Morning in Los Angeles usually arrives with the salt-kiss of sea breezes and the swaying of palms, but for Elias, today’s sunlight felt like the searchlight of a judgment squad, pinning him down with no hope of escape.

The apartment reeked of a nauseating cocktail of hangover sweat and the sour tang of spoiling food. Elias lay curled on the sofa, clutching the lawyer’s letter so tightly his kn