Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

Two days have passed, and I’m having a hard time keeping it together. I struggle to eat and sleep, but I know I need to. I check in on the others all the time. Bert is doing better, but it’s clear he’s struggling with the loss of Ana and Nova. Those two were like his daughters, and I cannot imagine how he feels. He’s back in the kitchen, cooking up a storm as if they are going to walk through the door at any moment and will need food. I think it gives him something to focus on. Jonas and Nico take turns eating all the food, making themselves sick, knowing Bert needs that. Isaac keeps checking on him, too, and like Nova would want, I check in on Isaac, but it’s Dimitri whom I’m the most worried about. His skin is bleaching from being indoors, and staring at the screens day after day is creating purple bags under his bloodshot eyes. He’s jittery with all the caffeine he has consumed, but he won’t listen to me. I know I will eventually have to ask Isaac to sedate him so he can rest before he kills himself.

He’s worried, and he can’t physically handle losing someone he loves again.

Not like Bas, not when he feels like he can do something, so for now, I help as much as I can. When he snaps and gets annoyed at me, telling me I’m doing it wrong, I don’t take it personally.

Like now.

“D, calm down.”

“No, you are doing it wrong. We will lose the file,” he snarls, his eyes narrowed on me. “Are you that fucking dumb?”

“Dimitri, breathe,” I order.

His nostrils flare before he covers his face, scrubbing it with his hands and turning away. I see his shoulders droop. Disappointment and guilt are in every line of his body. When I move in front of him, his eyes are filled with mortification. “I am sorry, Louis. I know you’re only trying to help.”

“You need to sleep.”

“Not yet. I’m so close. I can feel it.”

“You cannot help anyone if you are bedbound and sick because you did not rest and eat.”

“Not yet,” he murmurs, dismissing me once more.

“At least have something to eat and drink,” I demand, pushing the plate at him. The forgotten ones have been taken away. “Nova needs you to be strong.” It’s wrong to use his love for her, but it works. His eyes close for a moment before he snatches up the sandwich and starts chewing, not even tasting it.

“Good. I’ll come back in a bit. I want it all eaten. I am not playing anymore, Dimitri. I will keep you alive, even if it makes you hate me.” I go to check on the others, knowing he needs a moment. I do as well because even mentioning her name hurts.

I miss everything about her—her laughter, her sarcasm, and the way her eyes would glint as she challenged me. I miss the way she loved and supported me. I miss the way she kept my family together.

She belongs here, with us.

If this is just a snippet of what our lives will be like without her, then we won’t survive it. It will break us, and our family will wither and die without our heart.

* * *

I’m just planting flowers around the graves when Nico jogs over. “Dimitri needs us.”

I jerk to my feet. Fuck, I knew I should have pushed him to rest. Nico must see the panic in my eyes because he claps my shoulder and says, “He’s fine. It’s good news. I think he’s manic. We could barely understand what he’s saying, he’s so excited.”

“Then let’s not keep him waiting.” We jog inside to find Dimitri pacing in the living room. A worried-looking Isaac watches him from the sofa, and Bert flits around Jonas with a plate of pancakes, watching Dimitri with interest.

“You’re here!” he practically yells when I enter, and I know my eyebrows rise. “Sorry, sorry, this is important. Sit.”

I do, perching on the edge of the sofa and exchanging a worried look with Isaac. His eyes let me know that he will take care of Dimitri after this. I hate putting that on him, but it might do him some good to have someone else to fuss over.

“Dimitri, take a breath and talk to us,” I tell him.

His hands shake as he closes his eyes and calms his breathing. “Sorry, sorry, but I found something. You see, I was looking into his bank accounts to see if we could follow the money trail as another avenue, but then I started to think he’s too smart to use his accounts. I thought maybe blind funding, but then I checked Ana’s name just to be sure and there, in bank accounts she would never know to check, were purchases, so I started to track them down.” He speaks so rapidly, it’s hard to follow, but I try. “I’ve managed to track one all the way back to the source. It’s a manufacturing company based in China. He spent a considerable amount there. When I looked into what they manufacture, it seemed to be lab equipment. If you weren’t looking for her father, you would assume she bought it for her own research,” he finishes with a grin.

I blink, and it finally clicks. “You think it’s the equipment for whatever lab he has taken Nova to?”

“It was made just a month ago when Ana was with us, when he was dead. Yes, I think so. If we go there and put some pressure on them, we can figure out where the equipment was shipped to or at least find the next step. I have the guards’ IDs and their friends’ and families’ funding, as well as trying to decrypt the other purchases, but it’s somewhere to start, right?” He deflates then, looking anxious, but I grin and nod.

“You did good, Dimitri. Let’s get the plane fuelled and go check it out before he realises we are onto him and tries to cover his tracks.” Slapping his shoulder on the way past, I offer him a nod. “You did good, brother. Get it all started and then sleep on the plane. That is an order.” Turning to the others, I clap.

“Pack up, brothers. We are going after our girl.”

“Finally,” Jonas cheers around a mouthful of pancake.