Chapter 5 - The Secret Alexei Never Told Maria
Maria wanted to go immediately.
Alexei refused.
"That's exactly what they want."
"My aunt may be in danger."
"And Sophie needs her mother alive."
The words stopped Maria.
Sophie slept curled on a hospital sofa, still holding her plastic stethoscope.
Alexei watched her.
"She saved me."
Maria looked at him.
"Doctors saved you."
"They told me another fifteen minutes could have changed everything."
His gaze settled on Sophie.
"She noticed first."
Maria sat.
For several moments neither spoke.
Then she asked the question she had been avoiding.
"Why do you care so much about us?"
Alexei looked down.
"Your father."
"That's not enough."
"No."
"So tell me."
He did.
In 2009, Alexei had been reckless.
He fought constantly with Nikolai.
He wanted independence from the family empire.
One night, after another argument, Alexei left a company warehouse in anger.
Rafael followed him.
Minutes later, brakes failed on Alexei's car.
Rafael forced him to stop before he reached the highway.
"How?"
"He saw fluid beneath the car."
Maria's throat tightened.
"Someone tampered with it?"
"Rafael believed so."
"And you never told police?"
"My father handled things differently then."
Alexei looked ashamed.
"I spent years believing power meant never needing help. Your father taught me the opposite."
Rafael later gave Nikolai evidence suggesting someone close to the family had been diverting money.
Then Nikolai died.
Then Rafael.
Alexei inherited companies, enemies, and unanswered questions.
"I should have found you sooner."
"You were twenty-four."
"I was old enough."
Maria studied him.
This intimidating man had carried guilt for seventeen years.
"You don't owe me your life."
"Maybe not."
He looked toward Sophie.
"But I owe her the chance to grow up without inheriting our mistakes."
Dmitri entered.
"We found Teresa."
Maria stood.
"Where?"
"Police picked her up near Waukegan."
"Is she okay?"
"Shaken. Bruised. Alive."
Maria closed her eyes.
An hour later, Teresa arrived under police protection.
Maria almost didn't recognize her.
Then Teresa said:
"Mi niña."
Maria broke.
She hugged the aunt she had mourned.
"You let us think you were dead."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because everyone close to your father was being watched."
Teresa cried quietly.
"I thought disappearing would protect you."
"From Sergei?"
Teresa looked toward Alexei.
"Not only Sergei."
The room went still.
"There were two people," Teresa said.
"Who?" Alexei asked.
"Sergei handled the money. But someone else handled the information."
"Who?"
Teresa looked at Dmitri.
Maria's stomach dropped.
Dmitri didn't move.
Teresa said:
"Volkov."
Maria stepped away.
Dmitri's face hardened.
"My father?"
Teresa nodded.
Dmitri's father, Viktor Volkov Sr., had served as Nikolai Petrov's chief of security.
He died eight years earlier.
According to Teresa, he leaked Rafael's movements to Sergei.
Dmitri looked sick.
"I didn't know."
"I believe you," Teresa said.
"Why?"
"Because Rafael trusted you when you were a boy."
Dmitri stared.
"I was seventeen."
"And you warned Rafael once that your father was searching his office."
Dmitri sat slowly.
A memory returning.
"I thought it was about company documents."
"It saved Rafael long enough to make copies."
Teresa reached into her coat.
She produced a small brass key.
"The original evidence wasn't at the community center."
Maria stared.
"Then why the note?"
"Because I needed whoever was watching to believe it was."
Alexei almost smiled.
"Rafael taught you well."
Teresa handed the key to Maria.
"He wanted you to have this."
"What does it open?"
"A safe-deposit box."
"Which bank?"
Teresa shook her head.
"Not a bank."
She looked at Alexei.
"Nikolai built a private vault beneath the original Petrov warehouse."
Alexei's expression changed.
"That warehouse burned."
"Part of it."
"You've been there?"
"Last week."
"What did you find?"
"Nothing."
Maria stared.
"You said the key—"
"The compartment was empty."
"Then someone got there first."
Teresa nodded.
"But they left something."
She removed a photograph.
Four men stood outside the warehouse in 2009.
Nikolai.
Rafael.
Viktor Volkov Sr.
And Sergei.
On the back, Rafael had written:
IF THE BOX IS EMPTY, THE HOUSE HAS THE ANSWER.
Maria looked up.
"What house?"
Alexei whispered:
"My house."
The estate.
They returned after dark with police approval and private security.
Sophie stayed with Teresa.
Maria refused to remain behind.
The phrase "the house has the answer" could mean anything.
They searched Alexei's study first.
Nothing.
Then Maria remembered Sophie.
The hidden wall.
She walked into the service corridor.
Old stairs descended behind the study.
At the bottom stood a locked door.
Maria tried the brass key.
It fit.
Dmitri looked at Alexei.
"Did you know this was here?"
"No."
Maria turned the key.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a small concrete room.
Shelves.
Boxes.
Old files.
And one chair.
Someone had been there recently.
A fresh coffee cup sat on the floor.
Beside it was a photograph of Maria and Sophie taken three days earlier.
Maria picked it up.
A red circle had been drawn around Sophie.
Then footsteps sounded behind them.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming down the hidden stairs.
Alexei turned toward the darkness.
May you like
A familiar voice called Maria's name.
And Sergei Petrov stepped into view.
