Pavel is waiting in the foyer with my briefcase and coat. “The car is ready. Also, there’s a situation at your office.”
“What situation?”
“A woman showed up an hour ago demanding to see you. Marina tried to schedule an appointment but she refused to leave. Says it’s urgent and about your wife.”
“Name?”
“Lina Petrov.”
I take the briefcase from Pavel. “Call ahead. Tell Marina to put her in my office. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
The drive downtown is routine. I review contracts on my tablet while Pavel handles phone calls in the front seat. Traffic is light. We make it to the tower in eighteen minutes.
Marina stands when I walk past her desk. “Ms. Petrov is waiting. She’s been here over an hour.”
“Has she said anything else?”
“Just that you’ll want to hear what she has to say. She seems nervous.”
“Good.”
I push open my office door.
A blonde woman in her late twenties sits in the chair facing my desk. Decent clothes but not expensive. The kind of outfitsomeone wears when they’re trying to look put-together but working with a limited budget.
She jumps to her feet when she sees me. “Mr. Volkov, thank you so much for?—”
“Sit.”
She sits.
I walk around my desk and set down my briefcase. Remain standing. Let the height difference and the silence make her uncomfortable.
“You have information about my wife,” I say.
“Yes. My name is Lina Petrov. Anna and I have been best friends since university. We’re very close.” She’s talking too fast. Nervous energy radiating off her. “I know things about her. Things you should know.”
“You have two minutes.”
“Anna has been lying to you. About her children. About their father.”
“Elaborate.”
“She told you he was dead, right? Some stranger from years ago?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not true.” Lina leans forward. “Their father is alive. He’s sitting right in front of me.”
I don’t move. Don’t react. “Continue.”
“Five years ago, Anna and I went out drinking. She’d had a bad week at work and needed to blow off steam. We ended up at the Metropolitan Hotel bar downtown. She was wearing this tight red dress, and she caught the attention of a man sitting alone at the bar.”
She pauses. Waiting for me to respond. I give her nothing.
“The man was older, well-dressed, with an expensive watch. Clearly wealthy. They talked for maybe an hour. Flirted. He bought her drinks. When he suggested they go upstairs to his room, she agreed. I told her it was a bad idea, but she was tipsy and reckless, and she went anyway.”
“And?”
