“Whatever that means,” he echoed my own thoughts on it. When he looked toward Andrea once more, I took a chance and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Her sister lives with me,” I said. “You’ll still be able to see Andrea.”
One squeeze and then I turned to walk away. Better to give him time to process that. For all that we were brothers in blood, we were strangers. It would take time.
It would take all of them time.
Even as I walked I caught sight of Milo talking to Theo. He wasn’t alone, Doc was there with him. I must have missed when Doc arrived on the scene. Made sense to have him here though.
“Hey,” Ezra said as he jogged up. “We’re doing another head count.”
“Why?” I studied him.
“Cause we’re short a kid. I keep getting four boys, and four girls.”
I frowned, then scanned the area. Levi was where I’d left him. He watched me, though he looked away when I glanced at him. I counted.
Four boys.
With Andrea, four girls. The other three were huddled together in another car with a woman who worked for Margareta Waldemar.
“Dark haired boy, maybe 5’8,” I said. “Hundred and fifty pounds, maybe. Definitely in the ganglier stage. Darker skin, more olive in complexion. No scars or significant marks that I can think of.”
I’d let all of those kids out.
There was definitely one missing.
“Fuck,” Ezra said. “We need to get out of here. Get Andrea back to the apartment. I’m assuming Theo over there and your brother…”
I nodded. “I’m going to do another sweep. Just make sure he didn’t go inside to hide in a familiar place.”
“I’ll be here,” Ezra said.
I didn’t even make it to the first stairs to go up to the second floor before Levi caught up with me. “What are we doing?”
“One of the boys is missing. The one who was in 309.”
“That’s Kostya,” Levi said and he turned to go back to the door and stare out at the vast number of moving parts and vehicles out front. “Are you sure he’s missing?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m going to sweep the building. See if he came in to hide.”
“So no one grabs him and sells him onward or worse, turns him over to the government.” From the way Levi said it, the latter was far worse than the former.
“Precisely. Do you know any spots he liked to hide in?”
“I can think of a couple.” Then he locked eyes with me. “What are you going to do if we find him?”
“Make sure gets home.”
Levi stared for a long moment, searching my face for the truth. Whatever he saw must have settled him, because he started up the stairs and took them two at a time.
“There’s a place on the fourth floor near the roof access…”
Chapter
Thirty-Four
LAINEY
In the kitchen, I wrapped my hands around the huge mug of coffee that Ezra had made for me. I hadn’t even realized there was an espresso machine in the place. It made sense, I supposed. Exhaustion draped me like a cloak, but there was elation amidst it all.
Andrea was with us. Doc had checked her out briefly at the site, but he advised a more thorough exam at home. I planned on that too. I’d broached a couple of uncomfortable topics with her. As much as she told me about the school, about the other kids, she was circumspect on so much else.
The only saving grace I received at all was the fact she hadn’t been raped. She promised. It had taken coaxing to convince her to leave and come to the apartment we’d rented. The guys were all on edge, they needed us out of the open. I needed us out of the open.
When Andrea realized two of her friends were coming with us, she relented. Margareta took charge of the rest of the children. I would call her later. She told me we were going to identify them, and see if we could get them back to their families.
“And if they don’t have families?” Levi did, but no one had known about his family before Bodhi found him.
“Then we will find them new families.” The absolutism in Margareta’s voice convinced me more than the words themselves. “Go on. Take your sister back. Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She turned to go then.
“Margareta…”
She paused and glanced back at me.
“Thank you. Thank you for—” I motioned to the school then just spread my hands. “Thank you for everything.” We would never have located Andrea so quickly but for Margareta’s intervention.
