ALEXANDER
“I don’t know.”
The words sat heavily between us.
For a brief second, Helen didn’t react.
She just stared at me.
Then slowly—very slowly—she straightened in her seat.
“What do you mean… you don’t know?”
There it was.
Not confusion.
Not really.
More like… disbelief.
Like the answer itself didn’t fit into any structure she was willing to accept.
And just like that, I had her full attention.
Not half-listening.
Not observing from a distance.
Actively engaged.
I exhaled quietly through my nose, leaning back slightly.
“It means exactly that,” I said, my tone even. “We don’t know where he came from.”
Her gaze sharpened.
Waiting.
So I explained.
“The patrol team found him at the border,” I said. “Late at night. He was already down when they got there—injured, uncons
