She waits for her sister at first

Rachel waited half an hour, at first sitting on the couch and then pacing back and forth. Periodically she double-checked the boxes, each time confirming what she already knew. None of her clothes were there.

Cursing the airlines she even tried to call them, only to find that the phone hadn't been activated yet. After searching the nooks of the couch and chairs, netting herself thirty-seven cents in change, Rachel finally found her little party purse between two cushions, her cell thankfully inside.

"Thank God!" she exclaimed, pulling it out and walking across the brightly lit room to the window as if she'd get better reception from the unobscured view of the plate glass windows.

As she squinted down at the phone she saw that...