The exhaust from the executive shuttle lingered in the humid air, a caustic reminder of the snub that had just occurred. For a few agonizing seconds, the group of officials standing in front of the Lakeport Properties Ltd. headquarters remained frozen, their figures reflected in the polished black marble of the building like a row of discarded statues.
"They didn't even slow down," someone whispered from the back of the line, the voice thick with disbelief. "The Commissioner himself is standing right here, and they treated us like small fry. Unbelievable... talk about using the Governor's mandate as a club."
Gareth Quinn stood at the front, his face transitioning from a mask of practiced hospitality to a shade of livid, bruised purple. He had cut a high-stakes council meeting short to be
