I woke up in a bit of a daze, glancing at the clock to find I had overslept. The bright rays of sunlight filtering through the curtains indicated it was already late morning. As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I noticed that Bea was the only one in our shared hotel room. I didn’t even want to ponder what drama had unfolded between her and the others during the night. Clearly, there was a story there, one I’d have to leave for another day when I had the energy to process whatever quarrel had taken place. I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the moment.
Bea was already dressed and prepared to go, impatience evident as she waited for Alfred to join us in the lobby. Our scheduled call time was set for 8 a.m., but glancing at the clock again confirmed the time read 7:05. That left me
