Robinson noticed their exchange. “Let’s keep calm, everybody.” The music which had masked their previous conversation stopped playing just as he said it. A couple four tables away turned to look at him.

The middle-aged barista behind the counter repeated Alex’s attempt with the land line and clearly had the same result. She purposefully walked over to their table and asked him loudly, “Is there something we should know about?”

Amy watched him stare into space for a few seconds, what he would later self-consciously refer to as using his work brain. To the barista he said, “We’re trying to figure it out. Do you have a TV in the back room?”

“Yes, an old one, but it stopped working a couple of hours ago.” She paused, her expression matching Barb’s. “Do you think it’s related?”

Amy felt her adrenaline start to surge, just as it had during the fire. Of course it’s related! she wanted to shout.

“I don’t know,” Alex said instead. “Is it the TV, or is it the cable that’s out?”

The barista shrugged. “What’s the difference?”

“I can go check,” Amy suggested, anxious to do something.

Alex gripped her arm and looked to his partner for guidance. “It’s probably just your TV, ma’am,” Robinson said, smiling at the barista.

Barb turned to the barista. “If the electricity’s on, then why did the music go off?”

“We get that off the radio.”

“The radio,” Barb said to Amy.

Something caught Amy’s attention through the window beside Barb. People in the parking lot and on the sidewalk next to the street were frantically checking their phones. She pulled her arm loose from Alex’s grasp. “Looks like we’re not alone,” she told him, and pointed at the view.