Zach notices Liz's sudden change in demeanor. He tries to say something, but she is quick to silence him, waiting until everyone else has left the room before telling him what's up.

"What is it?" he asks, moving to sit on one of the loveseats with Eliza following suit.

She points to the sandwich half. "That's what James shared with Zuri. He never ate his half, and also shared some crackers with Ameila Taylor."

Then it dawns on Zach what she is telling him and nods slowly. "You think that James had poisoned her." It wasn't a question. Liz nods, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

She looks tired and Zach realizes that he's tired too.

That's probably because it's past one in the morning, and they haven't had any coffee. But when were they supposed to rest? When you're trapped in a large house with a bunch of murderous criminals, it's hard to lie down knowing that anyone could kill you in your sleep.

"How do we know for sure?" Zach knows that it's a dumb question, but it's all just some speculation. Do they really know that it was James who poisoned Zuri? Perhaps it was just a coincidence...

But Zach doesn't believe in coincidences.

"Who else could it be?" Eliza gives him a pointed look.

"Okay, so that mystery is solved then." He scratches his black curls. "I guess Chase had gone through all of that for nothing, then."

Liz hums and shakes her head. "I don't think so. He still tied up Vivica, which made him look all guilty. It was a pretty harsh thing for him to do, actually."

Zach nearly smiles at this. How ironic! He and Liz have done worse things to others. It's part of their job. Zach is certain that Chase has never had to do something like that to anyone before and just did what he knew from movies.

"I agree," Zach puts a hand on her knee. "You did a great job running the jurors like you did. You knew what was nonsense and what wasn't. And while I thought all of that was unnecessary, you made it worth it."

He looks at the sandwich and nudges her with his elbow teasingly. "Although it appears that I was right and it was unnecessary."

She offers a small smile and lightly kicks him in the leg with her shoe, causing him to pretend that he is severely injured.

"Oh, quit it you goofball. We're in serious stuff here." She reprimands, failing to hide her amusement.

"Anything for you Miss Allen." Zach relishes the warm glow that goes to her face, his mind flickering just a second to the old times.

He loves hearing her angelic voice tease him, he loves it when there is a smile on her face, and he loves it even more knowing that it's him that put it there.

"Back to the clue," she says. "You said that you possibly know what it means?"

"Yes. 'Doesn't have roots, but has routes,' that is a map. The rose refers to the compass." Zach tries to conceal his smug grin but fails when a look of admiration appears on her face. "I know," he jokes. "I'm awesome."

Liz raises an eyebrow. "No need to get so cocky there, Elsher."

"Why, Allen, I thought you like cocky?"

She playfully shoves him away. "In your dreams."

"Now that we know what we're looking for, we can start searching the rooms," Zach stands up and offers her a hand just to be polite.

Not because he still loves her.

"What room would there be a map?" Liz wonders aloud. Zach thinks she gets even cuter when she furrows her brows, deep in thought.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Well, we've already searched the bedrooms on the second floor, and when we went upstairs to the classroom on the top floor, I saw multiple doors that were rather interesting."

Zach hates it when Liz notices things he doesn't.

And he loves it too.

"Then I guess we'll be searching the sky floor," he opens the door for her. "Lead the way, Miss Allen."

With a grin on her face, she replies, "Watch it, Zachary."

***

After looking through a maroon colored room and finding no map of any kind, Zach sighs and moves to where Eliza is searching a dark teal bedroom.

"Find anything?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

"Not yet," she huffs.

On the bright side, Zach thinks, there are only three doors left to check. He opens the first and second ones to find more bedrooms. How many bedrooms does this mansion need?

When he peeks through the third door, his mouth drops. "Uh, Elizabeth, could you come here please?" he asks, not taking his eyes off the room.

"What is—" she walks behind him and he feels her hot breath on his neck when she says, "Oh my lord."

Before them is a vast room with a dome ceiling. A big round hard maple table sits in the center with books and papers littered across its surface.

They both walk in at once, almost blindly, as they marvel at the beauty of the room. It's dark, the only light coming from the doorway, and Zach moves to search the walls for a lightswitch.

His hands grope a button and he presses it. But instead of turning on the lights, the wood dome begins to retract, revealing the twinkling stars of the night. A full moon is in the sky, already starting to sink lower to the west.

"Wow," Liz breathes. "It's so beautiful."

Just like you, Zach thinks. If only he could say that out loud. She deserves to know what he still thinks of her, even if he doesn't have feelings for Liz anymore. Out of respect for her feelings, he'd let her go.

Zach tried to, anyway.

How can he forget all that he had lost when she left him? When she walked away with a piece of his heart, leaving a void of emptiness just like how he felt when his only family got shot on vacation in San Francisco.

He still hasn't told her and despite what he keeps telling himself, he probably never will.

Zach runs his hand through his curls and instead of admiring the stars, he finds that his gaze has fallen on Elizabeth, noticing how she has grown in recent years. Her spandex suit accentuates her curves in all the right places.

She isn't just beautiful, Zach realizes.

When did Elizabeth Allen become so damn hot?

"Do you ever get sweaty wearing that thing?" he questions. Liz meets his eyes and smiles.

"You were checking me out," she laughs, an unearthly twinkle to her eyes. Zach is almost certain that it's not just from the moonlight.

"No I wasn't..." Zach sticks his hands in his pockets when she raises an eyebrow. "Okay," he admits. "Maybe a little."

She smiles even wider.

Oh no.

"To answer your question, no it doesn't because I had it specially made." Liz takes a step forward, dropping her voice. "Why? Were you wondering what's underneath?"

This makes Zach's face turn deep red.

He doesn't remember her being so...bold.

Secretly, he kind of likes it.

"N-no...nothing of the sort," he stammers before clearing his throat.

Why must Elizabeth do these things to him?

"Eliza, since when have you become so..." he struggles to find the right words.

"Feisty? Badass?" Liz supplies. Zach nods. "A lot has changed since we split. I'm not exactly the same girl you used to know."

Zach puts a hand to his heart, feeling a pang because he wasn't by her side when all those changes occurred.

"You...you never knew me," Zach takes a deep breath. Should he tell her what he should've told her right when they started dating? She deserves to know who he really is, right?

An orphan without a family.

Until he met her.

"Really now?" she asks. "I know more than you think."

This is it, Zach thinks. It's now or never.

"There's something I need to te—" He stops when something behind her catches his eyes. She follows his gaze to the huge globe that is in the corner near the fancy telescope.

Next to the globe, there is a large piece of parchment.

But not just any parchment.

Lines and curves are scribbled across the paper, showing rivers and paths, woods and a single large building.

"Is that what I think it is?" Eliza moves closer to the paper, squinting her eyes to see it better.

"It's a map." Zach walks across the room and picks it up, turning it over.

They both look at each other and smile.

Another clue is taped to the back.

"'I'm tall when I'm young and short when I'm old,'" he reads.

He looks at Liz quesitoningly, already seeing the gears turn in her head. "Do you know what it is?"

"Tall when I am young...short when I am old..." He watches as she looks around the room. And when Elizabeth's eyes fall upon something in the center of the table, her eyes light up.

"A candle," they say in unison.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll get out of this mansion after all.