In rebellion, she tugged at the buttons of the sweltering suit and fairly ripped them from their moorings. She removed the satchel, thrust the jacket off, and bundled it into a crumpled ball of fabric. If wearing the horrid clothes didn’t manage to keep Gabriel or Kenneth at bay, she could see no good reason to sweat to death in vain protest. Rolling with the liberating wave of defiance, Erin unfastened the cloth-covered buttons at her throat, not stopping until her fingers encountered the edge of lace at her chemise. There her rebelliousness faltered, and she managed a ragged grin at the image of herself stripped down to chemise and skirt hiked up over naked thighs.

She settled on a slight hitch in the calf-length skirt and the pleasure of an itinerant breeze occasionally wafting over her skin. As she strolled along the boulevards, beneath a canopy of verdant green and cloudless blue, and inhaled the scent of honeysuckle, the drumming headache disappeared. For the first time in too long a while, she thought she might one day be happy. Or at least content.

Chapter 13

Her good mood lasted until she opened her mailbox. She saw the ivory parchment envelope poking up between the flyers and bills, felt the spurt of terror. Concentrating on each breath, she mounted the stairs to the third floor.

Later, she would not remember unlocking the door or slamming it shut. She wouldn’t recall drawing the safety chain across before she sank to the floor. For her, it was a series of sounds: the rip of thick paper, the sibilant hiss of the note that fluttered onto her lap. The elegant script that mocked her with its beauty.

Analise,

You disappoint me. Days pass, and you are no closer to my goal. To finishing what started in the cellar. In the mountains.

Now you have an ally. How soon before he seeks the truth about you? How soon before I tell him?

You know the words. All the lovely letters arranged to tell the truth. Twenty-six letters. Not a second to waste.

Find me.

Erin scrambled to her knees, knocking the note and envelope to the floor. She snatched the phone from its cradle and called information. “Gabriel Moss, please.”

Soon the operator connected Erin to his line. After several rings, she heard the subtle click. “Hello?”

“Gabriel?” Erin willed her voice to be strong, but it wavered slightly.

“Erin?” Gabriel heard the thread of tension. “Where are you? Where’s Gennie?”

“She’s still at the university. I walked home.” The panic rose higher, choking her. “Can you come to my apartment? It’s important.”

“I’m on my way.”