Page 63 of Triplet Babies
Yarik
Sarah’s apartment building sits in a quiet part of Greenwich, far from the estate and the world I usually inhabit. I’ve never been here before, having never needed to be, but after her silence today, I have to see her. Her last text this morning was warm, almost hopeful, and then nothing. Radio silence for hours.
I climb the stairs to the second floor and find her door. When I knock, I hear movement inside, then a long pause before the deadbolt turns.
Sarah opens the door just wide enough to see me, and I immediately know something’s wrong. She’s pale, her hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail, and there’s wariness in her expression that wasn’t there this morning.
“Yarik? What are you doing here?”
“You weren’t answering my calls.” I study her face, noting the tension around her mouth, and the way she grips the door frame. “Can I come in?”
She hesitates, glancing back into the apartment, then steps aside. “Nina’s not here. She’s working late.”
The space is small but warm, with mismatched furniture that somehow works together. Books are stacked on every surface, and there’s a throw blanket draped over the couch that looks soft and inviting. It’s nothing like the cold perfection of the estate and somehow feels more welcome than any place I’ve lived in years.
She closes the door behind me and leans against it, arms crossed over her chest. The defensive posture tells me everything I need to know about her state of mind.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just... It was a long day.”
I step closer, noting how she tenses at my approach. “Sarah, talk to me. You’ve been quiet since this morning. Did something happen?”
She looks away, staring at the floor instead of meeting my gaze. “I saw someone today. Someone I thought I recognized.”
“Who?”
“Alex.” The name comes out quietly but makes me jerk instinctively. “I think he found me.”
Everything inside me goes cold and deadly calm. “Are you sure?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” She finally looks at me, and the fear in her expression makes my chest tight with rage. “It was just afigure in a parking lot, but something about the way he stood, the height, and the posture all felt like him.”
I close the distance between us in two steps, reaching for her, but she flinches away from my touch. The reaction stings. “Where did you see him?”
“At the shopping center on Post Road. Nina and I were coming out of a store, and I saw someone watching from across the parking lot. When I looked again, he was gone.”
“Did Nina see him?”
“She saw someone, but she couldn’t tell if it was him.” She wraps her arms around herself more tightly. “It might have been nothing. Just paranoia.” She seems to be hoping that’s the case.
“It wasn’t nothing.” I keep my voice steady despite the fury building inside me. “Not if you’re this shaken.”
She nods, still not looking at me directly. “He used to do watch from a distance and make me feel like I was going crazy, like I was imagining things, and then later, he’d tell me exactly where I’d been, what I’d done, and who I was with, all while making me sound like the bad guy out to hurt him. I’d end up feeling guilty for having any kind of life that didn’t involve him.” She shakes her head, clearly distraught by the memory and the present.
The way she describes his casual psychological torture makes me want to find this man and end him slowly. “You’re not imagining anything. If you think you saw him, then we prepare for the possibility that he’s here.”
“We?” She seems startled by the concept.
I step closer again, and this time she doesn’t pull away. “You think I’d let you handle this alone?”
Something shifts in her expression, vulnerability replacing some of the fear. “You’re engaged to another woman. You have your own problems to deal with.”
“Fuck the engagement.” The words come out harder than I intended. “You matter more than any business arrangement.”
She stares at me for a long moment, searching my face for something. “Do I?”
“Yes.” I reach for her hands, relieved when she lets me take them. “Whatever’s happening with Katya and her family, or whatever political games they’re playing doesn’t matter if you’re in danger.”
