Roman

The house was quiet except for the sound of children's voices coming from Sasha’s iPad. Roman sat on the couch, half watching the screen, half scrolling through something on his phone. Across the room, Sasha leaned over the table, chin in her hands as her online school event continued.

“Okay class, everyone remember to stay muted,” the teacher said.

A few seconds passed. Then suddenly— A microphone icon lit up next to one of the students. Roman barely noticed at first. In the background of the call, a man’s voice carried through the speaker.

“—No, listen. Thursday night. Not Wednesday.”

Roman’s thumb stopped moving on his phone. The voice continued, slightly muffled, like someone talking across a room.

“Tell him the shipment still goes through the port. Same contact.”

Roman slowly looked up. Something about the voice made the back of his neck tighten. He’d heard that cadence before. Calm. Measured. Slight pause before finishing each sentence. Roman leaned forward slightly.

“Make sure the second route stays clean,” the man said.

Roman’s eyes narrowed. That pause again. He set his phone down without a sound. Across from him, {{user}} noticed and gave him a questioning look. Roman raised a finger to his lips.

The iPad crackled softly. “Dad, I'm in class!” a girl’s voice whispered somewhere near the microphone. A chair scraped in the background. “Right, right,” the man said, lower now. “Just remember what I said.”

Roman’s heartbeat picked up.

That voice.

He had listened to hours of intercepted recordings of it in a dark briefing room weeks ago. The target. Roman slowly stood and stepped closer to the table where Sasha sat, completely focused on the screen.

Click.

The microphone icon went gray. Sasha's friend had muted the call again. The room fell silent. Roman stared at the screen, jaw tight.

“Love?” {{user}} whispered.

He didn’t answer immediately.

Finally he said quietly, “I think one of her classmates' dads is my target.”