Page 241 of Sexting His Assistant

I leave.

I turn away from her, walk past Pavel, and go through the lower exit before I say something that will make it worse.

Behind me, Nina says my name once.

I don’t stop.

For the next two days, I avoid her.

There is no better word for it.

I could call it giving her space. I could call it letting her recover. I could call it protecting her from the uglier parts of the investigation, but I have lied enough to other people and don’t feel like lying to myself.

I avoid her because I remember the way she looked at me after I shot him.

I avoid her because every time I think about walking into her room, I imagine her taking a step back.

I avoid her because the dead man said Misha’s name, and I don’t know how to speak to her about that without taking something else from her.

I send food, medicine, updates that are too careful to mean much. I hear from Yelena that Nina is physically improving, that the headache is less severe, that she is eating, that she asks about Misha and gets angry when no one gives her anything useful.

I know she is angry with me.

Good.

Anger is better than fear.

I tell myself that until it starts sounding like an excuse.

Meanwhile, the evidence begins to build in the exact direction I don’t want it to go. Now that we’ve got a name, my men are looking closely into it. Even if it’s Misha Hale, my brother, not by blood but in every way that matters.

The first report comes from the garage access logs.

Pavel brings it to me in the study late the next morning, face controlled, tablet in hand.

Pavel says, “We recovered a deeper access record from the old server backup.”

I say, “And?”

Pavel says, “The temporary maintenance credential was created from an executive-floor terminal, as we already knew. But the terminal was unlocked using an internal keycard before the login.”

I look up.

Pavel hesitates.

That is enough.

“Whose card?”

Pavel says, “Misha Hale’s.”

For a moment, I say nothing.

Pavel continues carefully, “It may have been cloned. It may have been taken. The record only shows the credential ID, not the hand holding it.”

Sergei says, “Could be planted.”

Pavel nods. “Yes.”