Page 110 of Stolen Empire
"Just get to the command room. I’ll meet you there."
I hang up and stare at the tracking app.
The dot blinks once, then twice. It mocks me with its stillness.
Twenty-five minutes have passed.
She never left that warehouse.
She’s still in there, in the same spot.
I have no idea if she’s alive or dead. I don’t know if she’s playing them or if they’re breaking her, but if I interrupt prematurely, I lose my leverage.
I start the car and drive toward the Vetrov estate.
My hands stay steady on the wheel, but my mind races.
She could be fine.
She could be handling this exactly as we planned or she could be bleeding out on a concrete floor.
The not knowing is worse than anything.
The drive takes eighteen minutes.
I walk into the command room.
Gavriil is already at the main table.
His laptop is open, and multiple screens show feeds from cameras around the city.
"What do we have?" I ask.
He pulls up a map of the warehouse district.
"We have limited coverage in that area. One street camera sits three blocks north. Nothing has a direct view of the building."
He types rapidly and pulls up a grainy overhead view.
The warehouse roof is visible, along with the surrounding lots.
Two vehicles are parked in the back.
"A black sedan and a white van. Both are registered to shell companies, likely Radich."
I lean over the table and study the image.
"Can you tell how many people are inside?"
"No. The satellite can’t penetrate the roof."
He switches to another feed.
"But the tracker shows she’s still there in the same location. She hasn’t moved in thirty-two minutes."
Thirty-two minutes have passed.
"Prep a reconnaissance mission," I say.
