Chapter 13

When the plane landed, the afternoon sun was shining strongly, and passengers were blinded by the sunlight through the windows. As Jasmine walked out of the airport with her simple suitcase, the dry wind swept sand and dust her way. She squinted and pulled up the collar of her windbreaker. The scenery outside the taxi window—vast skies over rolling earth yellow mountains interspersed with the occasional windbreak or low-rise house—receded rapidly. An empty, almost primal silence replaced the pervasive hustle and bustle of Jerrington City. The Northwestern branch was located on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by mottled walls. There were several dull gray buildings within the compound, a sharp contrast to the main branch's modern glass-walled buildings. The person who received her was Cecilia Lewis, a middle-aged woman with a kind smile who was the director of the branch's administrative division. "Ms. Chetney, right? The trip here must've been hard on you," Cecilia said wa