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Then she looked straight at me.

“Is it stolen?”

I remembered the records Alexei showed me after Marina died. We already knew someone used false patients and transfer forms to steal medicine and move men through my hospital.

Marina sent me the batch numbers while Alexei was being treated. She planned to question the pharmacy, but then armed men came to my apartment, Marina died, and I never opened the attachment.

I opened Marina’s message and checked the batch numbers against the ampoules.

They matched.

I called Alexei on the secure line.

“These drugs came from my hospital,” I told him. “They’re from the batch Marina said was missing.”

He was silent for a moment.

“Can anyone inside the hospital check the records?”

“I don’t know. I want to speak to you first.”

“Come to the library. Sergei will bring you.”

I look at Misha again before I follow Sergei.

He sits beside Mikhail, racing his yellow car along a road of wooden blocks. Lev rocks nearby while Oksana reads Snow White. Neither Mikhail nor Misha listens. They make engine noises, cut each other off, and argue over whose car is faster.

Cara works at the table while Elena watches the children and answers one call after another. She catches my eye and mouths, “Go.”

Misha looks up when I reach the door. “Are you going to fix Papa?”

I smooth his dinosaur shirt. “Papa isn’t the only thing that needs fixing.”

He grabs my wrist. “You come back.”

Elena draws him against her side and rubs his back in slow circles. His grip on me loosens.

“I’ll make sure she does,” Elena says between calls.

I kiss his forehead and leave.

Alexei waits in the library with one hand braced on the table. I place the medical bag between us while Sergei closes the door.

“Where did you find it?” he asks Sergei.

“Beside the cupboard near the medical bay. I thought it was from Irina’s supply.”

I open Marina’s message and set the ampoules beside my phone. Alexei dismisses Sergei and bends over the table, checking each number. He takes pictures of the labels and places the ampoules back inside the medical bag.

“Who can match these with the hospital records?” he asks.

“I don’t know yet.”

He studies the pictures on his phone. “Marina worked with you for years?”

“Yes.”

“What did she do after a hard shift?”