Chapter 5 - Footprints Beyond the Greenhouse
Vera did not ask Nikolai about the sentence on the photograph.
Not immediately.
That surprised both of them.
Dmitri sealed the boathouse, security removed the jammer, and half the estate descended into controlled chaos.
Nikolai gave orders.
Vera listened.
But the words on the photograph stayed in her head.
HE LOOKS AT HER WHEN HE THINKS NOBODY SEES.
She wanted to dismiss it as manipulation.
That was clearly what Helian intended.
Turn one person against another.
Make them question every ordinary moment.
But Vera had three years of ordinary moments to reconsider.
Nikolai bringing coffee.
Nikolai appearing whenever she worked late.
Nikolai remembering that she hated lilies and loved peonies.
Nikolai once spending forty minutes pretending to inspect the greenhouse heating system while actually helping her rescue an injured bird.
Maybe everyone else had noticed something she had refused to see.
That evening she found him in the library.
He was alone.
“Is it true?”
Nikolai didn’t pretend not to understand.
“Which part?”
“That you look at me.”
He leaned back against the desk.
“Vera.”
“No mysterious-billionaire answers.”
“I am not a billionaire.”
“Not the important part.”
His mouth almost curved.
Then his face became serious.
“Yes.”
Her heartbeat changed.
“Yes what?”
“Yes, I look at you.”
She folded her arms partly because she did not know what else to do with them.
“Why?”
“Because you are usually doing something reckless.”
“That is absolutely not the reason.”
“No.”
“Then what is?”
Nikolai looked at her for a long moment.
“I enjoy looking at you.”
There it was.
Simple.
No dramatic declaration.
No performance.
That made it more powerful.
Vera glanced away.
“Well.”
“An eloquent response.”
“Be quiet.”
A rare smile appeared.
Then the radio on his desk crackled.
The moment vanished.
Dmitri’s voice came through.
“Movement near the eastern fence.”
Nikolai straightened.
“How many?”
“One set of tracks.”
Vera was already walking toward the door.
“No,” Nikolai said.
She stopped.
“If someone is walking that land, I can identify the route better than anyone.”
“Security can handle it.”
“Your security missed two cameras.”
His expression cooled.
“Unnecessary.”
“Accurate.”
Nikolai cursed quietly.
Ten minutes later Vera was outside with Nikolai, Dmitri and four guards.
Cold air rolled off the lake.
A thin layer of frost covered the grass.
They reached the east fence.
Vera crouched beside a muddy impression.
“Not coming in.”
Dmitri looked down.
“How can you tell?”
“Toe points toward the fence from inside.”
Nikolai’s gaze sharpened.
“Someone walked out?”
“Yes.”
They followed.
The prints began near the service road.
Inside the estate.
They ended at the fence.
Whoever made them had climbed over and disappeared into the woods.
“Insider,” Dmitri said.
Vera nodded.
Then she saw something caught on a thorn bush.
Black synthetic fabric.
Security uniform material.
Nikolai’s radio came alive.
A guard at the mansion spoke urgently.
“Sir, we have an issue.”
“What?”
“Emmett Shaw just entered the property.”
Everyone stopped.
Nikolai’s expression became dangerous.
“Where?”
“Main gate.”
“You let him in?”
“He has active clearance.”
“Keep him there.”
But the second voice interrupted.
“He says you called him.”
“I did not.”
Silence.
Vera felt cold for reasons unrelated to November.
Emmett had returned voluntarily.
Or wanted them to believe he had.
When they reached the driveway, he stood beside a silver sedan with his hands visible.
“Mr. Voss.”
Nikolai approached.
“Why are you here?”
“You requested a security diagnostic.”
“No.”
Emmett looked genuinely confused.
“I received the call thirty minutes ago.”
“From whom?”
“Your office.”
Dmitri took his phone.
The call record existed.
The number displayed was Nikolai’s private office line.
Someone had spoofed it.
Or used the actual system.
Emmett swallowed.
“I think you have a larger problem.”
Nikolai stared at him.
“We do.”
They searched Emmett.
Nothing.
His vehicle contained ordinary tools.
His shoes did not match the footprints.
His movements for the previous twelve hours were confirmed by security footage from a hotel two counties away.
The obvious suspect was innocent.
Which meant the person inside the estate had intentionally pointed them toward him.
Vera returned to the greenhouse after midnight.
Nikolai followed.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I don’t sleep much.”
“I noticed.”
She began checking locks.
Then froze beside the rear door.
“What?”
Vera pointed downward.
A line of damp mud crossed the threshold.
Fresh.
Someone had been here while they were questioning Emmett.
They followed the marks between benches.
The footprints ended beside Vera’s worktable.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Then she saw a white envelope tucked beneath her pruning notebook.
Her name was written on it.
Nikolai reached first.
“Don’t.”
Vera looked at him.
He put on gloves, opened the envelope and unfolded the paper.
His expression became unreadable.
“What?”
He handed it to her.
Only one sentence had been typed.
WE KNOW WHAT VOSS WILL SACRIFICE TO KEEP YOU.
Beneath it was a time.
11:00 P.M.
Tomorrow.
And an address.
The burned building.
Vera looked at Nikolai.
“They want you there.”
“No.”
“They want both of us there.”
His gaze hardened.
“You are going nowhere near that place.”
But Vera was beginning to understand something Nikolai had not.
The people threatening her did not merely want leverage.
They wanted a reaction.
May you like
And if they knew Nikolai Voss as well as they claimed, then somewhere inside their trap was the answer to a question Vera could no longer ignore.
Exactly what would Nikolai sacrifice to keep her?
