Valdis needn't have been worried this time, although her worries weren't necessarily invalid ones. He'd managed to stay focused this time, and he hadn't gotten lost on his way back to the Hotel. He just hadn't succeeded in his task either, and it showed in the slump of his shoulders and the slight scowl on his face as he stepped into the Hotel.

"She holed up," he groused, shaking his head as soon as he spotted Valdis. "Some hovel not far from where we were. It wasn't where she meant to go, but she knew she was being followed. Knew or strongly suspected."

Maybe he should have waited her out, but something told him at least Anton would have started to worry about him being gone so long.