Not as bad as I thought

     Have you ever (and I'm sure you have) left several chapters of your work on one side and gone back to read through them after several weeks?  And when you did go back to read them, did you find they sounded perfectly fine after all? Much better than you thought, and needing little or no alteration?

     I did that with Ravenwood. After setting my middle (story, not beltline) on the right track, I intended to go back to the beginning and eliminate one or more characters. However, after reading the first three chapters with pleasure, I realize it's not as bad as I thought. In fact, the characters I didn't think should be there have shown me that they absolutely do have a part to play--so they stay

     One of the characters is a mysterious man-in-black (and it's not Johnny Cash.) His face is
hidden in the shadows of a dark gray "hoodie". He's wearing black pants, black shirt, and black shoes. When Sarah first sees him, he is at the airport having an intense conversation with Sarah's obnoxious seat-sharing-stranger (hmm, let's hear you say that five times quickly) the man she has nicknamed the Gingerbread Man.

     Does Sarah come across them again? Oho, yes she does. Do they mean her harm? At least one of them might. Which one? And where will Sarah meet them again?