Chapter 1 - The Wrong Passenger Seat
The midday sun beat down mercilessly on the asphalt of the downtown commercial plaza, bouncing blinding white reflections off the pristine surface of a black Cadillac Escalade SUV. Elena Vance slammed the vehicle door shut with an irritated huff, her long brown hair sticking slightly to the damp skin of her neck. Dressed in her executive dark blue silk blouse and tailored black pants, she stared intently at the screen of her smartphone, typing a furious text message to her real fiancé, David. Without looking up, she tossed her leather handbag onto the dashboard and buckled her seatbelt with a sharp click.
"Can I help you?" a strange, unfamiliar voice asked from directly beside her.
Elena didn't look up from her screen, her thumbs flying across the glass keyboard. "I'm good," she muttered dismissively, assuming David was just playing another one of his childish practical jokes about her chronic lateness.
"Okay, but who are you?" the man pressed, his voice tight with genuine bewilderment.
Elena stopped typing, her eyes narrowing as she finally turned her head toward the driver. A man with short light brown hair, wearing a casual light green polo shirt and khaki pants, stared back at her with wide, blinking eyes. He was completely a stranger. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
"Very funny, babe," she said, forcing a nervous, brittle laugh.
"Ma'am, I have never seen you before in my life," the man replied, pressing his back hard against the driver's door.
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Elena stared at him, the air suddenly leaving her lungs. She turned her head toward the passenger-side window and looked out into the glaring parking lot. Standing twenty feet away, leaning casually against the rear quarter-panel of an identical black Cadillac Escalade, was another identical man with short light brown hair, wearing an identical grey t-shirt and blue jeans, staring straight back at her with a look of absolute, icy terror.
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