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“Interpol,” Ethan lied. “We’re looking into the possibility of your father’s disappearance being part of a possible international crime.”
“Oh God.” Her hand covered her delicate lips.
“Can you tell us about your father? Give us a better idea of who he was? It will help us understand him and what may have happened.” Not a lie, this time. Jack slid a sidelong glance at Ethan but kept his mouth shut.
“If it will help you find him…” She trailed off. Ethan nodded, his lips a tight line. “He was a private man. Very private. We never had visitors when I was a child. He never had friends. He never went anywhere. When I was young, I thought we were the only two people in the whole world.”
“You lived away from the city?”
She nodded. “Far, far away. We lived on our own, a day’s travel outside of Poligus. We were north of all the mines of Severo-Yeniseyskiy, far out in the forest. He built our cabin by himself. He did everything on his own. He hunted what we ate, sold furs and antler and bones in Poligus. He was my whole world.”
“Your mother?”
“I never knew her.”
“Why did he want to live so far away from everything?”
Jack saw a darkness cover her eyes, like clouds drifting in front of a full moon. She tried to smile. “He was very private,” she said again. “He wanted quiet. He wanted…” Her gaze darted to Ethan as she hesitated. “Peace after his service in the army.”
“Do you know what he did? In the army, I mean?”
She shook her head. Looked over her shoulder into her home. A light in the kitchen beyond the door fell on a single photo frame, a picture of an old man staring at the camera. He wasn't smiling, and his haggard cheeks were weary-worn, his eyes weighted like cobalt clouds bursting with thunderstorms ready to ravage the world.
“How did you end up teaching here, Dr. Sevastyanov?”
“My father, he always told me I had to become a doctor. He taught me everything he knew until I was thirteen, and then I was sent to school. I was at university three years later studying medicine.”
“Why did he want you to be a doctor?”
“He said…” She let out a shaking breath. “He said I needed to be prepared.”
“For what?”
“The worst thing that could happen.”
Ethan frowned. Jack spoke before he could. “And you saw your father one month ago?Alive?”
“Of course I saw him alive. I saw him every weekend when I visited him—up until he disappeared. I took him food and his medicines.” Katina frowned, eyeing Jack and Ethan. “He is an old man. I have wanted him to move in with me, but he refuses to leave that cabin.”
“And where, exactly, is this cabin?”
Finally, she hesitated, taking a long, hard look at Ethan. “I put all of this in my report,” she said slowly. “You are asking me questions about things you should already know. I think I need to see some identification, please. Especially from you.” She pointed at Ethan.
“I’m sorry, Doctor,” Jack said, holding out his hands. “We’re obviously confused. Let me see who came to speak with you yesterday. We will get this all sorted out with them. We need to review your report again.Ya proshu proshcheniya za putanitsu.”I apologize for the confusion.
She glared but, after a long moment, passed him the business card.
Ilya Ivchenko. Ilya’s cell phone number was scrawled on the bottom.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Jack said, passing back Ilya’s card. “We will be in contact.”
She shut the door on them, not saying goodbye.
Jack and Ethan were quiet until they walked out of the medical school’s quad. Pete and Blake lingered behind them, taking up the rear and trying to pass as university students.
“That body we pulled out of Uchami was not General Sevastyanov’s,” Ethan breathed.
“No.” Jack stopped outside the SUV and tilted his head back. Siberia’s weak sunlight painted his face. A chill wind blew through his jacket, rustling the flowers in the garden and the forest that enveloped the streets, the city, and the region, cutting Siberia off from the world. “We need to call Ilya. We’re chasing the same thing, and I want to know why.”
