“Just be prepared,” she said. “Go to the bank. Withdraw whatever cash you can today. Don’t wait.”

I left her office and walked down the wet brick sidewalk, the cold wind biting my cheeks.

My boots clicked against the cobblestones.

I stopped at a small bank branch on the corner of the avenue.

The glass doors were heavy, shielding the warm, carpeted interior from the wind.

I walked up to the counter, where a young teller greeted me with a polite smile.

“I’d like to make a cash withdrawal, please,” I said, handing him my debit card and my driver’s license.

He swiped the card through his reader.

He tapped a few keys on his keyboard, his eyes scanning the screen.

His smile faded slightly.

He tried swiping the card a second time, slower this time.

“Is there a problem?” I asked, my throat dry.

“The system is giving me an error code,” he said, frowning. “Let me try to run it manually.”

My heart began to beat faster against my ribs.

It was too soon. Elias couldn’t have known about the filing yet.