Page 44

Maksim sat beside me, every part of him controlled except the finger tapping against his knee. “No guards saw her until she reached the residential wing. The two men stationed at the lower junction believed she was you.”

Roman leaned over the seat to enlarge the access log. “We should have thought of that.”

“How could we have thought, even for a second, that Alina was ballsy enough to walk right past us dressed as Anika?” Kirill shook his head. “She’s a fucking nuisance.”

“She was capable of entering this estate the entire time. I should’ve thought about it. She’s my sister.” She also managed to sneak an entire pregnancy past me, so what did I really know about my sister?

I returned to the hallway footage. Alina took Nora’s hand and headed toward the service stairs. She stopped beneath the camera and looked up, staring directly into the lens. The look on her face was tortured enough that I rubbed my chest. Did I trust this? Was this my sister, or was this the monster created through fear and bad decisions?

“This feels orchestrated.” Roman tapped the screen. “I believe she does not want Nora harmed. Sokolov controls her through Mikhail, but I do not believe she could harm her niece.”

Could he be right? God I hoped so. “Go back to before Nora opened the door.” Something pale moved at the far edge of the frame, too narrow to be part of the wall. Roman widened the image and restored thirty seconds of footage the security chief had skipped.

Miss Helen stood beside Alina in the hallway. My twin had one arm around her shoulders, her face turned away from the nearest camera while Miss Helen spoke. Then the older woman squeezed Alina’s hand and walked toward the guest suite without looking back.

The security chief checked the hall audio. “She told Miss Helen you’d returned early and wanted to put Nora to bed yourself. She sent her to rest.”

Guilt changed the hard, cold feeling inside me. Alina had copied my clothes and hair, and she’d also known exactly what I’d say to a woman who’d been awake for two nights protecting my child.

“No one blames Miss Helen.” I made eye contact with each of them and made sure my voice carried through to the security guy. “She goes nowhere near an interrogation room. If security needs her account, I’m present.”

Maksim met my eyes over the tablet. “Agreed.”

“She knew I would find it.” Anger burned through the terror and gave me enough room to think. Alina wanted me furious. “If she intended to hand Nora over, she would’ve taken her while I was missing. She’s had years of access to her tablet and probably knew every detail of our routine. Alina thinks she’s protecting Nora. That doesn’t mean she is.” My fingernails dug into my palms. I forced my hands open because pain wouldn’t help Nora.

“I need you to think like Alina.” Maksim gripped my knee, and I realized it was bouncing alongside his. “You know her. More than you give yourself credit for. Think about the past. What will she do?”

Think like my sister? I hadn’t been able to do that in years, but I tried my best. “She won’t use her own car.” I remembered all the nights Alina had appeared at my apartment in a vehicle I never saw twice. “She switches at parking garages, train stations, and crowded lots. Places too busy for the cameras to watch everyone at the same time.”

Roman opened a city map and marked every public structure within fifteen minutes of the estate. More than twenty dots appeared.

“Cut anything east.” I pointed to the screen. “She wouldn’t risk crossing the route we took to the casino. Cut bridges and toll roads too. She hates places where she can’t turn around.”

Seven dots disappeared from Roman’s map.

“Nora gets carsick if someone takes corners too fast. Alina knows that.” I traced the main roads while memories of my sister’s driving competed with panic. Traffic feeds populated the screen as Roman’s team worked backward from the garage.

Maksim touched his radio. “No visible approach. Nobody enters until Anika confirms the vehicle or Alina.”

The order mattered because he could’ve sent every armed man we had through the garage. He wanted to. I saw it in the unnatural calm over his face and the way the others watched him, waiting for the violence he normally wielded without hesitation.

I covered his tapping finger with a hand, and he stopped.

“Find every camera after that stop.” I pushed the tablet back toward Roman. “She’ll know if she was followed. The next move won’t be part of her usual pattern.”

For once, knowing my sister meant knowing exactly how unpredictable she would become.

He was still tracking when we reached the mansion. The security chief met us at the entrance without a coat, despite the cold, and held out his sidearm toward Maksim.

“My failure.” Deep, hard lines carved trenches in his face. He glanced at me, eyes dark with grief. “I offer no apology, because it will never be enough. I accept whatever judgment you make.”

“Maksim.” All I could get out was his name, but the way he looked at me said he understood.

Maksim pushed the weapon toward the man’s chest, his palm flat on the man’s wrist and his fingers extended to eliminate any doubt that he refused the offer of his life for his failure. “Find Nora.”

The man’s arm lowered.

I stepped close enough that he had to meet my eyes. “You don’t get to make this about your punishment. Show me her room.”