Hundred and Twenty-Nine

DIMITRI

"Will she be fine?" I asked the nurse again.

"Like I said, Mr Dimitri," said the nurse while she checked Valeria's pulse. "We will do our best to make sure she's fine."

With that, I had to be content. The gurney was wheeled into the ward. The e door was shut. I waited for a long time. Standing there, waiting for news would drive me right out of my mind. I knew it.

There were other things to do, things that would help take my mind off Valeria's condition. I drove quickly to my house, went into the room where the old man had previously been kept. He sat on the floor, tied up and gagged. I gestured for Silas, who stood guard, to ungag him. The man looked up at me with frightened eyes.

"Please, I have told you all I know," he pleaded.

"Not quite," I said. "Tell me where Grace is."

"I don't know. I swear I don't. She never confided all her plans to me."

"Think carefully before you lie," I warned as I squatted next to him.

"I'm not lying. I don't know where she is. All I know is she