Page 158 of What He Keeps

Isabella.

The name moves through me like poison. She knew we would react to Ivy first. She knew every man near me would shield my daughter. She used a child’s disappearance to pull the room apart and placed her hand on Maggie while all of us looked the wrong way.

I knew she would move. I knew she wanted my family. And I still let Maggie get taken.

My hand tightens around the phone until the casing creaks. “Lock down every route to that airfield.”

“Already happening,” Roman says. “I’m sending men from the south. Stay behind the van.”

“That’s not my plan.”

“Alexei.”

“She’s in that vehicle.”

“And if you ram them at this speed, you may kill her yourself.”

His words hit, but they don’t slow the violence beating through my chest. I force my eyes to the road and focus on what I can see. The van is three cars ahead, cutting through traffic with no regard for anyone around it. The back windows are blacked out. The driver favors sudden lane changes over speed, trying to break sight lines.

Professional enough to be dangerous. Not good enough to disappear.

“Two men inside, possibly three,” Luka says, reading the road with grim focus. “Driver is trained, but nervous.”

I glance at him. “You see that?”

“He overcorrects before every turn.”

The van blows through another red light, this time forcing a minivan onto the curb. Luka follows, missing the minivan by inches. My phone lights up with a new call from Viktor. I answer without taking my eyes from the road.

“Ivy?” I ask.

“She’s safe,” Viktor says. “Terrified, but safe. She wants Maggie.”

The words carve into me. “Don’t let her see anything.”

“I won’t.”

Behind Viktor, Ivy’s sobs carry through the line. “Papa! Papa, where’s Maggie?”

My chest tightens with pain so deep it tries to become sound. “Put me on speaker,” I say.

A faint rustle follows, then Viktor’s voice lowers. “Go ahead.”

“Solnyshko,” I say, forcing every trace of rage from my voice. “Listen to Viktor.”

“Papa, they took Maggie,” Ivy cries. “They took her!”

“I know.”

“Bring her back,” she pleads.

“I will.”

The promise leaves no room for failure.

Ivy sobs again, smaller this time. “She was scared.”

My eyes burn, and for the first time in years, I almost lose the iron hold I keep on myself. I see Maggie’s hand reaching for the van door. I see her fighting for Ivy, for me, and for the child she carries.