Chapter 2

The first thing Sadie noticed was the quiet. It had a texture to it, a weight, like the air before a thunderstorm. The second thing she noticed was Maren's hands. They had moved from the counter to her own face, pressing against her cheeks as if to hold her skin in place. The color had not returned to them. Her knuckles were pale, her lips bloodless.

"Who are you?" Maren whispered, the words escaping before she could stop them.

Sadie didn't answer. She simply looked at the boarding pass on the carpet, then back at Maren, and waited.

The two blurred figures in dark suits were closer now. They moved through the frozen crowd like sharks through still water, people parting without looking up. The first was a tall Black man with silver hair, wearing a charcoal suit that cost more than Maren's monthly paycheck. The second was a thin white woman with sharp cheekbones and a burgundy scarf that matched the airline's logo. Both wore badges on lanyards that identified them as senior executives. Both walked with the unmistakable gait of people who had never been told to wait.

Maren saw them. Her eyes locked onto the man's face, then the woman's, and recognition sparked in her pupils like a struck match. Her mouth opened again, but this time, no sound came out at all. She took a step back from the podium, her hip bumping the metal seat. The coffee cup wobbled but did not spill.