Rivera eyed Sergei.“You, Lisowski?Muscle?”
“You know better than to ask,” Sergei said, accent thick, clipped.“I bailed eight years back.Dmitri’s been after me since.”
“Any crimes since that comprise you being a witness to this?”Rivera asked.
“No.Not since I left Belarus,” Sergei said.“Came here to get out.”
Keisha’s chest tightened.His sacrifice was her fault.
“He’s a huge part of the reason why we got this,” she said, voice rushed.“His intel saved Tiana before they shipped her out.”
“This is a team effort?”Rivera flipped notes.
“Yeah,” Keisha said, glancing at Sergei.“His know-how on their tricks.”
Fatigue surged through her, her vision blurring, the metallic taste sharp.She sipped water, hands shaking, taste fading briefly.
“Your visa?”Rivera asked Sergei.
“Expired.Two years.”Sergei stood firm.
“Deportable,” Rivera said.“To Belarus.They’d kill you quick.”
Sergei didn’t answer.
“You angling for immigration help?”Rivera asked.
“Nah,” Sergei said, voice low.“Just want to be done with Dmitri.”
Keisha’s breath caught in her throat.His selflessness hit hard.Her hand shook, pressed to the table.“I’ll vouch for him,” she said, words spilling.“He risked everything for Tiana.”
Rivera studied them.“Hell of a vouch.”
“I’ll arrange for your statements to be taken downtown,” Rivera said, closing his notebook.“Eight tomorrow.I’ll start paperwork tonight.Can you stay safe until then?”
“Yes,” Sergei replied without hesitation.
Rivera put the flash drive aware.“Damn good work.Pavel’s got high-up pals.Once this starts, there’s no turning back.”
He glanced at Sergei.“Your status comes up, I can’t do much.”
Sergei nodded.Keisha swallowed.
“Got it.”
Rivera paused by Sergei, their look heavy, then left.Keisha’s shoulders slumped.
“You didn’t have to vouch for me,” Sergei said, beside her.
“You took a knife for me,” she said, voice cracking.“Paperwork’s nothing.”
His lips twitched, almost a smile.“Fair deal.”
It wasn’t.
She stood, knees shaky, room tilting.“I’m okay,” she lied, when he reached out to steady her.
Sergei’s phone buzzed.He frowned.
