Sima blinks. “The diner?”
“Yes. You had dinner with Kira there, didn’t you?”
Finally, her eyes widen. “Petyr, no.” She shakes her head frantically. “Kira—she’s not who you think she is.”
“What do you mean?” I frown.
“She’s the one who took me.” Her voice trembles. “She said she wanted to go out to eat, but then she just—she kept driving. I asked her to stop, but she wouldn’t. And then she brought me to this parking lot at the edge of the woods, and there was an SUV, and?—”
“Stop.” She flinches when I say it, so I rephrase. “Calm down, Sima. What are you saying exactly?”
“I’m saying Kira’s a traitor.” She looks shaken. Afraid, even. Like she’s terrified I won’t believe her. “She did this, Petyr. She sold me out.”
I take a deep breath. Think long and hard about Kira’s story when she came home.
“I think she ran off again.”
That goddamn liar.
Fury overtakes me. If there was a wall anywhere near me, I’d be punching straight through it.
But there isn’t. Instead, there’s Sima, still looking like she’s scared half to death of my reaction. So I bury my rage and put her first. Like I should have done from the beginning.
“I’m sorry.” I look Sima in the eye. “I should have been there to protect you.”
She seems surprised by my words. That I’m choosing her instead of my anger. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have, though.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “She fooled us all. But…” Her face goes pale again. “Where is she now? Where’s Lilia?”
“At the house.” Realization dawns on me. “We have to go. Now.”
I pick Sima up and carry her down the stairs. “Is Luka there?” she asks, agitated. “Can you call him?”
I’ve already got my phone to my ear.
He picks up before the second ring. “Boss? Did you find her?”
“Yes. She’s safe. She’s here right now.”
“Thank fuck.” A sharp exhale. “You scared us, Sima.”
“Luka, you can’t trust Kira,” she cries out as I hold the phone between us. “She’s the one who kidnapped me. You have to protect Lilia, please!”
“It’s fine,” I whisper to her. I don’t want her to get all worked up again after the shocks she’s already had tonight. “I’ve got it.”
“Okay,” she murmurs. Open, trusting.
I won’t betray that trust again. Ever.
I move the phone to my other ear so I can hold her better in my arms. Then I speak to Luka. “Sima’s telling the truth. Secure Kira until I’m back there. I’ll get answers out of her at the warehouse.”
“Kira isn’t here,” he says after a beat. “I think she left earlier. Though her car is still around, so she can’t have gone far.”
“Send a search party into the woods,” I growl. “Find her. And do not let her anywhere near the baby.”
“That’s not going to be a problem,” he assures me. “Anya has been standing guard like a freaking Dobermann.”
