Chapter 2 - THE MAN AT THE PRIVATE TABLEGregory denied everything.
Of course he did.
The strip was misunderstood.
Those were deductions.
Uniform fees.
Cash advances.
Meal penalties.
Whatever phrase might make theft sound administrative.
Ethan let him talk.
That seemed to make Gregory increasingly nervous.
Nora watched the dynamic carefully.
Gregory had bullied dozens of kitchen workers because he understood one thing about fear.
Noise helped.
Volume created momentum.
Ethan did the opposite.
He became quiet.
Then let the other person fill the silence until something useful fell out.
“Luis Ortega,” Ethan said.
Gregory blinked.
“What?”
“The strip.”
Ethan held it up.
“Luis Ortega. Mei Chen. Nora Davis.”
“Contractors.”
“You told me Nora barely worked here.”
“She didn’t.”
“And yet you tracked financial deductions from her.”
Gregory stopped.
Nora almost smiled.
Ethan looked at her.
“Where do you live?”
“No.”
“What?”
“That’s not your business.”
“You said someone watches your son.”
“My sitter leaves at six-thirty.”
The clock read 6:28.
Nora’s stomach dropped.
She grabbed her coat.
“I need to go.”
“You almost fainted again standing up.”
“I’ll take the subway.”
Ethan looked toward a man standing by the doorway.
“Finn.”
Finn nodded.
Nora pointed.
“No.”
Ethan looked back.
“I’m sending you home.”
“I don't need charity.”
“Good.”
He stood.
“I didn't offer any.”
“You're ordering a car.”
“I’m preventing a witness from cracking her skull before I finish understanding what Gregory is hiding.”
“That sounds suspiciously like concern.”
“It isn’t.”
Nora narrowed her eyes.
“Liar.”
For the first time, Finn nearly smiled.
Outside waited a black SUV.
Nora climbed in.
Then Ethan followed.
“What are you doing?”
“Coming.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He raised the strip.
“Because Gregory looked like someone put a gun on the desk when this fell from your bag.”
Nora looked at the time.
6:31.
“Drive.”
Mrs. Higgins was outside Nora’s building holding Sam.
The two-year-old wore a blue puffy coat.
“Mommy!”
Nora jumped out before the SUV completely stopped.
She took him.
The smell of baby shampoo nearly broke her.
“I’m sorry.”
Mrs. Higgins looked toward Ethan.
Then Finn.
Then Nora.
“What happened?”
“I got delayed.”
“You promised six-thirty.”
“I know.”
“Your phone was dead.”
“I know.”
Mrs. Higgins hesitated.
“Your electricity went off.”
Nora froze.
“What?”
“At six.”
The utility company had disconnected earlier than the notice suggested.
“I have the money.”
“Good.”
Then Mrs. Higgins lowered her voice.
“There was another call.”
Nora felt the fear before hearing the rest.
“What call?”
“Family Services.”
Everything went still.
“Why?”
“Someone reported that you leave Sam alone.”
“That’s insane.”
“And that you use drugs.”
Nora stared.
Mrs. Higgins shook her head.
“I told them it was nonsense.”
Behind them, a sedan stopped.
A woman stepped out holding a folder.
“Nora Davis?”
“Yes.”
“Carla Nguyen, Family Services.”
Nora tightened her hold around Sam.
Ethan moved forward.
She raised one hand.
“No.”
He stopped.
“This is mine.”
Carla glanced toward him.
“Attorney?”
“No.”
“Family?”
“No.”
“Friend?”
“No.”
Ethan’s eyebrow moved.
Nora almost laughed.
“He gave me a ride.”
Carla entered the apartment with Nora.
Cold.
Dark.
Two cans of soup.
Rice.
Peanut butter.
Half a loaf of bread.
Formula.
Not good.
Not neglect.
Poverty had a visual language.
Nora knew it looked terrible when arranged under fluorescent inspection.
Carla remained calm.
“The power needs to come back tonight.”
“I’ll pay.”
Ethan spoke from the doorway.
“I can have it restored immediately.”
Nora spun.
“No.”
Carla watched.
Nora pulled out Gregory’s three hundred dollars.
“This is money my employer withheld.”
She called the utility company herself.
Paid.
Argued.
Waited.
Eventually the lights came back.
Sam clapped.
Nora nearly cried.
Carla closed her folder.
“I am not removing your child tonight.”
Nora’s knees weakened.
“But there will be follow-up.”
“Fine.”
“I need evidence of employment.”
“I was paid cash.”
“That will complicate things.”
Ethan’s phone buzzed.
He looked.
Then turned the screen toward Carla.
A photograph from Finn.
Gregory’s office trash bin.
Shredded time sheets.
One piece clearly showed:
NORA DAVIS — 300.
Nora stared.
“You went back?”
“Finn never left.”
Of course.
Carla took the evidence details.
“This matters.”
Then left.
Mrs. Higgins followed after making Nora promise to call.
For the first time in hours, the apartment became quiet.
Then Nora’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Photograph.
Her employee locker.
Open.
Empty.
You should have taken your money and kept your mouth shut.
Ethan read.
His face changed.
Another message.
This time a photograph of Sam.
Taken outside.
Nora stopped breathing.
Below:
Nice kid. Shame if—
Ethan took the phone.
“Finn.”
Nora grabbed it back.
“No.”
He stared.
“No what?”
“You are not turning this into a war.”
“A man threatened your child.”
“I know.”
“Then what exactly do you want?”
Nora looked at Sam asleep on the sofa.
Nobody had asked her that yet.
Not Gregory.
Not Family Services.
Not Ethan.
“What do you want?”
She looked back.
“Proof.”
“Of the threat?”
“Yes.”
“And after that?”
“Every worker Gregory cheated gets paid.”
Ethan watched her for several seconds.
Then nodded.
“Good.”
His phone rang.
Finn.
Ethan answered.
Listened.
Then looked at Nora.
“What?”
Finn’s voice came through the speaker.
“We rebuilt more of the payroll.”
“How many?”
Finn paused.
“Gregory didn't steal from fifteen people.”
Nora felt cold.
“How many?”
“Forty-three.”
Three hundred dollars had become forty-three names.
And Nora began to understand why Gregory had not simply paid her when she called the first time.
May you like
He had not been afraid of one wage claim.
He had been afraid of one person learning she was not alone.
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