Ella wasn’t sure it was ever safe, but she answered the phone now, keeping her voice down. “Hi.”
“How are you? Are you making it?”
Bart’s voice was a comfort in a way she couldn’t quite explain. He obviously wasn’t Rome, but he was her husband’s best friend, and talking to him was as close to speaking to Rome as she’d get at the moment. “I’m all right. Have you heard from Rome?” She held her breath, praying he’d surprise her and say he had.
“No. I think he left his phone in his room. I’m pretty sure he’s gone.”
She let out a hot breath. It was hard to hear, even though she’d imagined that was true. “What was that vial?”
He swallowed so hard, she could hear it over the phone. “It’s a sedative, the extra-heavy kind used on movie sets to keep dead bodies from looking like they’re still alive. I learned about it in one of my photography classes. They don’t use it often because it’s so potent, but if you drink that vial, your family will think you’re dead.”
Ella puzzled over his words. “They’ll think I’m dead? How does that help?”
“They’ll take you to the funeral home. I have a contact there. I’ve already spoken to him. He’ll make sure you’re not embalmed or anything like that, so when they put you in the mausoleum with your mother, you’ll be fine.”
“Yes, but what if they want to do an autopsy or something?” Thoughts of being cut up alive made Ella’s skin crawl. What if his friend at the funeral home messed up, and someone did embalm her?
“They won’t. I know the coroner. You’ll leave a note and an empty bottle of pills. Listen, I’ve already talked to Mary. She’s going to help with this, too. When you were eating earlier, she snuck into the house. She still has the key. She’s already hidden an empty bottle of Teresa’s valium in your dresser drawer. As soon as I hang up, you’ll need to get that. Stage it as if you overdosed. Write them a note that says you killed yourself because they wouldn’t let you be with Rome.”
Ella started truly considering whether or not she could do this. It would be terrifying, and she’d have to trust a ton of people to make sure nothing happened to her. “Tell me why this is a benefit, rather than just sneaking out the window or getting away from them once I’m in Europe.” She knew that the second part would be tricky since her father wanted her to marry Henry immediately, but she was scared Bart’s plan wouldn’t work, and she’d end up dead for real.
“If you’re dead, Ella, they won’t be looking for you.”
It made sense. She’d been thinking earlier, even if she and Rome did manage to get together, what would stop their parents from chasing them down again? “What about Rome? Won’t they come after him still?”
“Maybe so. We’ll have to figure that out later. For now, it seems to me that your death is our best way to get your parents to leave you be. I have travel documents for you to get to Italy. I know I’m asking you to trust people with your life that you’ve never met before, Ella, but I think you know you can trust me. I will make sure you’re safe and that you get to Rome.”
“What about him? What if he hears that I’m dead and does something drastic?”
Bart was quiet for a long moment, and she realized that meant he hadn’t thought about that. “I don’t think Rome would do anything impulsive. He’ll think anyone who tells him you’re dead is lying. They won’t let him harm himself anyway. Not that he would. I don’t think he’d do that.”
She thought about what Teresa had said about her own mother. She also thought about how she would feel if she heard Rome was dead. “Bart, have you ever been in love?”
Again, he was quiet for several seconds. “Once. A few years ago.”
“And what would you have done if she died?”
He sighed, loudly. “I’ll figure out a way to get word to Rome that you’re not dead.”
“If I wake up to find out he’s injured himself, that he’s taken his life, I’ll kill you before I kill myself.” She wasn’t kidding.
“Duly noted. Trust me, Ella. It’ll be all right.”
Ella knew all of this was crazy--but it might be the only way to make it to Rome and not have her parents constantly hunting for her. “All right, Bart. I’ll do it. But if you screw this up, I swear to God, you’re going to wish you never met me.”
“I won’t, Ella. I promise. Put your phone in the drawer where you find the empty bottle so that Mary can get it and hide it before she makes the discovery that you're dead tomorrow. We don’t want your parents to have any evidence of this plan.”
“Okay,” Ella said softly. He really had thought everything through. “How is she going to get into the house? I mean, I know you said she has a key. But won’t my parents be suspicious?”
“She’ll get in, go upstairs, get your phone, then she’ll start screaming, telling everyone you sent her a text in the middle of the night that you were going to kill yourself. You’ll need to send that in a few minutes. She can show them her phone. They will just assume yours is still hidden from them.”
“Won’t they wonder how she got in? She might have a key, but they don’t know that.”
“There’s someone else in the house who will let her in. She wouldn’t tell me the servant’s name. She said he would only cooperate if no one knew.”
Ella thought of all of the people she knew who worked in the house and couldn’t think of a single one who might help, but she let it go. It sounded like Bart had thought of everything. “All right. I’ll do it.”
“Thank you for trusting me, Ella. Rome means everything to me. I’d never gamble with the woman he loves.”
“I know he does, Bart. I hope you’re right about all of this because I’d hate to have to kill someone Rome cares so much about.”
Bart snickered as if she was kidding, but at this point, Ella meant it. She hung up and took a deep breath, wondering if she could do this. Bart might be willing to gamble, but she wasn’t sure she was. She’d have to make the decision quickly, though, because time was not on her side. Every moment that passed brought her closer to leaving on a plane to France.