Which reminded her...
“This is probably not the best time to tell you I’m supposed to be at a funeral at eleven thirty.”
Roman glanced at her as the elevator doors slid open. He didn’t look happy with her announcement. “Whose?”
“Marilynn Rice. She used to work at Graceway.” Her throat felt tight as she stepped into the elevator. “She and my mom were really close. Her house was robbed Monday evening. It looks like she was pushed down the stairs. Broke her neck. No one knew until the next morning when she didn’t show up for work.”
“Ella.”
She looked up at Roman as the elevator rose.
“Yes?”
“Have you made the police aware of the possible connection between your mom, Marilynn and what you’re going through?”
“I’ve tried to,” she said. “But I’m not exactly what they’d call a competent or reliable witness.”
The doors slid open and they stepped out into a bustling hallway on her mom’s floor.
“Let’s table this conversation until we get out of here,” Roman said.
* * *
A half hour later, the dark clouds of a brutal winter day loomed through the glass doors ahead as Ella walked with Roman in a slight haze toward the exit. She’d had to rush the visit with her mom, but at least she’d been able to see her. Her throat ached from held-back tears. With each passing day it seemed less and less likely her mother would ever wake up. And if she did, there was no guarantee she would be the same.
Roman pressed the door open and a blast of cold air stole Ella’s breath. He draped his jacket over her shoulders and set a protective arm at her back.
She couldn’t help but glance behind her at the hospital as they left. What she was looking for, she couldn’t be sure. But at the edge of her memory, she was fairly certain she knew something. Something that could put an end to the questions keeping her up at night—and maybe something that could save her life.
“You’re shivering,” Roman said. “The car’s just over—”
A screech of tires cut him off and Ella whipped around, registering the car as it fishtailed around the corner, just yards away.
“Watch out!” Roman yelled, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her off the blacktop and onto the ice-covered grass.
But the car kept coming, its engine gunning straight for her.
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