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“He’s dealt with this before,” she finally says after a long silence. She closes the fridge to offer me a comforting smile. “He’ll be fine. They all will. This is part of the price we pay for being who we are. What we are.”
I want to believe her. I really do. She’s always been the strength I’ve needed in a mother, the comfort and calm in the middle of a storm.
I can’t, though.
Not when I see her pluck an orange from the produce bin.
Her fingers are trembling.
“No. No, there was nothing there. Nothing. They had to clear out, didn’t they?”
Sofi paces the living room, one hand tugging at her long hair in frustration while the other holds her phone up to her ear. She’s been on the phone with this lawyer for the better part of an hour, and it sounds like things are going badly.
“I’m still not hearing anything about probable cause. I’m telling you, the raids were rigged. This whole thing is out of the blue!”
I glance over at Asya. She’s sipping her third cup of hot tea. I can tell she’s trying to put on a strong front, but the facade is crumbling.
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I know. Yeah, I hear you. So what do we need to do? When’s bail being posted?”
Asya’s eyes pinch shut. Her teacup clacks down on the saucer harder than she means to. I watch her take a deep breath, but those fingers of hers have not stopped shaking.
“Do you need a blanket?” I ask, careful to keep my voice quiet so I don’t disturb Sofi’s call.
“I’m fine. Thank you, malyshka.” Asya tries to smile at me. She reaches out and squeezes my hand, then pulls me over to sit next to her.
I’m thankful that Tatyanna has decided to sleep peacefully for most of the morning. She’ll be a bear in the evening, but right now, the adults need to discuss plans.
Sofi—who arrived a little over an hour after Pasha left—hangs up the phone and sighs. “Well, Mak’s definitely in jail. They’re working on getting him out, but the charges are pretty serious. Our best defense is to claim the evidence was planted, but…” She looks at me.
That’s gonna be a hard sell.
Asya hiccups. I know she’s trying so hard to keep it together. But no matter what she does, I still see the tears brimming along her lashes.
So I wrap my arm around her. “What happened?” I ask Sofi. “It seemed like everything was fine just yesterday. How is this all just coming out of the blue?”
She slumps onto the couch, tossing her phone on the coffee table with a loud thud. “Beats me. The best any of us can figure is either Brennan or Hamish spewed shit to the feds as some sort of retaliation. You told your parents off, so they’re pissed. Pasha told the senator off, so he is now publicly humiliated, unemployed, and also pissed.”
“Is there anyone else? Who could have done this, I mean?”
“Paris was the only other person left alive, as far as I know. And she’s safe and sound in a mental institution way out in Ohio. Amish country, too, so, you know—no Internet there.”
My stomach twists. “So it’s either the senator or my family.”
“We’re your family. The Hamishes are just…” Sofi waves an irritated hand. “Shadows of the past. Annoying shadows, but still.”
“Something terrible is going to happen,” Asya suddenly whispers.
We both turn to look at her. She’s wringing her fingers, all but rocking in the fetal position on the couch. Her eyes seem glazed over, and she’s staring at nothing whatsoever.
“Mama…?” Sofi slides into the seat next to her mother and touches her hand.
The older woman slowly shakes her head at first. Then faster, and faster, until she cries out and springs to her feet. “No! We have to get him out of there!”
I exchange glances with my sister-in-law.
And I see the fear in her eyes.
Tears stream down Asya’s face as she paces back and forth, her fingers shaking uncontrollably and tugging at the ends of her hair. “My baby… my sweet baby… Something bad is going to happen… milyy Makari…”
