Page 269 of Sexting His Assistant

I open it.

Sergei comes closer. “Boss?”

I pull open the top drawer. Empty except for clips, hand cream, an extra charger, a packet of mints.

Second drawer. More files.

Third drawer. Locked.

I hold out my hand. Sergei gives me a knife without asking, and I break the lock.

Inside is a slim burner phone wrapped in a silk scarf.

Pavel says nothing behind me.

I take the phone out. It’s switched off.

I turn it on.

No passcode.

That alone tells me it is not her main phone. People only leave trap phones easy to open when they know the messages are already gone.

My hand closes around the phone so hard the casing cracks.

Sergei curses under his breath.

Pavel says, “That could have been planted.”

I turn slowly. His eyes meet mine. For one second, neither of us speaks. Then I call Meredith. It rings four times.

She answers on the fifth.

“Luka?” Her voice is calm, slightly breathless. “I’m sorry, I stepped out. My mother’s caregiver called. There’s a problem at home.”

The excuse is flimsy.

“Where are you?” I ask.

“At home,” she says.

“Which home?”

There is a pause. “My apartment,” she says.

“Send me your location.”

“My phone is low,” she says. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

I look at the burner in my hand. “No, you won’t.”

Another pause. Then she says, “I don’t understand.”

Neither do I. Not yet. But my blood already knows.

I end the call.

Pavel is watching me.