Unwashed, still stinking of the sewers, Leo was driving at the car’s top speed. Cumbersome and slow, incongruous with his urgency, it had been the first vehicle they’d been able to requisition after he and Timur had emerged from a manhole almost a kilometer due south from where they’d originally descended into the sewers. His hands a bloody mess, Leo had refused Timur’s offer to drive, putting on a pair of gloves, taking hold of the steering wheel with his fingertips, eyes watering each time he changed gears. He’d driven to his parents’ apartment, only to discover the area closed down by the militia. Elena, Raisa, and his parents had been taken to the hospital. Elena was being treated for shock. Raisa was in a critical state. Zoya was missing.
Reaching Municipal Emergency Hospital 31, Leo skidded to a stop, leaving the car on the shoulder-door open, keys in the ignitionrunning inside with Timur just behind. Everyone was staring, appalled by the sight and smell of him. Indifferent to the spectacle of himself, demanding answers, Leo was eventually directed to the surgery where Raisa was fighting for her life.
Outside the operating room a surgeon explained that she’d fallen from a significant height and was suffering from internal bleeding.
– Will she live?
The surgeon couldn’t be sure.
Entering the private ward where Elena was being treated, Leo saw his parents standing by her bed. Anna’s face was bandaged. Stephan seemed unhurt. Elena was sleeping, her tiny body lost in the middle of a white hospital bed. She’d been given a mild sedative, having become hysterical when she’d realized Zoya was gone. Peeling off his bloody gloves, Leo took hold of Elena’s hand, pressing it against his face pitifully, wanting to tell her how sorry he was.
Timur put a hand on his shoulder:
– Frol Panin is here.
Leo followed Timur to the office commandeered by Panin and his armed retinue. The office door was locked. It was impossible to enter without first announcing your name. Inside were two uniformed armed guards. Though Panin appeared unruffled, neat as always, the additional protection was testament to the fact that he was scared. He caught the observation in Leo’s eyes:
– Everyone is scared Leo, at least everyone in power.
– You were not involved in Lazar’s arrest.
– The issue stretches beyond your prime suspect. What if this behavior triggers a pattern of reprisals? What if everyone wronged seeks revenge? Leo, nothing like this has ever happened before: the execution and persecution of members of our State Security services. We simply don’t know what to expect next.
Leo remained silent, noting Panin’s interest was not the welfare of Raisa, Elena, or Zoya, but the wider implications. He was a consummate politician, dealing with nations and armies, borders and regions, never the mere individual. Charming and witty, yet there was something cold about him, revealed in moments like these when any ordinary person would have offered some words of comfort.
There was a knock on the door. The guards moved for their guns. A voice called out:
– I’m looking for Officer Leo Demidov. A letter was delivered to reception.
Panin nodded at the guards, who cautiously opened the door, guns raised. One took the letter while the other searched the man who delivered it, finding nothing. The envelope was handed to Leo.
On the outside was a carefully drawn ink crucifix. Leo tore open the envelope, pulling out a single sheet of paper:
Church of Sancta Sophia
Midnight
Alone