eckles, or the way her secondhand sweater always slipped off

o

ey noticed was the

but the heavy, coiled stillness of a person who

was ba

yn, Ne

:3

ain that spread across the plaster like a bruise. Aria lay on her bed, one arm slung

h was a k

rhythm of them-the wet, rattling ones that meant

as the wo

t made her w

hone

Mount Sinai Hospital

verdue: $

slow and controlled, and dropp

no point i

didn't p

came aroun

asn't

slept prope

No one visited their a

visited thei

me again-fir

, barefoot, and peered

e hallway, his posture unnaturall

ulse

other called weakl

d automatically. "

nocked a

ed the d

ha

n't flinch.

s who's

ould like to s

ed at hi

vealing the sleek black t

dow rol

time in her life,

something faintly sterile, like t

e backseat, her finger

f her sweatpants. Hadn't

rb, gliding into motion like i

as a m

sc

his is a kidnapping,"

rned h

-fifties, maybe, with silver-streaked hair and a f

Unyi

not,"

elax. "Then

, his gaze lingering on her frec

o his coat and pull

know who

lanced

photo could've

erfect shade with weekly salon visits-sharp cheekbone

es, like pol

as uncanny, excep

ke cinnamon scatter

as effortless. Perfect. L

," Dominic said

back. "Congratulatio

oice was calm. "A costly one.

ught... what

at you might be interested in a

"You want me

you to

le

the photograph trembli

lway smell. The way her mom clu

news now, because good

all I'm asking. You take her place at high school, kee

m twenty-one. I'm closer to their st

d these are rich kids, not detectives

idn't

cs, the impossibility of it-and the terrifyin

was i

as imp

er mother'

she heard

ic sm

ber that made h

one can know. Not your mo

berate

ly not Ja

d into the leather s

ned. Even the wor

ld s

mis

e car on the way

reflection flickering in the g

number in her mind. Feel

pay off th

to star

to br

led up to h

he suit hand

in touch

d out into

oplets slid down her cheeks, soaking thro

didn't

they might've tho

wa

nt-breathing, deciding-before t

ade in silence already