ssistant with a curt nod, then turned and walked away without a final glance. The assistant was pr

ver and nausea. The assistant handed her a packet. Insid

said mechanically. The allowance will

She landed in Philadelphia, a city where she knew no one. A pre-arranged car service

onal, and suffocatingly lonely.

but lie in bed, the fever slowly breaking. She survive

dragged herself to the nearest ATM t

delay. A banking error. She w

r was dwindling fast. She tried the only contact number she had, the assist

w butler answered, a man whose voice she didn't recognize. He informed her that the Mat

tomach. Her last lifeline had been cut. Josef. It

e apartment. Her blood ran cold. The lease was only for one month. A note had been slipped und

lie. A temporary measure to get her out of New York quietly. She w

n, terrified ghost. Her hand instinctively went to her stil

the despair. A new, hard resolve began to form in the

er phone and a prepaid card. There was one last call she could

ride and humiliation, she dialed