Page 142

“What?”

“Did she meet someone? Have coffee with another nurse?”

I bring my fist down against the table. “This may be why my friend died, and you’re asking about coffee.”

Alexei’s gaze drops to my hand, and his voice softens. “I’m asking badly. Who did she trust enough to talk to before she filed a report?”

I think of the woman who shared Marina’s worst shifts and strongest coffee.

“Kira Karpova.”

Alexei lowers himself into the chair beside me. The movement pulls at his injuries, but he says nothing.

“Can you reach her inside the hospital?” he asks.

“Yes. Kira will know where to look, and she won’t speak until she has proof.”

“Will she help?”

“Yes, but I need to tell her what she’s risking.”

Alexei gives me a clean phone, and I call her. She answers on the fourth ring.

“Vera?” Her voice sharpens. “Where are you?”

“I’m safe. Are you alone?”

A door closes on her side. “Now I am.”

“I need a favor, and you can say no.”

“That sounds serious.”

“I found medicine from one of Marina’s missing batches. I need someone to check the pharmacy losses, ambulance stock, and trauma transfers without raising an alarm.”

Kira is quiet for a moment. “Who else knows you found it?”

I grip the phone tighter. “Alexei Orlov is with me. The Volkov strategist.”

“Volkov as in Maksim Volkov?” Kira asks, lowering her voice.

I glance at Alexei before facing her again. “Yes. Misha and I are under his protection.”

“Does anyone at the hospital know?”

“No. We think the men who stole the medicine have help inside. If we ask questions openly, they’ll destroy the records and come after anyone searching.”

“Including me.”

“Yes.”

Kira falls silent for several seconds. Then she says, “What do you want me to do?”

“Quietly finding one box won’t end this. We have to copy the records, trace the whole route, and expose everyone involved before they know we’re looking.”

“Marina was killed for it?”

“I think so.”