her in the direction of her room. She goes through the process of unlocking the door and smiles at another teacher as they walk down the hall.
But once we’re inside and the door shut behind us, she seems less certain. I don’t doubt that she’s still weighing her options, but she is too smart to disregard what I told her earlier.
“Log in to your computer.” I gesture to the chair in front of the desk.
She sighs and takes a seat, reaching for the mouse. But instead of stirring the screen to life, it loads to a blue screen.
“What the…?” Her words drift off as it occurs to her what’s happening. Alexei has already come through as promised.
“Everything is gone,” I inform her. “Just in case you doubted what I told you earlier.”
The bell rings before she can speak, and I gesture her toward the door.
“Come. Let’s go see our son.”
* * *
Josh glances up at me with a curious expression and eyes so much like my own it hurts to breathe. My son.
“Who is this, Mommy?” Josh asks.
“He’s a friend.” Kat offers him a watery smile as she watches our exchange take place. “His name is Lev.”
“Lev,” Josh repeats.
I kneel before him and resist the natural instinct to pull him into my arms. He doesn’t know me. A fact that’s still difficult to swallow. We just need some time.
“Hey, buddy.” I offer him a pained smile. “How was your day?”
“Good.” He shrugs before looking at Kat. “Mommy, can we get pizza?”
Her expression tightens when she looks at me.
“I like pizza,” I tell him. “What’s your favorite?”
“Pepperoni,” he chants triumphantly.
“He likes the Village Pizza shop,” Kat explains. “It’s his favorite.”
“Village Pizza it is then.” I wink at Josh. “How about a lift?”
