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Chapter One

Southern California

Eleven Months later

Ellie sighed and adjusted her headphones to a more comfortable position. Heavy metal music poured out of the MP3 player she dropped into the front pocket of her cotton capri pants. The warm temperatures made her sweat even at eleven o’clock at night, despite the very slight breeze that fanned her skin. She glanced toward the open windows. The air-conditioning system of the dorm had gone out again. The maintenance teams were still fixing glitches on the newly constructed building.

She approached the balcony doors she tended to leave open and stepped outside to enjoy a nice breeze to help cool her overheated body. She sipped the cold water from the small plastic bottle she’d grabbed from the mini-fridge when she’d entered her apartment. She leaned against the railing to stare down at Homeland from her perch on the third floor. She’d just finished her nightly workout.