Chapter 1
If you asked anyone around here who I was, the first thing they'd say would be that I was an orphan. Yeah, an orphan. I know, boohoo, poor little girl. Whatever. It's been thirteen years, and I've gotten past the whole "Let's-Find-Mommy-and-Daddy" scene. And besides, it's not like they're dead. I see them every year on my birthday and at Christmas. And no, they're not in jail.
My mom's a forensic anthropologist that works at the Jeffersonian Institute here in Washington D.C. She's known all over the world for her novels. My dad's a former sniper for the U.S. Army Rangers and now he's an FBI Agent that specializes in solving homicides. I'm—what my friend Hailey likes to call a "certified genius." I've been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and I graduated from Princeton University with a doctorate in anthropology. You'd think after all that maybe your all-too-busy parents would think twice of leaving you at an orphanage, but no. Obviously not, because you got all that what, four years ago, when you were nine, and now you're still stuck in this dump? Yeah. Real smooth, Mom and Dad.
After all that, you might be wondering what my name is, who I am.
My name is Julia Keightley Ava Booth. Certified genius, orphan, and Princeton graduate.