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Whale Watching

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Chapter 1: The Bar

The margarita had too much ice and not enough anything else. Maya stirred it with the little black straw that was mostly decorative and watched the ice shift and settle like it had somewhere better to be.

West Loop. Thursday. The place was called Rossi's or Rosso's or something that sounded like a name someone picked because it tested well with the 28-to-34 demo. Exposed brick. Edison bulbs. A chalkboard menu that said CRAFT COCKTAILS in handwriting too perfect to be handwriting. The bartender had a sleeve tattoo of what might have been a kraken or might have been a bad decision made in Wicker Park at 2 AM, and he was doing that thing bartenders do where they flip a bottle for nobody's benefit because nobody was watching.

They'd been arguing about where to go for Drew's birthday.

Drew looked down at his phone again. The screen lit his face from below, making him look younger and worse.

Somewhere inside the market, a number moved. Someone had placed a bet that did not look like a bet.

The rest of the chapter follows the first trace: who knew what, who traded first, and who got pulled into the open.

Chapter 2 moves to the watcher who sees the signal before anyone else does.

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