"Sandra, I''ve already found evidence that Quennel locked you in that basement. All you have to do is tell Hannah that it was Quennel who imprisoned you. I will provide Hannah with the proof."


    At these words, Sandra''s carefully constructedposure shattered. She looked up at Lionel, her eyes wide with disbelief.


    "Are you sure you''ve found evidence?"


    "Yes, I found it today. Tomorrow, you''reing with me to see Hannah."


    Sandra''s voice was edged with excitement. "What evidence did you find? Let me see it."


    Seeing her emotional reaction, Lionel finally rxed, convinced her earlier calmness had been an act.


    "I can''t show it to you. After all, Quennel captured you. Who knows if he''s already bought your loyalty? If I show you the evidence, won''t you just go and warn him?"


    Lionel gave Sandra a meaningful look and warned her again.


    "I have the evidence. If you lie, you know what the consequences will be. If you think I haven''t found anything and am just bluffing, then go ahead and tell Hannah I kidnapped you. Let''s see who she believes-you, or me."


    His confident demeanor left Sandra guessing. She couldn''t tell if he had really found evidence or if he was just trying to deceive her.


    "Sandra, since you''re not saying anything, I''ll take that as your agreement to tell Hannah the truth. I hope you don''t make me regret this. Your life is in my hands right now, and I''m the only one who can save you and get you out of this country. Unless, of course, you''d rather not leave and prefer to die here."


    With that, Lionel turned to leave without a second nce.


    Suddenly, Sandra called out to him.


    "What? Have you made up your mind?"


    "No, I just need to see a doctor. The wounds on my body are hurting badly."


    Lionel nced at her injuries.


    The bandages covering her wounds were already seeping with fresh blood.


    His suspicions eased. He called a doctor toe and re-dress her wounds stationing a guard to watch her the entire time. The guard left only after the doctor did.


    As soon as the doctor was gone, he picked up his phone and made a call to Quennel.


    "Sandra says Lionel has found evidence. He''s taking her to tell Hannah everything tomorrow."


    While dressing her wounds, Sandra had subtly used the letters on a medicine bottle to spell out a message for him.


    To anyone else, it looked like she


    was just reading


    but she was actually


    information.


    He was impressed by her clever method ofmunication.


    Quennel grunted in acknowledgment and hung up, then couldn''t help butugh out loud.


    He never thought Lionel would get so desperate as to start spouting such nonsense.


    But the fact that Sandra had passed along the message proved she had no intention of following Lionel''s script.


    He eagerly anticipated how Lionel would try to spin this in front of Hannah.


    He couldn''t wait to see what kind of


    argumen


    they would get into. Just


    thinking about it was a deligand citing prospect.