AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My pulse quickens as I study the timeline. There’s a gap in the records, a few hours missing between when my father was admitted and when the first scan was taken. It’s a critical window, enough time for someone to have caused the damage that led to his condition.
I continue to sift through the records, finding more inconsistencies. The notes from the attending physician don’t match the progression of symptoms described in the earlier reports. It’s as if the symptoms were too conveniently leading to a diagnosis of a brain hemorrhage, one that would be fatal without immediate intervention—an intervention that never came.
I pause, my hand hovering over the papers, a cold realization settling in. Someone wanted my father dead, and they were meticulous enough to alter his medical records to cover their tracks. But not meticulous enough to fool me.
I’m so engrossed in the reports I don’t even notice someone walking into the diner until I look up and see Temur towering over me.
“Jesus, man!” I growl. “Wear a fucking bell.”
“I think even if I had a gong, you wouldn’t have noticed,” Temur tells me sliding into the booth in front of me. “I see you’re going over your father’s medical records.”
“I agree he was murdered,” I tell Temur. Anger bubbles inside me. “I’d like to get my hands on this fucking attending physician, Doctor Jacobs.”
“Your mother already set the Polar Bear on him,” Temur tells me. “Your mother was the one that ordered me to steal your father’s medical records.”
I look at Temur alarmed. “How do you know so much about what’s going on with my mother?”
“Because I thought you and Konstantin would like to know she was safe,” Temur replies.
“You were the Russian with her yesterday.”
“No.” Temur shakes his head. “That was another Russian, and believe me, she’s as safe as she can be with him.” He leans forward.
It suddenly dawns on me who he’s speaking about and I don’t know whether to be alarmed, suspicious, or grateful as I’m not sure who to trust at the moment.
“Great, so for all I know you and your double-crossing boss are now holding my mother for ransom.”
“I can leave!” Temur starts to slide from the booth. “You can face your brother on your own but I have strict orders to protect Isabella at all costs!“ His eyes blaze a warning at me.
“That’s what I needed to discuss with you,” I tell him. “I need you to protect Isabella while I try find whoever the fuck this messenger is and why my brother, Marco, and my father have been so obssessed and scared of what it might be.”
“I hope you’ll at least take Sasha with you,” Temur says. “He’s here in Toronto along with Olga, Urie’s fiancée.”
Alarm zings through me. “Why is Olga here?”
“She’s with Sasha.” Temur eyes narrow. “I believe Olga is fully trained and she’s of similar height, build, and coloring as Isabella. She’s also pregnant like Isabella… “
My eyes widen when I realize what he’s implying. “No fucking way am I going to use Olga and get her to pretend to be Isabella.”
“I should be the one to decide that!” Olga’s voice has my head snapping around. “I want to do this.“ Her eyes blaze. “I’ve already got my father’s backing for this.”
“She’s right, young Pakhan,” Sasha appears behind her. “I’ll be there to protect you both and it will lead whoever’s after you away from where Isabella really is.”
I look at the three of them and realize I’m outnumbered and that it is a good idea. I glance out the window to the women’s shelter and my heart jolts thinking that Isabella and my children are in there. But at least they are safe for now.
Chapter 21
ISABELLA
“For the record,” I tell Temur, “this is a dumb fucking idea.”
“I know you feel that way,” Temur tells me. “But I promise you it’s for the best.”
“Olga isn’t me,” I point out the obvious. “The messenger isn’t going to speak to them.”
“How do you know?” Temur’s trying to be the voice of reason as he shadows me around my latest prison cell—the small three-bedroomed apartment above the women’s shelter in Toronto where I’ve been stuck for the past two days. “I thought Olga was very convincing as you.”
“That’s just putting another person at risk, and it’s stupid,” I point out.
