Danya smiled knowingly and glanced back at the infirmary. “Still pursuing the impossible, I see.”
Vanko blushed slightly. “Nothing is impossible.”
Danya laughed, and pushed his charge past Vanko. “I wish you luck, my friend.”
“Thank you.”
Unfortunately, Danya’s doubt had taken some of the steam out of Vanko’s mission, and Vanko was no longer certain Irina would say yes. Giving himself a quick pep talk, he took a deep breath, and headed down the hall.
When he opened the door to the infirmary, he was surprised to find no one there. He walked over to Irina’s empty desk and looked back into the examination area. It, too, was deserted.
He wondered if she might be in the break room, and was about to go check, when he heard a low voice coming from the other side of the examination room. He couldn’t make out what was being said, but it sounded like Irina.
Entering the examination area, Vanko walked toward the sound. There was another room beyond this that he had never been inside. The door that closed it off had a square window inset at eye level, but while Vanko could hear Irina’s voice, he couldn’t see her.
Probably on the phone.
He took a few more steps forward, and craned his neck to see if he could get a glimpse of her through the door’s window. Instead, what he saw was Dr. Teterya.
Curious now, he moved in until he was able to see Irina standing next to the doctor. They seemed to be looking at a piece of paper the doctor was holding.
“That’s all there is?” Irina asked.
Dr. Teterya nodded.
“Okay,” Irina said, “I’ll deliver it when I get off at four.”
She took the paper from him and started to fold it.
“I should do it,” he told her. “It could be dangerous.”
“No. I’m off three hours before you. It makes more sense for me to do it.” Her voice softened. “Besides, the only dangerous part is here at the prison. I’ll be fine.”
Vanko was confused. They were doing something dangerous? Something that was more dangerous here? And what did this piece of paper have to do with it? A little backchannel prison business, perhaps?
If he had turned and walked away at that moment, he would have left it at that. If Irina and Dr. Teterya had found a way to earn a few extra bucks, who was he to get in their way?
Everyone did it at some point, didn’t they?
He certainly had. The television in his parents’ house had been fully paid for by a few errands he’d run for some of the prisoners.
But Vanko hadn’t turned away. It hadn’t even crossed his mind. So he was looking directly at Irina through that small window when she put a hand on Dr. Teterya’s cheek and kissed him passionately on the lips.
Now Vanko not only wanted to look away, but also tear his eyes out — to unsee what he had just seen. But he watched as the doctor pulled her into an embrace they had undoubtedly shared many times before.
“You must call me as soon as you’ve dropped it off,” Teterya said when they finally parted. “I want to know you are all right.”
“I told you, I’ll be fine.”
“You’ll call me. Promise.”
“All right, I’ll call you.”
Vanko backed quickly away from the door, his whole body numb.
He had once thought that if Irina had been cruel to him, it would’ve been easier for him to move on. Well, she was definitely being cruel now, even if she didn’t realize it. He froze, an image in his mind of the tea they’d had together.
He cursed to himself. She had only been pretending to be interested in him, leading him on for some reason.
But what?
The moment Dr. Teterya had texted her, their tea had ended.
And that could mean only one thing.
She had suggested the tea to get him out of the infirmary.
Which meant that whatever their little business deal was, it must’ve involved the prisoner Powell. So had Powell purposely reinjured her arm so she could be taken to the infirmary to meet with Teterya and Irina?
Anger began to boil inside Vanko, melting the ice that had numbed him.
He had been played. First by Powell, then by his lovely Irina.
He was a stooge, an unknowing errand boy.
And he did not like it.
As he whipped around to head for the exit, his hand bumped a clipboard sitting on a tray. It was but a few centimeters above the floor when he grabbed it, preventing it from clattering against the tile. He shot a look behind him, wondering if the doctor or Irina had heard anything, but the door remained closed.
He carefully put the clipboard back and left.
Irina exited the administration building at twelve minutes after four a.m., climbed into her car, and drove out of the prison parking lot.
As soon as she was out of sight, Vanko dropped his car into gear and followed.
After clearing the main gate, Irina turned east at the highway. Vanko, who months earlier had learned the details of Irina’s life, knew that her small flat was to the west, in Slavne itself.
Well, isn’t this interesting, he thought as he got onto the highway several seconds behind her.
She stayed on the road only a few kilometers before turning onto a small lane. Vanko had driven this stretch of the highway thousands of times in his life, but he had never once gone down that narrow road. In fact, it was so insignificant, he couldn’t remember ever noticing it.
He pulled to the side of the highway before reaching the turnoff, and considered what he should do. While his headlights wouldn’t have seemed out of place on the main road, Irina would surely take note of them on the much-less-traveled lane. But he really wanted to know what she was up to. She had fucked with his life, so he was more than ready to do the same with hers.
He switched his lights off and examined the road, then smiled. The night was just bright enough that, if he didn’t go too fast, he’d be able to see what he was doing.
He eased the accelerator and drove forward again, hitting the brake as he got to where Irina had turned. Red light radiated from the back of his car onto the trees that flanked the lane’s entrance. He immediately pulled his foot off the brake, realizing he’d have to stick to his hand brake or simply let the car roll to a stop.
He turned down the road, and drove almost a kilometer before finally spotting her car again. It wasn’t on the road, but parked about fifty meters ahead off to the side. He jammed on the hand brake, hoping he hadn’t given himself away. When his car stopped moving, he studied Irina’s vehicle and realized it was empty.
Where the hell had she gone?
Unless someone else had picked her up, she was on foot. Which meant he needed to be, too. But he couldn’t just park along the road as she had. He might not be able to get back to his car in time, and she’d spot him as she drove away.
He made a quick assessment of the area around him, and picked out a wide opening between several bushes where he thought his car would fit. Taking it slow, he drove off the road, squeezed through the gap, and rolled to a stop.
Once the engine was off, he carefully opened his door to avoid any loud noise, and stepped out of his car. He decided to stay off the road, thinking that would cut down on his chances of bumping into her in the dark, and headed south.
When he finally found her, she was facing a tree, her back to him. He couldn’t see what she was doing, so he moved several feet to his right in hopes of getting a better view. As soon as he repositioned, however, Irina turned and headed back to her car.
Motionless, he watched her walk within twenty feet of his hiding place. He held his breath, sure she would see him, but she passed by without a glance in his direction.