"Vika!" I called out as I entered my mother's house.

I could hear Rose gently close the door behind me. I didn't even really notice she was still with me after I took off, driving in a blind rage, until I stopped at a red light and saw that she had climbed into my car with me and was sitting beside me in silence and in as deep thought as I was.

My thoughts were bouncing around from Vika, thinking back to how weird she'd been acting lately, to what Rose told me.

I walked through my mother's house in search of my youngest sister.

"Vika," I called out again.

My grandmother appeared, wiping a dripping dish in her hands, concern and annoyance at my loudness clear on her face. "Dimka. Why are you making so much noise?" she asked me in Russian.

She glanced at Rose behind me, concerned. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Where's Vika?"

"Upstairs as usual," she gestured.

Before she could ask more I hurried up the stairs and knocked once before pushing my sister's bedroom door open. It was in its usual state, clothes strewn over the floor, makeup spread out on the tops of her dresser and vanity mirror, and she was laying in her bed facing the window.

She shot up and turned around to glare at me when I entered.

"What?!" she snapped, sitting up in her bed.

Her eyes shifted behind me, telling me Rose had followed me into the room. I watched my sister's brown eyes widened as she recognized who Rose was but she didn't say anything for a while, straightening up on her bed.

"What is she doing here?" she snapped in Russian.

I answered her question with a question. "The guy you were dating a few weeks ago, was it Adrian Ivashkov?"

My sister visibly flinched, similar to how Rose so often did.

"Vika? Was it him?"

Her silence said it all.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I paced at the end of her bed feeling flustered and ready to hit something. The cop in me was ready to go out to my car and hunt Ivashkov down. I'd heard the rumors, I knew the stories of what happened with Rose but now that I knew the truth, I didn't know how to react. I was having trouble controlling my anger.

"What did she tell you?" she hissed in Russian. She shifted her gaze to Rose. "What lies did you tell him? Everyone knows you're a liar! You're just ticked off he dumped you! Why don't just stop?!"
"Vika!"

I looked at Rose.

She seemed either unfazed by my sister's rudeness or use to being talked to that way. She gave me a shrug to say she was fine and understood and then turned to leave the room.

Viktoria glared at her as she left.

She quieted and rolled over onto her bed with a huff.

I walked to the other side so that she was facing me an kneeled in front of her.

"Did he hurt-"

"Screw you Dimka I'm fine now get out!"

I had all the answer I needed. I straightened up.

"He isn't going to get away with this, whether you want to do something about this or not," I said over my shoulder as I left the room, closing the door behind me.

Rose was standing in the living room, Yeva standing near her talking in a concerned voice.

"...shouldn't listening to what people say to you. You are a pretty amazing girl," my grandmother was saying.

It was rare she spoke so nicely. I stopped just out of range to listen.

"Thank you," Rose said gently. "But I think I'm just making things worse, every time I open my mouth to say something. I should go."

She moved toward the door, giving my grandmother an apologetic glance. I hurried after her, giving Yeva an expression to tell her what was going on later.

Rose moved pretty quickly even with a sprained ankle. The training this morning really helped.

"Rose, hang on," I called.

She stopped halfway down the driveway, pausing before she turned to face me.

"Look, I-I was probably mistaken. It wasn't your sister," she fumbled to lie.

"I know what you're trying to do-"

"To prevent her from getting sucked into all of this like I am. I should just keep my mouth shut."

She was flustered and breathing deeply. She nibbled on her bottom lip as she ran her hands through her mane of dark hair.

I could suddenly see her as one of the popular girls at school, having it all only to end up like this, shattered, a little broken.

"I am grateful that you're trying to protect my sister but I am also grateful that you told me. I can't...we can't let him get away with this."

"There's nothing the police can do."

"I'm a cop. I was a cop," I corrected. "I have a few friends still on the force. I could talk to-"

"No one is going to listen!" she shouted throwing her hands up in frustration. "Trust me. Saying anything will just make everything worse...just leave it alone."

She rested her eyes on me for a second to make sure her words sank in before turning on her heel and jogging away, faster than ever.