At 6:30 a.m., the alarm on her phone went off, and Jennifer blearily beat it into submission. No one should have to be awake at this time of day – it should be positively unlawful, actually – but she managed to push herself out of bed anyway. She wasn’t about to give Mr. Miller a reason to make another snarky comment by being late to work. She’d get out to the Miller farm at 8 o’clock on the dot if it killed her.

As she studied the motel room’s coffee pot, flicking the power switch off and on forlornly, it finally penetrated her non-caffeinated brain that it was totally refusing to turn on or do anything even remotely useful – like, say, make coffee.

Getting to work on time just might kill her after all.

After a hot shower, she felt slightl...

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