Mila turned away as her dad came backstage to congratulate her. I let out a breath, relieved that it had all gone well. The concert had three more acts, and I could go out front and watch them, but I felt emotionally drained after the performance, so I headed for the nearby stage door and stepped outside.

There were two girls in the quad, practicing a song.

I moved a few feet away and leaned against the wall. The fog had broken over this part of the city, and a few stars were peeking through. It was cold, but I didn't feel it. I was still coming off the heated high of the performance. It had all been for Mila, but I had to admit it had felt good being on the stage.

While I'd played in local, community concerts off and on for most of my life, it had been more than a year since I'd performed, and I'd loved every second of it tonight. Which reminded me that my future was going to contain a lot more nights like these. I had one more day before I needed to get back to Ray with my decision. Twenty-four hours to resolve all the problems in my life seemed overly optimistic, but I would like to have a few more questions answered before I committed to the job. Not that I could possibly turn it down. I had to say yes. This was the life I needed to have. But to really move on, I also wanted my mom to wake up, to talk to me, to stop lingering in the world between life and death.

Although, in some ways, she'd been lingering in that space for a long time. She'd killed off her previous life to start another one. She'd become someone else, made new friends, invented a life that had no connection to the past until now. Until her worlds had come crashing together by a gunshot.

So far, I hadn't run into anyone who hated her. On the contrary, everyone loved Laura. She was a great friend, an excellent teacher, someone who inspired others. She'd saved a man's life, too. But someone wanted to kill her. I didn't know if that person came from her past or her present, but I did know that they weren't done. At that reminder, my stomach churned, and goose bumps ran down my arms. My sweater wasn't nearly warm enough now that the adrenaline was wearing off. I also suddenly realized I was alone. The girls had gone inside.

I pushed myself off the wall, turning toward the door to the auditorium when I heard a noise behind me. I started to turn, but I was too slow. Someone grabbed me, one arm going around my neck, as a smelly towel was pressed against my nose and mouth. I struggled, but my assailant was big and strong, and I was feeling faint.