lphia was long. Leo was

d, my mind a whirlwi

d, old building, imp

rk Bishop, the hero firefighter from Oakhaven, whose tr

was scheduled. About firef

rf

looking woman near the entrance

the throng of report

about budget allocations

shouted, my voice tremblin

ed. Camera

ro last year! What benefits has thi

own my face, playing

negligence! Unsafe wareho

ooked flustered.

en I s

official group, looking pr

a

l, holding a clipboard, whispering to a man wh

a mix of cold dre

split second, I saw shock, t

rward, smooth

ice dripping with false sympathy

oe, his... his wife from Oakhaven. Sh

gic situation. I've tried to h

g. Already

carefully neutral, but I saw th

hysterical small-town woma

were

ds were movin

my arm, his grip

the officials, his voice a stage

narrative, to silence me be

ameras, Amelia following a fe

trance, started to cry,

him an ann

k said, his voice low and menacing now that the

isolate me. Ju

o a hotel, or even a

of the city, to a grimy apartme

a door to a cramped, filthy two-room flat. "It

expensive suit, Ame

me, trying to bre

e depressing rooms a

ffling Leo's hair with false affec

I needed to play

ty was to estab

to the county clerk's offic

t to prove our marriage exis

ed woman with tired ey

her computer

op? I have your Oakhaven certifica

robl

rriage certificate," she tapped th