That stopped me cold.
Missing did not happen here—not without blood, not without alarms screaming. Alexandr’s household ran like a military installation. People didn’t simply disappear.
“How long?” Dominic asked.
“Since this afternoon,” Rurik said. “She was supposed to prepare Alexandr’s dinner before she got ready to leave for the theater. Several of us are attending Anya’s performance. However, when Alexandr went looking for her, he couldn’t find her. I tried her room, thinking she had forgotten Alexandr and in her excitement about getting ready, but she wasn’t there either. We’ve searched the house and can’t find her.”
My eyes narrowed. Nadia wasn’t just staff. She was loyal, meticulous, the kind of woman who checked locks twice and schedules three times. If she vanished, something had gone wrong.
“And Alexandr?” I asked.
“In his office,” Rurik said. “He’s questioning everyone.”
Of course he was.
I exhaled slowly, forcing my thoughts into order. “You said dinner?”
Rurik nodded. “She was going to make a small meal for Alexandr while those of us going to the performance planned on going out to eat before heading to the theater.”
My chest tightened. “Where is Anya?”
Rurik hesitated. It was subtle—but I caught it.
He glanced toward the door, where Anya’s bag should have been waiting. The space was empty.
“It appears,” he said carefully, “that she already left.”
The words landed wrong. Anya didn’t leave without telling someone. Not now. Not with everything that had happened.
I took two steps forward, scanning the entryway as if the bag might materialize if I stared hard enough. Nothing.
“She wouldn’t leave alone,” I said.
“Who could have taken her?” Dominic asks.
I glance around the room. “Where’s Igor?” The name settled heavily in my gut.
“I haven’t seen him,” Rurik says. “Do you think he took her to the theater?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said, though dread was already curling in my stomach. “But I don’t like this.”
As if summoned by the thought, my phone vibrated in my hand.
Alexi.
I answered immediately. “Talk to me.”
His voice came fast, clipped. “I saw Anya.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid. “Where?”
“She was a few blocks from the theater. She was in a car with Igor.”
The world narrowed to a single, lethal point. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why is Anya with him? I thought you were going to take her to the theater.”
“I was. Something came up, and we had to leave. When we came back, we found everyone searching for Nadia. That’s when we learned Anya was no longer here.”
