Such a thing was impossible, but there it was, gleaming windows set in new white walls, standing in what had been the vacant lot next to Derrick Montoya’s law office. The mayor spotted it the second he turned onto Manzanita Street, and for a second he thought he was still asleep and dreaming. Because there was no way an entire building could be built in one night. Even if a hundred workers had somehow shown up after he went home at six, cement could not have dried in time, nor could paint, nor could the macadam of the brand new parking lot. Not to mention the installation of plumbing and electrical wiring. The entire thing was a complete impossibility.

Yet there it was.

An unfamiliar shiver traversed the length of his spine.

Fear.

According to a backlighted sign affixed to the wall above the double doors, this was another branch of The First People’s Bank, although Derrick had no idea how that could be. The Planning Commission had not signed off on it, and the council had definitely not approved its construction.

Or had they?

There was a nagging sense in the back of his mind that in their last meeting they had voted to allow an expansion of the bank, but the memory was hazy and there were no specifics attached to it. How could that be? He tried concentrating, going through in his mind everything that had happened at the meeting as though he were confirming the minutes, but he could remember nothing they’d discussed or voted on that had in any way involved the bank.

Still…

He drove into what was now the expanded parking lot he shared with the bank. One thing he did know for sure: a council meeting was scheduled for tonight, and there was no way this wasn’t going to come up. Local businesses had been up in arms about the first bank. The appearance of another branch was going to really set them on the warpath.

Derrick had never been in the downtown branch, but now that there was one right next to his office, he decided that he ought to check it out. To his surprise, he saw that it was already open for business, and he glanced down at the clock in the dashboard. Eight-eleven. He had never heard of a bank opening so early, and instead of pulling up in front of his office, he parked by the bank.

The icy shiver that had been tickling his spine had spread out in a cold wave through his entire body. He wished he could pretend not to know the source of his fear, to put it all down to some vague general feeling, but the reason for it was very specific.

This place should not be here.