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“No!” my mother says

“Don’t worry about the kid” Vladimir walks to the door “He’ll end up in the system He’ll be lucky if he survives”

“Goodbye,in Stefanov’s footsteps

My parents sit side to side, facing each other My ives oes dead

I clutch the edge of the desk so hard my nails leave imprints in the wood

I see h a haze of red

Pavlov and Stefanov owned my father’s superior at the police force It’s a pity that son of a bitch is long since dead, or I would personally torture hirave I’d bet my left arm he was the one who pulled the security tape fro Pavlov Pavlov then gave the tape to Besov via Mukha, who encrypted the file

Why did Pavlov hand the tape to Besov? There can only be one reason Besov threatened Pavlov’s life Besides me, who else would’ve wanted that tape? Stefanov It’s evidence connecting him to the murder of my parents He would’ve wanted to ht arm that Stefanov ordered Besov to threaten Pavlov for the evidence The etting rid of Besov, and then me Nice and clean

One question remains How did Stefanov find out who I am? Volkov is a common surname in Russia, and Alexander is a popular first naed the system, there’s no way he could’ve kept track of o No, he must’ve found out recently that I’ before Besov took that shot at ine his surprise when he discovered I didn’t die in the systeht that I’ve become one of the most powerful men in this country He knew that if I ever found out about the ot

The cold rage doesn’t show in or “It’s ti in”

“Don’t you want to wait for Stefanov to make the first move?” he asks

“It’s no longer necessary” I walk froot the information I wanted”

“I’ll brief the nation

I hurry to the back of the house, taking the shortest route to the barracks to weapon up, and nearly knock Katerina off her feet as she corip her elbows to steady her,sure I haven’t accidentally burned her with the hot liquid

“Alex,” she exclai?”

“Nothing,” I say, arden today I’ll be back in a few hours”

“Alex,” she says again, leaving theon a hallway table to run after me

I don’t slow my stride “Katerina, not now, please”