Chapter 6 - Someone Was Watching the Door
Dominic noticed Sloane’s reaction.
So did Emily.
That envelope suddenly became more important than the flash drive.
Sloane stepped forward.
“Give me that.”
Dominic slipped it inside his jacket.
“No.”
“It belongs to the family.”
Emily said, “I am the family.”
Sloane ignored her.
“Moretti.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“You entered a public restaurant, threatened a mother in front of her child, and now you’re demanding something that belongs to her dead husband.”
“I didn’t threaten anyone.”
Sophie raised her hand.
Everyone looked at her.
“You asked where my school was.”
Emily went rigid.
Sloane’s eyes moved toward the child.
“You remember me?”
Sophie nodded.
“You were outside the office.”
Sloane recovered quickly.
“I asked because your mother seemed busy. I was making conversation.”
Sophie looked at him with the merciless logic of an eight-year-old.
“Why didn’t you ask my favorite color?”
No one answered.
Dominic looked toward the front door.
“Leave.”
Sloane glanced at Bennett.
Bennett looked away.
For whatever reason, that seemed to settle something.
Sloane smiled once.
“This isn’t finished.”
Dominic replied, “It is here.”
Sloane left.
The moment the door closed, Bellamy’s erupted into whispers.
Mr. Bennett turned on Dominic.
“You had no right to humiliate me in my restaurant.”
Dominic faced him.
“Interesting choice of concern.”
“My employees are watching.”
“So are your customers.”
Bennett lowered his voice.
“You have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“I’m beginning to.”
Bennett’s bravado faded.
Then he looked at me.
“Claire, office. Now.”
My stomach dropped.
Dominic said nothing.
That bothered me more than if he had intervened.
I followed Bennett to the small manager’s office behind the bar.
He closed the door.
“You’re fired.”
There was no buildup.
No warning.
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“You violated guest privacy, abandoned your post, disclosed internal office access, and inserted yourself into a confidential corporate matter.”
“I only—”
“Save it.”
“I did what Mr. Moretti asked.”
“You work for me.”
He pointed toward the hallway.
“Not him.”
Tears burned my eyes.
I hated myself for them.
Rent was due in nine days.
My checking account had $412.
My father had co-signed my apartment and already thought restaurant work was temporary nonsense.
“I need this job.”
Bennett’s expression softened.
For one second I thought he might reconsider.
Then he said, “Then prove you deserve it.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“Tell me where they’re going.”
The room seemed smaller.
“What?”
“Emily and the girl.”
“I don’t know.”
“You heard Moretti give her an address.”
“I didn’t see it.”
He watched me.
“Find out.”
My stomach turned.
“You’re asking me to follow them?”
“I’m asking you to correct your mistake.”
“My mistake was turning them away.”
His eyes narrowed.
“No. Your mistake was forgetting who signs your paycheck.”
There was a knock.
Dominic opened the door without waiting.
Bennett’s face reddened.
“This is private.”
Dominic looked at me.
“You all right?”
I wiped my eyes before realizing that made the answer obvious.
“Yes.”
Bennett said, “She no longer works here.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Why?”
“Performance.”
Dominic glanced toward me.
“She was good enough ten minutes ago.”
“She violated policy.”
“Which policy?”
Bennett did not answer.
Dominic understood.
He looked back at me.
“Get your things.”
That stung.
For some reason I had expected him to fight for my job.
Instead, he accepted it.
I opened my locker.
Two pens.
Lip balm.
A paperback novel.
A spare pair of shoes.
My mother’s old scarf.
Three months of my adult life fit into a grocery bag.
When I returned to the dining room, Sophie was waiting.
“Are you coming with us?”
I tried to smile.
“No.”
“Why?”
“I’m done working tonight.”
Emily looked at my bag.
Then at Bennett.
“You fired her?”
Bennett ignored her.
I said, “It’s okay.”
It wasn’t.
Dominic picked up his coat.
“Let’s go.”
I stared at him.
“That’s it?”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“I just lost my job because of this.”
Emily’s face fell.
“Claire—”
“No. I know it isn’t your fault.”
I looked at Dominic.
“But you told me to stay. You told me to show you the office. Then he fired me.”
Dominic studied me calmly.
“You want your job back?”
“I need my job back.”
“Those are different things.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
His expression did not change.
“You’re right.”
I had not expected agreement.
He reached into his jacket and handed me a business card.
There was only a name and number.
“Call tomorrow.”
I stared at it.
“For what?”
“A job.”
“I don’t want charity.”
Emily laughed.
Despite everything.
Dominic looked at her.
“That sentence is becoming exhausting.”
Even I smiled.
Then he looked at me again.
“It isn’t charity. I saw how fast you admitted you were wrong.”
“That qualifies me for employment?”
“No.”
He nodded toward Emily and Sophie.
“You ran into freezing rain after them.”
“Because you told me to.”
“You could have walked.”
I looked down at the card.
“What kind of job?”
“We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”
Then his phone buzzed.
He checked the message.
His face immediately changed.
“What?” Emily asked.
Dominic looked toward the front windows.
“The black sedan wasn’t the only car.”
“How many?”
“At least two.”
Emily tightened her grip on Sophie.
Dominic turned toward me.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Did Bennett ask where they were going?”
I froze.
That was all the answer he needed.
Emily looked at me.
“He did?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
Dominic looked through the manager’s office window.
Bennett was on the phone.
“He doesn’t need you to.”
Emily whispered, “What do you mean?”
Dominic’s gaze dropped to her handbag.
“Your phone.”
She pulled it out.
He took it, examined the back, and removed the protective case.
A tiny black disc was stuck beneath it.
Emily stared.
“What is that?”
Dominic answered.
“A tracker.”
Sophie’s face went pale.
Emily looked toward Bennett.
“You put that there?”
Bennett remained behind the glass, still talking.
Dominic removed the tracker.
Then he smiled without humor.
“No.”
He looked toward the street.
“But I know how we find out who did.”
He placed the tracker inside an empty delivery bag belonging to a departing courier.
The courier left through the front door.
Thirty seconds later, a black SUV pulled away from across the street and followed him.
Dominic watched it go.
Then he turned to Emily.
“Now we know.”
She whispered, “Know what?”
“They’re not watching the restaurant.”
His eyes settled on the envelope inside his jacket.
“They’re watching you.”
May you like
And upstairs, the computer containing Emily’s evidence suddenly shut itself off.
---
