Chapter 13: The Trojan Horse
The drizzle that had blanketed the coastline all morning turned sharp, hardening into sleet that struck the asphalt like scattered gravel. Heavy gusts rolling off the ocean drove the frozen pellets sideways through the skeletal branches of the oak trees lining Alderwood Drive. A lone figure rounded the bend on foot, head tucked against the freezing gale as water logged shoes splashed through slushy puddles along the curb.
Piper clutched the lapels of her thin denim jacket, her knuckles white and stiff from exposure. Her teeth clicked together in a frantic rhythm, rattling her jaw until her gums ached. She had left her apartment on 4th Avenue three hours earlier, transferring through two transit lines before the regional buses stopped running due to icing on t
