The first bit of information she needed had been found rather quickly, once Ella settled into a seat by a large window in the hall upstairs. She had her feet up on the matching chair, her computer open on her lap, a view of the sea out the window not enough to distract her from her search.She’d learned quickly that Rome had purchased the house from a couple with the last name of Brand. While she’d been able to find the seller’s name online, the buyer was undisclosed in most places she found and listed under Rome’s lawyer’s name elsewhere

Days of searching online and getting nowhere brought Ella right back to the place where the adventure had begun, the attic. Rome was on set, so she was in the house alone, save the security guards and Lenore who was in the kitchen humming as she prepared to drop a stew into the crockpot for dinner. Ella stood at the top of the ladder looking around at all of the paintings, trying to imagine F. Ward here painting. Why had she left these behind?She decided to do an inventory of the paintings here. Maybe that would give her some clues. Pulling out her cell phone, Ella m

Getting Rome to agree to let her take the car the next day was no easy feat, especially when Ella hadn’t been exactly honest with him when he’d asked where she was going and why. “I just need to go see someone about a business proposition,” she’d explained. He’d arched an eyebrow and stared at her. “I don’t want to tell you all of the details at the moment because it’s nothing solid yet.” She’d shrugged like it didn’t matter, and he’d eventually agreed, even though he wasn’t thrilled about it.

“Oh, my. I’d forgotten just how busy I was that summer.” Fae held Ella’s phone in her hand, the screen shaking slightly as the woman battled old age and her nerves. She was scrolling through the pictures slowly, taking each one in. “I completely lost myself in my work that summer and did an awful job of paying attention to my friends and family.”Ella wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t realized that all of those paintings had been done in one summer. If that were truly the case, then she could only imagine the long hour

“You sure are awfully quiet,” Charles remarked as he drove Ella back to the house. His voice brought her head around, the cityscape blurring in the corner of her eye as she realized she hadn’t seen any of it anyway.“Sorry. Just lost in thought.” She smiled, thinking for once the thoughts she’d been lost in were productive and satisfying, not terrifying and pessimistic.