A voicemail notification popped up.

Ten seconds later, he called a third time.

I picked up the phone, flipped the silent switch on the side, and placed it face down next to my keyboard.

I stood up and gathered my car keys.

I had a final instruction to deliver in person.

At four o’clock, I walked across the polished travertine floor of the Crown Plaza Hotel lobby.

The space was empty except for two bellmen standing near the brass luggage carts.