Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
A cold chill in Cissi’s eyes. “I knew it,” she bit out. “I knew it wasn’t an accident that hurt them. It was a Center, wasn’t it? That’s why the bears are involved—I’ve heard through the grapevine about how the former Centers now have human and changeling oversight.”
She shook her head before they could answer. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want that nastiness in my head. As for their guardian, I won’t give her up. Not when she’s protected them for this long.” She faced Yakov full on. “You can hurt me but that won’t give you what you want.”
Yakov’s bear hid its head in its paws, feeling like a bully. “Look, Cissi, we mean your charges no harm, but it’s critical we get in touch with their guardian. Will you pass on a message to her?”
“Yes, of course. I want only the best for Santo and Janine—and anyone else who might’ve survived a Center.”
Yakov glanced at Theo.
Who picked up the baton. “Tell their guardian that the management has changed. And that we’ve found the leak. We have no intention of plugging it up, but we need all the facts.”
Cissi gave a crisp nod. “I’ll repeat it word for word. It might take her a few days to get back to you—she’s not in the country right now and doesn’t always have the best reception.”
“Understood.” After giving the woman their contact details, Yakov said, “One more question—other than you and their guardian, does anyone else have access to Janine or Santo?”
“Santo is friendly with others in the complex,” Cissi said. “Nene—Janine—rarely talks, and tends to stick close to him or me. They’re never out of my sight for longer than a few minutes except when they’re asleep in their beds, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Yakov left it at that, asking no further questions. Instead, he spoke to Santo as promised, while Janine stared at Theo for long moments before walking over to give her a snow pea pod.
Next to Yakov, Cissi whistled quietly under her breath. “I’ve never seen her be so friendly with a stranger.”
Taking the pod, Theo said, “Thank you. Can I eat it just like this?”
Janine ran over to the patch, came back with another pod, then showed Theo how to remove the bit of “thread” along the seam that could get stuck in teeth. Discarding that bit into the garden, she mimed crunching down on the vegetable, then watched with care as Theo followed her instructions.
Her face broke out in a big smile when Theo began to eat the snow peas. A second later, Janine threw her arms around Theo and said, “Keke, I love you,” in a voice soft and sweet.
Chapter 50
Cecilia Bonet began paying taxes in Moscow three years ago. Work listed as private carer of two individuals.
Prior to that, she was paying taxes in the USA. It’s listed as her country of birth, and she worked there all her life before coming to Moscow. Gap of a year in her résumé that aligns with a new educational certificate in caregiving.
All looks clean and aboveboard. Full details attached.
—Message from Pavel Stepyrev to Yakov Stepyrev (11 a.m. today)
THEO WAVED FROM the car as Cissi led Santo and Janine up the walkway toward the front door of the apartment building. Janine and Santo both waved back wildly, and kept on doing so until Cissi got them inside.
Pausing on the doorstep, the carer shot them a quick wave and a smile before she entered behind her charges.
“That was an interesting day,” Yakov said as he pulled away from the curb.
Because it had been a day. Janine had become so attached to Theo in the short time they’d spent together that she’d become distressed when Theo made a move to leave with Yakov.
Wishing she could read the thoughts inside the woman’s deliberately damaged mind, Theo had nonetheless known one thing: she couldn’t hurt this person who’d been broken by her family. If Janine, for some reason, found happiness in her, then Theo would stay with her as long as it took.
She and Yakov had ended up working in the garden with the two, then had taken the pair and Cissi out to lunch, followed by ice cream. After which, they’d gone for a long walk along the river, with Santo and Janine stopping to pet dogs, while Yakov ran into more than one person he knew.
It was after lunch, when Cissi pulled out a small bag of pills to give to Santo one by one, that they’d been given the answer to one of their questions.
“Those are strong medications,” Theo had said quietly when Yakov escorted Santo to the washroom, and Janine was distracted by the aquarium wall in the restaurant. “Especially in combination.”
Cissi had nodded. “When I first started the job, I figured out two by searching the marks on them. Got freaked out.” A tightness to her expression, she’d said, “I brought it up to their guardian, told her I’d refuse to be part of any form of drug abuse.”