Page 105 of Sexting the Pakhan

Pavel’s phone crackles faintly. He listens, then sits straighter.

“What?” I ask.

Pavel says, “Andrei sees a white van near the back gate. No plates. Two men outside.”

“Lenkov?”

“He thinks so,” Pavel says. “One of them has his build. Dark jacket. Limp on the left side.”

Stepan glances at me. “He’s moving it tonight.”

“Yes.”

Pavel says into the phone, “Do not approach. Keep eyes on the van and the gate.” He pauses, listening. Then he looks back at me. “Andrei says he can take the man by the van quietly.”

“No,” I say.

Pavel straightens. “No contact?”

“No contact.”

Stepan looks up from the map on his phone. He understands before Pavel does. “It’s a kindergarten.”

Pavel nods once and speaks into the phone again. “You heard him. No contact. No movement unless they leave with the cases.”

Another pause.

Pavel’s mouth tightens. “Because the Pakhan said no.”

I look at him.

Pavel corrects himself immediately. “Because there may be cameras, neighbors, and children nearby. Stay invisible.”

No guns unless I say. No shots near the school.

No mistakes that a child might pay for in the morning.

I step out of the car into the cold and look toward the painted wall.

Lenkov used a kindergarten because he thought I would see only the stash.

He was wrong.

But I’m not going to let him get away with it either. He’ll pay with blood.

15

ZOYA

By six in the evening,my daughters look like they are attending two separate events.

Mila is dressed for a stage performance, a royal wedding, and possibly her own coronation. She insisted on the yellow dress with the puff sleeves, glitter clips, white socks with lace, and shoes that flash pink lights when she walks. Every step she takes in the apartment looks like a tiny emergency vehicle is responding to a princess crisis.

Nadia, on the other hand, has chosen navy-blue leggings, a white top, and a cardigan buttoned all the way to her throat because, according to her, “programs require seriousness.”

I stand in the hallway with a hairbrush in my hand and stare at them.

“You two are twins,” I say. “You understand that, right?”