Page 49 of Drop Pass

He shrugged one shoulder. So, he was listening to me.

“The wait to talk to a consulate is three hundred days in Moscow. That’s just to get approval to come. I don’t think she can wait that long.”

His head lifted enough for him to meet my eyes.

“Do you or one of your old coaches or teammates know anyone in the government that could help?”

This was one of those situations when it was time to focus on who you knew, not what you knew. Being a professional athlete came with a lot of connections. There had to be someone.

“Bolshov.”

“Who’s that?”

“Last coach. He knew powerful men.”

His Russian accent was thicker than I’d ever heard. It threw me off, but I nodded. “Do you want to call him?”

He slid his phone to me. “No.”

I stared at him, waiting for an explanation until I noticed his red-rimmed eyes. He was too upset. I knew that feeling well.

“Okay, I’ll call.”

I wasn’t sure what time it was in Moscow, but emergencies didn’t take into consideration sleep schedules. I opened his contacts and found Bolshov’s number. Hopefully he spoke English.

I tapped the screen and held the phone to my ear. It rang twice before a loud man answered, half-yelling in a stream of Russian.

“Um. Coach Bolshov?” I interrupted, hoping he understood me.

“Who’s this?” His confusion was apparent.

“This is Elena, a friend of Nikolay Kozlov.”

“I know who’s calling me. What’s wrong with Nikolay?” His gruff tone made me tense, but I reminded myself Nikolay wouldn’t have brought him up if he didn’t think he could help.

“Nikolay is busy at the moment. Do you know his family well?”

There was a pause. “Yes, why?”

“His little sister, Yula, is very sick. She’s in the hospital and the doctors think it’s cancer. I spoke with Tiana and she doesn’t think the doctors there can help. Nikolay wants to get her here, but she’ll need a visa. I checked online and it can take up to three hundred days just to get a meeting with a consulate. Nikolay thought maybe you knew someone that could help.”

I heard his heavy sigh and was relieved he was taking this seriously.

“She is too young for this.” He seemed to be talking to himself. “I know some people. Tell Nikolay I’ll reach out now. I will let you know when I hear back.”

He hung up before I could thank him.

“Bolshov is going to call some people.”

Nikolay nodded against his arms.

“The children’s hospital at university is one of the best for cancer treatment. At least you can be close to her.” He didn’t react. “I’ll call Tiana and see if we can get copies of Yula’s records sent over so the doctors can review.”

I stood up and called his sister relaying the information about Bolshov and she agreed to get the medical records together.

Next I called Chloe. If there was one person that I knew could help, it was her.

“Hi Elena. I was just thinking about you. I didn’t get to ask Nikolay about his Christmas plans and I was wondering if you could find out for me. I want to make sure we have enough food—”