She pulls him out of the SUV and walks him up to the house. He only spares a passing glance at Dimiv, who stands back in dumbfounded silence to let them pass. All three of us come together to watch the two of them disappear into the cabin.
“My God in heaven above,” Dimiv breathes. “How did she manage to do that?”
Nikolai sighs. “She’s good with him.”
Dimiv turns to me with raised eyebrows. “You really hit the jackpot with that one.”
My chest expands suddenly with a prickly warmth that feels an awful lot like pride. “Quit gawking and help me with these bags, mudaks.”
The inside of the cabin is just like I remember it. Gable roof with bright exposed beams, a hand-built stone fireplace looming huge in the center of the living room, large windows with timber frames lining the walls that face the valley. The antlers from a stag that Uncle Petyr shot one winter are still hanging on the wall, opposite a collection of hunting knives from my father’s youth.
So many memories buried in the woodwork here. Lev took his first steps across the bearskin rug on the hearth. Polly blew out her first birthday candles on that rough-hewn table. I remember how hard it was snowing outside, and how little we cared about such things.
“It feels weird being back without her,” Nikolai murmurs as though he’s read my mind.
I glance over at him. “We’re going to get her back.”
“I know.”
Nikolai and Dimiv converge around me. It feels like old times, except that I’m the one in charge. My father isn’t here anymore; it’s just us now. Polina needs the best we have to offer.
So I calm myself down with a steadying breath. I leave everything else outside of me and focus inward.
“Do we have a location on Agapov?” I ask.
Dimiv nods. “I’ve got a man doing a search on the bastard as we speak.”
“Kruger is doing the same,” Nikolai says. “We should get coordinates soon.”
“Good. I don’t want to waste any time. As soon as we have a spot, we go in hot, guns blazing. I’m getting my sister back today. No matter what. If we can—”
Ping.
I glance between Nikolai and Dimiv, but it’s the latter who pulls his phone out. “There it is. Oleg Agapov is holed up in a three-storey house in Calabasas.”
“Then that’s where we’re going.”
I’m halfway to the door, Dimiv and Nikolai flanking me, when I hear her voice from the top of the staircase. “Uri.” Alyssa is standing at the mezzanine, looking down at me with wide eyes filled with worry.
I glance towards Nikolai and Dimiv. “Wait for me outside. I’ll only be a minute.” I take the steps two at a time until I reach her. “Is Lev okay?”
“Fine. He picked one of the loft bedrooms,” she says without emotion. “Are you…？”
I nod in confirmation. “Call Stepan or Mikhail if you need anything. The moment we leave the cabin, change the security code. No one will be able to get in unless you give them the combination.”
“Y-you’re leaving?” She’s pale and shaky.
I cup her face. “I’m going to get Polly. It’s time we bring her home.”
She nods but she’s biting on her bottom lip at the same time. “It’s going to be dangerous, isn’t it?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
Alyssa places her hand over the hand I’ve got cupping her cheek. “Bring Polly back,” she begs softly. “And bring yourself back, too. In one piece.”
I press my lips to hers. When I pull away, I look her in the eye. “I can do that.”
Then I head back downstairs to the SUV where Dimiv and Nikolai are waiting for me. I climb into the passenger’s seat and punch the ceiling. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
32
URI
When we get to Agapov’s estate, my men already have it surrounded, but they’re still far enough away from the security cameras to remain unseen. I get out of the SUV and huddle up with the leaders of each team.
“Stepan?”
“The front gates are high. South-facing walls are lower, more scalable. I think that’s the way we go.”
I nod. “South it is. Guards?”
“Four manning the front entrance, two at the back. As far as I can tell, one of the two is asleep. Has been for the past half-hour.”
“What about cameras?”
“Lots of them, pointed in every goddamn direction under the sun. Outside the property, at the gardens, at the house itself. I scoped the security station earlier and I suspect there are booby traps that trigger silent alarms in the main house if there’s a breach at the entrance gates.”