The house was an old Victorian, the only one of two on the block that wasn't a semi-detached unit. It even had a white picket fence, something that definitely added to the charm and probably added to the curb appeal, but in Marco's eyes just made the house stand out more than it should.

"This is the place you're putting me into?" She finally asked when Franz turned to look expectantly at her in the backseat of the town car.

"It's temporary. Only for a week."

Marco looked out at the house again.

"It's another test isn't it?"

"Could be," Franz admitted, "Or it could just be a house. It's fully furnished, ready to move in. You should get settled and catch some sleep."

The night was losing the battle against daybreak, the sky turning that difficult shade of not so black anymore. It seemed that 3:14 AM had only been just a short time ago, and yet there they were on the brink of another day, and everything had changed.

"I'm not coming into the office tomorrow," Marco said as plainly as she could.

"After the night you've had, I wouldn't expect you to," Franz agreed levelly.

Marco exited the car, the duffel bag containing everything she still owned in one hand. It had been easy to retrieve from the storage locker at the office, and she had been embarrassed that there wasn't more, but it was her present reality. At least the bag was easy enough to carry.

She looked doubtfully at the house again, expecting anything but normal, but normal was exactly what she was seeing.

"Anything I need to know before I go in there?"

Franz considered.

"Nah, it's just a house. But there is one thing I need to know..." she said eventually. "How long you been sleeping in the office?"

"About a week now." Marco shrugged. "Everything went to shit last week. A whole avalanche of disaster if you know what I mean. It was only meant to be until I got my next paycheck. And now here we are..."

Franz mulled on this new information for a moment and nodded thoughtfully. "Get some rest, Marco."

Marco watched the car drive away into the non-existent traffic of pre-dawn. In an hour it would be different, everyone finally waking up and accepting the routine that was the morning commute. But for now, it was quiet, almost peaceful.

Marco used the keys Franz had given her to open the front door and stepped inside the house, almost expecting an attack of some kind. There was nothing except the far away tick-tick-ticking of what turned out to be a very old grandfather clock.

"Hello, the house," she called out, not expecting an answer, just force of habit. Lights came on to the sound of her voice, the high-tech touches of the house a surprising contrast to the antique furniture that dominated the rooms. Marco kicked her shoes off, another force of habit that she had learned to use only where appropriate. Her last foster mom had been from Barbados and had been determined that Marco learn some of what she affectionately termed as "broughtupsy", the first rule of which being that shoes were for outside only. When you were home, you didn't bring in the shit from off the street with you.

As Marco explored, the house responded, lighting each room as she entered, her footsteps echoing dully on the varnished wooden floors that were somehow warm to her feet. It was a welcoming feel as if the house wanted her there. Marco knew it was just technology, the kind she had only read about in magazines and never dreamed that she would experience, but it still gave her a warm feeling of belonging.

Gabriel had designed the house well.

That thought sobered her up instantly. This time as she went from room to room, it was with intent, her eyes searching. She went from living room to dining room, to the oversized and gorgeous kitchen that was the only outwardly modern room, then upstairs to the two bedrooms and then into the bathrooms. In the end, she had discovered and disabled twenty separate listening devices and tiny cameras.

She placed them all onto the large mahogany table the dominated the dining room and carefully poured herself a glass of what looked to be a very expensive wine, trying to tell herself that she had gotten every single one of them.

Then Marco went upstairs and took a bath.

And finally allowed herself to feel.

Everything she had held back from the night's events came flooding out of her. The panic, the fear, the fact that she had almost died so many times, all of it hitting her at once. Tears came with the emotions and she may have screamed in anger and pain, her anguish deep and all-consuming at least for the moment. In a while, she would recover, but for that time she was vulnerable and open. 

She had survived.

She had survived.

### END OF CHAPTER 3###

More to come...