The house was quiet. Ella lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about all of those nights she’d lay beneath this same roof but looking at a far different picture of it. If it weren’t for Rome, she’d probably still be in the attic. He’d be out there, freely living his life. Tim would be alive, and so would Mark.Had her will to be free cost others everything?

Mary had a key and knew the code to the alarm system that secured the door. It had been enough to get her into Ella’s room earlier, but it wouldn’t work for her purposes now because it wouldn’t explain what she was doing there to her former employers who would come running once they heard her scream.She gave a soft tap on the door. Her text earlier to Roger would’ve been enough for him to expect her, though he didn’t know what she wanted. He was probably hoping she wanted something more, but he would be disappointed.

Bart arrived at the morgue late that afternoon, after the family had come and gone. They’d done all of the things families do at a time like this--picked out a casket, flowers, all of those things. He imagined there had been tears and confessions of regret, but any lamentations Ella’s father was having, he fully deserved.Ella was dressed in a lovely red gown, and her hair was styled as if she were going to an award show. Looking at her lying there on a table in the back of the home, where the embalming was typically done, it was hard to believe she was ac

The sensation started in her toes. Pinpricks that turned into vibrations and then radiating warmth that spread up her calves, to her knees, and higher. Ella was suddenly aware that she was conscious. It wasn’t as if she were waking from sleep; it was as if she’d suddenly returned to her body after hours or days of being away from it.The feeling was unsettling, and as it spread throughout her, she had to remind herself it was a good thing. She wasn’t dead, after all. That had been her fear when she drank the liquid from the vial however many days ago

By the time they reached LAX airport, Ella felt like herself again--at least on the outside. A nervousness buzzed around on her insides as she thought about what she was about to do. She had forged documents; she was allegedly dead. Yet, she was about to try to get on a plane. She was also extremely worried about Rome.“It’ll be fine,” Bart assured her. “These documents are top of the line. This guy works with all kinds of people who aren’t supposed to be coming in and out of the country, but they do it all the time.”