“Yeah, funny story.” I don’t even graze a smile. “I was left for dead, brought into the hospital as a John Doe, and in a coma for several weeks.”
“Wow,” Hannah whispers, her mouth open and eyes wide.
Madisyn smacks Mikhail’s arm. “I told you!” she scolds him. “No body, no funeral. But you don’t listen to me.”
“You had a funeral for me?” I shift on my feet, uncomfortable at the ends that Mikhail went to when I was supposedly dead.
What the hell did they bury if I wasn’t in the casket?
“It was just a small service,” Mikhail says, and waves the air dismissively. “Enough about that grave mistake. You’re back and look awfully good for a dead man.” He gestures for me to follow him to his office.
It’s probably for the best. The children don’t need to hear what I’ve been through.
“I had several weeks of sleep,” I say.
“I’ll bet,” Mikhail mutters. “We had our men comb the woods, but no one recovered a body. I guess that’s because someone else found you first.” He closes the door to his office after I’ve joined him, giving us some privacy.
“Any word on Anton or Savannah?” I ask.
“Nothing.” He sits at the edge of his desk. “Any idea where they might have gone?”
“No. They left my ass for dead. I can’t say I know where they disappeared to.”
Mikhail’s eyes flicker. “Do you suspect Luka’s involvement?” he asks.
I shake my head. I’m not selling him out when he may not be to blame. “I just find it peculiar that I was left in the forest to die, and Luka returned home.”
“Luka was brought to the hospital, dropped off. He swears he doesn’t remember getting there and doesn’t know where Anton disappeared to with Savannah.”
It doesn’t add up. “And no one asked about any other gunshot patients brought in?” I ask.
Mikhail’s jaw is tight, his hands bunched into fists at his side. “We were trying to mitigate the damage. Police were crawling all over Luka’s hospital room. I imagine they did the same to yours.”
“So, you knew I was alive?”
“I heard a John Doe was brought in, and they didn’t think he’d make it. I assumed it was you until I saw a dark-haired girl speak to the doctor. At that point, I thought the patient was no longer a John Doe.”
“And you didn’t go looking for me?”
“I had a half dozen men search the forest, but by the time Luka could tell us what happened, the evidence had washed away with the rain, and you weren’t anywhere to be seen.”
I’m not bitter about it. Mikhail did what he thought was right. It was a tough decision, and we must live with the consequences.
We lost Anton that day.
Even if he’s not dead, he’s cut off from the family.
“You look good for a dead man,” Mikhail says, pushing himself off the desk. He grabs a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet. “Do you want a drink?”
Never turn down an offer from the pakhan, alcohol included. “Sure,” I say.
He pours us each a glass and takes the first sip. I follow suit, not that I thought he’d poison me. If he wanted me dead, he’d have already put a bullet into my head.
“Where have you been staying?” Mikhail asks, swirling the amber liquid around before taking a swig.
“Aside from the hospital? With a new friend.” I don’t elaborate.
“Does she have a name?” Mikhail asks. He never lets anything go.