I pulled out the heavy ledgers and stacked them neatly on the wooden nightstand.

Tomorrow was Friday the fourteenth.

Morning light came through the thin gaps in the motel curtains, falling in bright strips across the carpet.

The baby was sleeping soundly in the middle of the second bed, her breathing steady.

Ethan was curled up in a chair near the rattling heater, staring blankly at the wall.

I gathered the heavy black ledgers and put them inside a doubled plastic grocery bag to protect them from the damp.

I woke Ethan gently and told him I was leaving for an hour to meet Marcus.