The phone is torn on the dashboard like crazy. I transfer calls to Inna and wait for Shipiev in the parking lot. I lean back in my seat and reach for my cigarettes. Sports and smoking are incompatible. It's time to kick the bad habit. But as I flick the lighter, I inhale, blowing a puff of smoke out the window. It's calming. Not for long.

Alena appears on the horizon only after half an hour. I watch as she slowly walks to the car with a sports bag and talks to someone on the phone again. He approaches the silver sedan and climbs into the salon. He sits for...