Chapter 3 - What Valerie Was Afraid Of
Norah did not sleep.
At seven the next morning she sat in her kitchen staring at the photograph of Leo—or Leonard—standing beside Valerie outside Warehouse 14.
There were explanations.
Maybe it was old.
Maybe Peter was mistaken.
Maybe Leo had changed careers.
Then again, ordinary restaurant managers did not usually reinvent their identities after multimillion-dollar corporate thefts.
Her phone rang.
Leo.
Norah let it ring twice.
Then answered.
“You’re late.”
“I’m not scheduled until noon.”
Silence.
“Right.”
Norah sat straighter.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
He hung up.
She looked at the photograph again.
At eleven forty-five, she walked into Bellamy House.
Leo was waiting.
“Office.”
She followed him.
He closed the door.
“Did you meet Peter Parker last night?”
Norah felt every muscle go still.
“No.”
Leo studied her.
“You’re terrible at that.”
“Everybody keeps telling me.”
He sat behind the desk.
“How much did he tell you?”
Norah decided lying was pointless.
“Enough to know Leo Grant isn’t your name.”
For the first time since she had known him, Leo looked truly frightened.
“Close the blinds.”
“They’re already closed.”
He exhaled.
“My name is Leonard Graves.”
“Were you stealing from Dominic?”
“No.”
“Then why disappear?”
“Because I discovered who was.”
Norah said nothing.
Leo rubbed both hands over his face.
“Twelve years ago I worked internal audit at Mercer Logistics. Small discrepancies started showing up. Twenty thousand here. Fifty there. Fake vendor invoices. Ghost maintenance contracts.”
“Four million dollars?”
“That was only what we could prove.”
“We?”
“A senior accountant named Rebecca Shaw and me.”
“What happened to her?”
Leo looked toward the door.
“She died.”
Norah felt cold.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
“You don’t think it was an accident.”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was stealing?”
“We never identified the top person. But the money moved through companies tied to the Whitmore family.”
Valerie.
Norah leaned against the wall.
“Did Dominic know?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because before I could tell him, evidence appeared showing I had authorized payments.”
“You were framed.”
Leo nodded.
“I ran.”
“And became a restaurant manager?”
“I changed cities first. Came back years later. Bellamy House was supposed to be temporary.”
“Two years is temporary?”
“I got comfortable.”
Norah gave him a look.
“Clearly.”
He almost smiled.
Then it disappeared.
“Valerie recognized me six months ago.”
“And she didn’t expose you?”
“She made me useful.”
Norah understood.
“She threatened to tell Dominic.”
“She told me if I wanted to keep breathing normally, I should let her know when he met anyone here.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than Norah expected.
“You reported me.”
“Only at first.”
“Fake complaints?”
“No.”
“My eviction?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Valerie.”
Norah folded her arms.
“How do you know?”
“Because she asked me where you lived.”
“When?”
“After the night you protected Lily.”
Norah fought the urge to throw something.
“You gave her my address?”
“No. She already had it.”
“That makes me feel much better.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You watched her target me and said nothing.”
Leo looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
She turned toward the door.
“Norah.”
“What?”
“If Dominic finds out who I am, I lose everything.”
She looked back.
“When Lily was ordered onto the floor, you fired her before anyone even asked you to.”
His face tightened.
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“That’s different.”
“No. It isn’t.”
She left.
At noon, Lily arrived carrying two coffees.
Norah handed one back.
“Keep it.”
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“Then why—”
“You’re going to need it.”
They sat in the employee stairwell while Norah explained.
Lily listened without interrupting.
When Norah finished, she whispered, “We have to tell Dominic.”
“I know.”
“When?”
Norah looked through the small stairwell window at the gray Chicago sky.
“When I know enough that he can’t dismiss it.”
Dominic solved that problem himself.
At four fifteen he walked into the restaurant.
Valerie was with him.
Norah had not seen her since the confrontation.
Valerie looked immaculate in a cream coat.
She smiled when she saw Norah.
“Still employed?”
Norah placed menus down.
“Apparently.”
“How fortunate.”
Dominic watched them.
Norah could not determine how much he knew.
Dinner lasted forty minutes.
Valerie barely ate.
When Dominic stepped away to answer a call, she leaned toward Norah.
“You have confused his curiosity with protection.”
Norah poured water.
“I haven’t confused anything.”
“He gets interested in people temporarily.”
“I’m his waitress.”
Valerie smiled.
“Keep believing that.”
Norah set down the pitcher.
“Why do you care?”
For one second, the smile vanished.
That was all Norah needed.
“You’re scared,” she said.
Valerie’s expression sharpened.
“Of you?”
“No. Of what he might ask me.”
Dominic returned.
Valerie immediately stood.
“We’re leaving.”
“I’m not finished.”
“I suddenly have a headache.”
Something unreadable passed across Dominic’s face.
“Interesting.”
They left minutes later.
At closing, Lily rushed from the back office.
“Norah.”
“What?”
“I found something.”
She held Leo’s tablet.
“Why do you have that?”
“He left it on the desk.”
“You went through it?”
“I wasn’t trying to. A message popped up.”
Norah looked.
A text thread appeared under an unnamed number.
V: Has Mercer spoken to Bennett?
L: Several times.
V: About freight?
L: I don’t know.
Then an older message.
V: Keep Parker’s daughter close. Her father saw too much.
Norah’s blood ran cold.
Lily whispered, “She knew about my dad before the restaurant.”
Another message appeared.
V: Tonight. Warehouse 14. Final transfer. After that, Mercer can discover whatever he likes.
Norah grabbed her phone.
“Call your father.”
Lily did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
“Maybe he’s working.”
“He always answers me.”
A third call.
Voicemail.
Lily’s face drained.
Norah dialed Dominic.
He answered immediately.
“Norah?”
“We need to talk.”
“Where are you?”
“Bellamy.”
“Stay there.”
“Why?”
“Because Valerie just told me she was going home.”
Norah looked at the message on Leo’s tablet.
“But she isn’t.”
Silence.
Then Dominic’s voice changed.
“Where is she?”
“Warehouse 14.”
A pause.
When Dominic spoke again, every trace of warmth was gone.
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Lily grabbed Norah’s sleeve.
“What about Dad?”
Norah looked at the unanswered phone.
Then toward the service exit.
May you like
“We’re not waiting twenty minutes.”
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