Page 91 of Bride of Vengeance

"Mariana! Are you—" He sees the blood on my shoulder. "You're hit!"

"I'm fine. But Pavel escaped. Harrison too."

"Damn it!" Rodriguez looks around at the chaos—dead and injured men from Pavel's team, but the principals are gone. "We need to—"

"Track them. I know." I'm already pulling out my phone. "Mila, did you get Harrison's confession?"

"Every word," her voice comes through. "But Mariana, I'm tracking heat signatures leaving the building. They had tunnels. Old maintenance access that wasn't on any blueprint."

"Of course they did." Mikhail appears beside me, blood on his knuckles but otherwise unharmed. "Pavel always has an escape route."

"We need medical help for her shoulder," Rodriguez says.

"It's a graze—"

"It's a gunshot wound and you're pregnant!" Mikhail snaps, then freezes, realizing what he just said.

Rodriguez's eyes go wide. "Pregnant? Mariana, what—"

"Not now, Rodriguez."

Assistant Director Williams enters with more agents. "What's the situation?"

"Harrison and Pavel Volkov escaped," Rodriguez reports. "But we have recorded confessions, multiple arrests from their organization, and—"

"It's not enough," Williams cuts him off. "Without Harrison in custody, this looks like a rogue operation. The Bureau will spin it as Harrison being kidnapped by Volkov, not working with him."

"But the recording—"

"Could be coerced. Without Harrison to corroborate it, without Pavel to interrogate, we have half a victory at best."

I look at Mikhail, see my own frustration mirrored in his eyes. We were so close.

"There's more," Williams continues. "Given the evidence we do have, I believe the Attorney General would be willing to offer immunity to both Mr. Kozlov and Mrs. Castillo-Kozlov."

"Would be willing?" Mikhail's voice is dangerous.

"I can't make guarantees without Harrison in custody. But with the recorded confession and what we've uncovered tonight, I'd say it's highly likely. The AG wants this corruption cleaned up."

"Likely isn't certainty," I point out.

"No, it's not. Which is why you're in a legal grey area right now. You're no longer shoot-on-sight, but without Harrison personally to take the fall, his friends in high places will fight any immunity deal."

"So what are we supposed to do?"

"Find them. Bring them in. You have resources—use them. With Harrison and Pavel in custody, I can virtually guarantee full immunity. Without them..." He shrugs. "You're gambling with your freedom."

As the medics examine my shoulder, I see Boris coordinating his remaining men, already hunting for Pavel's trail. Mila's voice comes through our earpieces, rattling off possible escape routes based on traffic cameras she's hacking.

"This isn't over," Mikhail says quietly, just to me.

"No. It's not."

"They'll regroup. Come at us again."

"Probably."

"Are you ready for that?"