She hadn’t offered to give me my house keys back.

She’d paid twenty dollars to keep the pipeline open.

I drove back to the airport hotel and parked in the row nearest the side entrance.

The elevator up to the fourth floor was quiet, with only an airline pilot inside pulling a small black roll-aboard suitcase.

I unlocked room four-twelve and set the paper coffee cup on the laminate desk next to my laptop.

The room smelled of dusty air filters and cheap lavender carpet spray.