She was older now, thinner, and deeply afraid.
But she was alive.
Or at least standing in front of him.
“Where have you been?” he demanded.
Elena flinched.
“I can’t explain everything here.”
“Then explain why Vanessa Sterling has been looking for you.”
Her face drained of color.
“She found me?”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Answer me.”
Elena looked past him toward Emily.
When she saw the silver ring on Emily’s hand, she stopped breathing for a second.
“Oh,” she whispered. “Thomas kept it.”
Emily stood.
“You knew my grandfather?”
Elena nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“He saved my life.”
Dominic felt the room close around him.
Before anyone could ask another question, Elena reached into her handbag and removed a folded photograph.
It showed three people standing outside a small country house.
Elena was in the center.
Thomas Carter stood beside her.
And the third person was a young Vanessa Sterling, smiling with one hand resting on Elena’s shoulder.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Three days before Elena Romano’s supposed death.
