Fifty-Seven

DIMITRI

I leaned forward in my chair until Silas had finished telling me every detail of what Valeria had overhead. When he had finished, I exhaled in a rush.

"I knew she overheard our conversation," I said. "It's just that I was so engrossed in the conversation I was having you, that I didn't notice when she started listening in. Then I caught her scent and ended the call. It would sure have made the whole thing more suspicious if I had started questioning her on how long she had been standing there."

Silas nodded, understanding my line of reasoning.

"You could have knocked me over with a feather when she started talking about it. I had to do some pretty quick thinking to deflect her questions. I told her I was a comic book writer, that I had been bouncing my ideas off you, and that you always gave me valuable suggestions on how to proceed whenever I had a case of writer's block."

Though annoyed with myself, I couldn't resist chuckling. "That was some pretty quick thinking on your p