The news came on a Tuesday.
Maya was in her shop, finishing a sketch for a new client, when the door burst open. Jesse stood there, his face flushed, his eyes wide. She'd never seen him look like that before—like he'd seen a ghost and the ghost was holding a winning lottery ticket. His chest was heaving, his words coming out in a rush, tumbling over each other in his excitement. "You need to come to the bar," he said. "Right now. Drop everything. Leave it. It's important."
Maya set down her pencil, her heart already starting to race. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Everything's right. Just—come." He grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the door. "I can't explain. You just have to see."
She followed him across the street, her heart pounding, her mind racing through all the
