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Chapter 20

Thirty minutes later, Granger came walking down the corridor. Nick was now sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, and his head in his hands. He had been silently crying to himself, not letting AJ or anybody that walked past see his tears. He felt completely empty inside. Listening to Orlov’s words had torn him apart, and at that moment, he didn’t know what to believe.

Was she really dead?

The thought was unbearable and just thinking about it made his heart break. Looking down at his hands, he let a finger trace around the small scar from when he had cut himself to blend his blood with Ali’s. He knew she had the exact same scar on her hand.

Would he ever see it again?

“Let’s talk, shall we?” Granger had reached them, and was now standing in front of Nick, looking down at him with tired eyes.
Nick sighed and looked up, nodding his head slowly. He was trying his best not to show how upset and emotionally drained he was, but he didn’t think he could fool anyone. If Granger didn’t see it, then AJ definitely did.

Standing up, the three of them walked into the interrogation room where Orlov only hours before, had given his statement. Nick found himself feeling sick only from the thought of being in the same room as him.

The room was small and contained only a square table and four chairs that looked rather uncomfortable to sit on. The colour on the concrete walls reminded Nick of vomit, and on one of the walls, Nick assumed, was a one – way mirror.

“Coffee?” Granger asked, as they entered the room.
“Yes please.” Both Nick and AJ answered at the same time, anxious to get some caffeine into their blood.
Granger signalled through the still opened door for someone to bring them some coffee, before he closed it and sat down opposite to Nick and AJ.
“Ok…” He said slowly, folding his hands on the table in front of him. He paused for a few seconds, obviously trying to figure out what to say, or rather how to say it.
Nick swallowed hard, and prepared himself for the worst.
“Orlov is… what can I say… umm… interesting.”
“Interesting?” Nick asked, surprised by Granger’s use of words.
“He’s very intimidating, but yet very vulnerable. He knows what he’s doing, yet he has no idea…”
Nick looked confused. “I don’t understand…”

The door to the room opened, and a police officer walked in, carrying a trey with three cups of black coffee. He quickly put it down on the table, and walked out of the room again. Granger paused to take a sip, as did Nick and AJ.

“What did he tell you? Is she dead?” The words escaped Nick’s mouth before he even had the chance to regret asking. He wanted to know, yet he didn’t.
Granger put the cup down. “All in time Nick. I’ll tell you everything” he said. The tone in his voice didn’t give away anything, and Nick felt himself going crazy inside, waiting for an answer.
“Orlov actually told us everything that’s happened during the past year.” Granger continued. “We didn’t even have to force him. His English is kinda bad though. We had expected him to speak the language better, because of his relationship with Natasha, who was British, but we had to question him in Russian. I’ve only heard the translated version, but I don’t think they left out too many details.”
Nick and AJ nodded, both eager to hear what it was that Orlov had said.
“After Natasha died, Orlov spent several months in the hospital, recuperating after the severe burns that he got from the fire. When he was released, he bought the small house that we found this morning, and locked himself inside, refusing to show his face in public. He got his friend to shop groceries for him. Guess the name of the friend…” Granger looked at Nick and AJ, waiting for a response.
“I don’t know…” Nick said, shrugging.
“Diametric Karkaroff…” AJ whispered suddenly, taking a deep breath.
Granger nodded.
“The man who sent the letter?” Nick was feeling more and more confused with ever clue they collected.
“The only thing is that Orlov knew nothing about the letter.”
“He could be lying.”
Granger shook his head. “I don’t think he is. He seemed genuinely surprised that we had managed to track him down, and that we did so because of a letter he knew nothing about. He didn’t even notice the bracelet missing from Ali’s wrist.”
Nick felt his stomach turn at the sound of Ali’s name, and the fact that Orlov actually had referred to her. He had looked at her, maybe even touched her and Nick instantly felt sick again.
“Did he tell you why he took her, and how he managed to get her to Russia?” AJ asked, knowing that Nick wanted to know, but was afraid to ask.
Granger nodded. “It’s like we thought. One day, Karkaroff brought Orlov a magazine with a picture of Nick and Ali from the award show that you guys mentioned. He admitted that from that moment, he was obsessed with getting Ali, and only four days later, he was on his way to the US.”
Nick slowly shook his head, not believing what he was hearing, as Granger continued.
“The pictures we found in his home, was taken by Orlov, after tracking down Ali’s address and following her every move. After looking though all of the photos, we even found some showing Ali getting out of the shower.”
Nick looked down, embarrassed, but at the same time relieved that he hadn’t seen those particular photos.
“How did he get her to Russia?” He asked, repeating AJ’s question.
“He somehow convinced the security, the flight personnel, everybody, that Ali was his dead girlfriend.”
“How…?”
“He drugged her down, and placed her in a coffin.”
Both Nick and AJ gasped.
“What?” Nick whispered, feeling the urge to scream. “He placed her in a coffin? From USA to Russia?”
Granger nodded. “It’s hard to believe that he actually got away with it, but it seems like he did. I mean, who would question a heartbroken man on his way back home with his dead girlfriend in a coffin? No one wants to be that heartless.”
“It’s hard to believe….” AJ stated, looking worried and shocked.
“What happened once he got back?” Nick asked. At that moment, he was feeling like he wanted to know everything, good or bad, just so that he could get it out of the system, and focus on how to find Ali again.
“He locked her inside the old stable that we found. That’s where he kept her up until a little over a week ago.”
“But why didn’t she try to escape? How can he have kept her there for so long without anyone noticing?” Nick was on a roll now. He wanted to know everything there was to know.
“She did try to escape. Remember, we found scrapings on the wooden door, but it was double bolted and very thick. Made of oak, according to Orlov, almost sound proof. So even if she did try to make people aware of her presence, no one could hear her.”

It sounded almost surreal to Nick. In a way, it was like everything that Orlov had done was based on sheer luck. How he had managed not to get discovered, was almost unbelievable.

And then, the question Nick had dreaded to ask.

“Where is she now?”
Granger sighed. “We don’t know. He refuses to tell us… We tried every trick in the book to get him to confess what he did to her, but whatever we did… nothing.”
“Then how are we going to find her?” Panic was rising in Nick’s voice.
“I don’t know…” Nick knew it was hard for Granger to admit it, almost as hard as it was for him to accept it.
“As it is right now,” Granger continued, “we are facing a dilemma. Orlov is the only on who knows where she is, the only one who can bring her food, if she’s still alive. Time is running out, and right now, he’s the only one who can help us…”
“No, he’s not…” A voice said from the doorway. The three men turned around, and were surprised to see who was standing there.