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“I handled the footage.”

“You handled it?”

“For now.”

I look back at Audrey.

We can’t leave her here.

If we call security, Father knows.

If Father knows, Ella could be in danger.

If the police become involved…

No. Just no.

We have to get rid of the body.

I stand. “We have to move her.”

Ella bites her lip. “No.”

“Ella—”

“No. No, we can’t. We have to call someone. An ambulance. The police. Someone.”

“She’s dead.”

A sob tears out of her. “I know that.”

“Then an ambulance won’t help her.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“In any other house, yes.”

Her eyes fill with fresh tears.

“I need to protect you, Ella.”

She shakes her head. “That’s what they all say, isn’t it? That’s what men like your father say right before everything gets buried.”

She’s not wrong. But this is necessary. Luckily, I have a little practice in this field.

37

ELLA

Now I know why people use the term “dead weight.” Audrey’s body is heavy.

I don’t know why, out of every terrible thing clawing through my head, that’s the one thought rising to the surface as Nathaniel and I move her and drag a sheet over her body.

She’s no longer the head housekeeper. No longer the person who watched me with those hard eyes as if I were nothing more than another stain she’d eventually scrub out.

She’s dead weight now.

My fingers tremble as I pull the sheet over her face.