Chapter 44
La Palma
Yasir Skandrani drove a four-wheel-drive pickup truck. The streets were slowly being cleared of debris. Traffic was stop-and-go as front-end loaders scooped up trash to load into dump trucks. It took him over forty minutes to get to the airport, instead of the usual fifteen.
The nearly empty parking lot pretty much told him what he feared. Air traffic was still on hold. Yasir made his way to the air terminal. Inside, it smelled of stale cigarettes and sweat. Stranded by the wind and fires, travelers had been stuck in the airport for days. Grounded passengers had been forced to sleep on the floor while others slept, slumped in the seats.
Yasir went to the desk, where a tired and irritated man in a rumpled uniform stood on duty. “Excuse me, sir,” started Yasir.
But b
