Cardboard boxes.
Hand sanitizer.
No windows.
Willa sat.
One officer entered her information.
Another contacted event registration.
Twelve minutes passed.
Registration confirmed everything.
Credential valid.
Full access.
VIP.
Keynote clearance.
The taller guard's shoulders dropped.
“I apologize, ma’am.”
“For what?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“The inconvenience.”
Willa stared at him.
“Was it inconvenience?”
He said nothing.
She stood.
Picked up the iPad.
The second officer said, “We were following an instruction.”
“I know.”
Willa looked back at them.
“So was Dana.”
Neither man answered.
At 12:53, she reached the elevator.
The doors opened.
Garrett Sinclair stood inside.
Alone.
He saw her.
Recognition passed across his face.
Not recognition of her identity.
Recognition of the person he had targeted.
For a brief moment, something almost human flickered behind his eyes.