Chapter Three
SASHA
Purple and pink smeared the sky, and clouds glowed on their undersides with an orange-red hue the color of grapefruit. Shafts of light streamed through gaps in the cloud cover at a harsh angle, and the rubicund desert sand seemed to sparkle in the morning light.
But Sasha was in no state of mind to appreciate a beautiful sunrise.
Instead, she felt tired, and driving in her rattling, beat up car was testing her temper. They hadn’t had enough time to assign a squad car to her yet – it was a paperwork holdup – and so, for now at least, she’d use her own car.
The cup of coffee she had gulped down before heading out of the door was making an unfortunately heroic effort to mimic decaf, for she found no respite from her weariness in the bitter black and piping hot liquid
