“Your vehicle from Austin Black Car Service has arrived at the airport.”

I didn’t move.

My heart was beating in my throat.

Five minutes later, my phone buzzed again.

It was a text from Richard.

“We’re in the limo,” the message read. “Traffic on Loop 360 is light. See you in twenty.”

I looked out the windshield of the station wagon.

Below us, the long black stretch of the highway was visible through the cedar trees.

A sleek black limousine merged onto the exit ramp.

It began its slow, winding climb up the hill toward the vacant field.

The black limousine merged onto the narrow, gravel road that climbed the ridge.

The dust rose in its wake, a thick curtain of white powder that settled on the scrub oaks.

Beside me, Chloe gripped the plastic door handle of the station wagon.

Her knuckles were white.

Dylan leaned forward from the back seat, his breath hot against my shoulder.

“Is that them?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

I kept my foot light on the brake, letting our car idle in the shade of a large juniper tree.