Chapter 1 Locked Out

After I hung up, I stood on the balcony, my palms icy cold.

It was 9°F outside.

I hastily pulled up my call history and called my mother.

She answered almost immediately. I could hear the wind howling in the background.

"Sylvia, we're at the entrance. The gate won't let us in. You go ahead and do what you need to do. We can wait a little while longer."

I tightened my grip on my phone. "Mom, you and Dad walk ahead. There's a hotel nearby. Go inside and wait in the lobby. I'll be there soon."

"No, no. We can just stand here for a little while," she replied.

"Mom, listen to me. It's freezing out there. Go there and get yourself something hot to drink."

My mother was silent for two seconds. "Okay. We'll go there."

I hung up, grabbed my coat from the couch, and called the office as I headed out.

My supervisor answered, "Sylvia, about this afternoon's proposal meeting—"

"Mr. Chambers, I have an emergency at home. I need to take the afternoon off."

"How serious is it? The client is coming this afternoon—"

I cut him off. "My parents are stuck at the entrance to my building. It's below freezing, and they can't get in."

There was a pause before he said, "Okay. You go ahead and take care of it. Call me if anything comes up."

I didn't say thank you before hanging up.

The elevator descended, and the signal kept cutting in and out.

I stared at the floor numbers as they ticked down one by one.

18. 17. 16…

My phone vibrated. My mother was calling.

I answered.

"Sylvia…" Her voice was low and slightly panicked. "The security guard won't let us leave."

My fingers tightened around the phone. "What do you mean?"

"We just started walking to the hotel like you said, but the guard came out and told us to stop. He asked what we were doing hanging around here."

My mother paused. "I told him we were going to wait at a hotel, but he wouldn't let us go. He said we looked suspicious and that he was going to call the police."

The elevator arrived at the lobby. I immediately strode out.

"Mom, put the guard on the phone."

I heard rustling, footsteps, and the wind.

Then, a man's voice came through, impatient and rough from years of smoking. "Hello? Are you related to these two?"

"I'm Sylvia Lind. I own Unit 2201 in Tower 3 at Crescent Bay. They're my parents. They came from out of town to spend the holidays with me."

I tightened my grip on my coat. "It's one thing that you wouldn't let them in because of a system malfunction. So, I'm having them wait at a hotel instead. Is there a problem with that?"

The guard scoffed. "How do I know whether you're lying? Besides, who's going to be held responsible if they do something?"

"They're both around 70! They took a train more than 600 miles just to get here. It's 9°F outside. What exactly do you think they're going to do?" I snapped.

"How should I know?" The guard sounded completely unconcerned. "There are all kinds of people out there. Plenty of scammers look perfectly respectable on the outside. I'm just looking out for the safety of everyone in the community."

Then, he hung up on me.

I stood outside the building entrance as the cold wind blew down my collar.

I didn't call him back.

Instead, I opened the residents' group chat, intending to find the property manager and demand an explanation.

Then, I saw the two photos the security guard had posted.

My mother was standing outside the gate in the first picture, her scarf covering half her face, the faded canvas bag she was carrying hanging from one hand.

My father was looking down at his ID in the second. The wind had tousled his graying hair.

The photos came with a caption.

"Crescent Bay Tower 3 Entrance: Two unidentified elderly people repeatedly failed facial recognition at the entrance and appeared suspicious. We have contacted the authorities. Please remind your family members not to open the gate for strangers."