The transfer was executed with the meticulous, iron-clad security that I allowed for no other operational task. The medical wing was closed, the specialists dismissed with generous severance, and the path from the adjoining suite to the main house was secured by a triple perimeter of my best men. Isabella was not simply moving apartments; she was leaving the zone of sickness and entering the zone of life.

The morning was brilliant, the Russian sun reflecting blindingly off the fresh, ...