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Her address on the torn piece of paper is my safety net.
When I arrive at the library, Nikolai is in the stacks at the back of the library. The parking lot was empty other than his car and the librarian’s, so we’re safe. Plus, it’s rare that anyone is in the stacks.
To play it safe, I head down the aisle next to the one he’s on.
“I heard Carolyn will be fine. Did you get Esme secure?”
Nikolai says, “She hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m in touch with her and she knows to stay at the house and keep the doors locked once she arrives.”
“Good.”
Nikolai uses a hushed tone while he pulls a book from the shelf and flips through it. “They told me you dropped Lilia off. You didn’t deliver her to the agents.”
“It was her decision.”
“And you let her choose?”
“I gave her a phone with a tracker and I have the address. I wanted to talk through the next steps with you.”
“Why can’t she see how dangerous this is?” Nikolai’s frustration matches my own.
“She’s lived her whole life facing danger.” I force my voice to stay low. “She has a house in a gated community. She’s got some snap. She’s been funneling huge amounts of cash to her hairdresser, who’s been helping.”
“Her hairdresser?”
“It’s kind of genius. She arranged weekly after-hours appointments and her bodyguards sat outside the salon.” I was impressed when she spelled it out, but I’m sure she didn’t tell me everything.
“So she’s safe for now?”
“I set the agents to watch from outside the gated community. They’ll know if it looks like anyone from her family is going in.”
“Great, and you gave her a phone so we’ve got a tracker.”
I glance at my phone where I have the tracker uploaded. “Yeah, but it hasn’t moved since she walked into the house. And she’s not responding to messages.”
“Do you think she can pull this off?”
“If anyone can, it’s her, but we should probably go in the room to talk.”
“No, I tried. I went in the room. I couldn’t deal with it. I couldn’t deal with the confinement, the four walls. I’m about to blow apart mentally, knowing that she’s out in the world. I can’t trap myself any farther away from her, and yet going anywhere near her will put her at risk.”
“We’ll do everything we can to keep her safe and maximize the information she trusted us with. We have to lock down every lead she gave us, and we have to take the Soloniks out in one massive take-down. No leaks, no mishaps, nothing but success. That’s how we’re going to ensure Lilia gets what she deserves.”
“We’re doing our job, and she gets her freedom,” Nikolai whispers.
If his tone didn’t sound so dejected, it would sound like we were scoring a major win. And we are, and everyone in the department will hail us as heroes. But we’ve lost something bigger in the process. I try to ignore the pain.
I offer agreement. “We’re doing our job putting a dent in crime.”
“Why doesn’t this feel right?”
“We got too close.” That’s putting it lightly.
“Yeah, we got too close,” Nikolai reiterates. “That can’t happen again.”
“Never again.” My words lack conviction.
Both of our phones buzz. In a split second, I’m looking at the message on the screen:There’s a ping on Lilia’s passport at the airport.
