Chương 4
The officer started away, then turned back.
"And Mr. Ror?"
"Yeah?"
"If a guy twice as angry as he is smart swings at you again, keep doing whatever you did tonight."
"I was hoping not to make a hobby of it."
"So are we."
The officer moved toward Evelyn.
Gideon returned to his table.
His plate looked less appetizing now.
The coleslaw had warmed, the ribs had dried around the edges, and his cornbread sat in a small pool of water from a glass someone had bumped during the disturbance.
He ate the cornbread anyway.
His phone buzzed.
June.
Got her.
She says you owe her frozen yogurt because you abandoned her to a woman who listens to talk radio.
Gideon typed back.
Tell her extortion is illegal.
June replied almost immediately.
She says so is child neglect.
A second message followed.
I told her you're fixing a car.
He stared at that one for a moment.
Then he typed.
Thanks.
He put the phone down.
Across the room, Evelyn was answering the officer's questions.
She spoke with the same precision she'd used with Briggs, but her attention was divided.
Her phone remained faceup beside her.
The screen lit twice during the conversation.
She ignored it twice.
When the officer finally moved away, she picked up the phone, stood, and walked toward Gideon.
"You have somewhere else to be."
It wasn't a question.
"My neighbor got Maisie."
"You should go."
"Police aren't done."
"They said they have your information."
"Warren may need me."
"Warren has six witnesses and video."
Gideon looked at her.
"You trying to get rid of me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
She pulled out the chair across from him but did not sit.
"Because the situation you stepped into is not as small as it looked."
"That usually means it's worse."
"It is."
"Then maybe getting rid of the only person Briggs already dislikes is inefficient."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Do you always talk like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you're repairing an engine."
"Engines make more sense than people."
"You're a mechanic."
"You caught that."
She finally sat.
For several seconds neither of them spoke.
Around them, the restaurant was returning to its old rhythm, but not completely.
People still glanced over.
The teenager who had filmed the confrontation was whispering to his parents.
Warren stood near the kitchen, arms folded, looking as though he had aged several years since dinner service began.
Evelyn turned her phone facedown.
"My company awarded Harland Contracting a subcontract last month."
Gideon waited.
She watched him.
"You're supposed to ask which company."
"I figured you'd get there."
She rubbed one thumb over the edge of the table.
"Mercer Infrastructure."
That name he knew.
Not well, but enough.
They built logistics centers, municipal facilities, warehouse developments, roads, and other things that required politicians to wear hard hats for photographs.
Their name was painted on half the construction fencing around the county.
"You're related to Mercer Infrastructure?"
"I run it."
Gideon stopped chewing.
Evelyn gave him a tired look.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The reaction."
"I was deciding whether I should recognize you."
"You shouldn't."
"Good."
She almost smiled again.
"My father liked interviews."
"I don't."
"So you really are the CEO."
"Unfortunately."
"That sounds like a strange complaint."
"It has been a strange month."
Her phone vibrated against the wood.
She turned it over.
A message preview appeared before she could stop it.
DANIEL: We need you back before the audit committee call.
Evelyn killed the screen.
Gideon noticed the word audit.
He wished he hadn't.
"Harland's subcontract has a problem," she said.
"What kind?"
"I don't know yet."
"That's not what your face says."
"My face needs retraining."
"So does my sarcasm filter."
She stared at him for a beat.
"Someone inside Mercer approved change orders that shouldn't have cleared."
"What does that mean in money?"
"At least three-point-two million dollars."
Gideon leaned back.
That was considerably larger than stolen car keys.
"Harland?"
"Maybe."
"But you're not sure."
"No."
"Then why were you here alone?"
She looked toward the front windows.
"Because this place is twelve minutes from a storage facility my company owns."
"That doesn't answer it."
"I know."
Gideon waited.
Evelyn let out a breath.
"There were paper records there."
"Were?"
"I went to retrieve them."
"Tonight?"
"Yes."
"Why not send somebody?"
"Because the somebody I would normally send might be involved."
That landed differently.
Gideon glanced at the phone again.
"Daniel?"
Her gaze sharpened.
"I didn't say that."
"No."
"He's my chief operating officer."
"And?"
"And he's been with the company eleven years."
"That wasn't my question."
She looked down at her hands.
"No."
The answer was so quiet he nearly missed it.
"No, I don't think he's involved."
"But you don't know."
"No."
A server approached cautiously.
"Ma'am, do you want me to replace your dinner?"
Evelyn blinked as though she'd forgotten food existed.
"What?"
"Your meal."
The server gestured toward the soaked table.
"We can remake it."
Evelyn looked at Gideon's plate.
"What did you order?"
"Ribs."
"Are they good?"
He considered the question with appropriate seriousness.
"Six out of ten."
The server looked offended.
Gideon pointed at the cornbread.
"That was a four."
"Then why did you eat it?"
"I paid for it."
Evelyn laughed despite herself.
The server did not.
"Medium?"
"Medium."
"Fries?"
"Yes."
The server left.
For a few seconds, the conversation loosened.
A child at a nearby table dropped a spoon.
Someone at the bar celebrated a double in the baseball game.
Warren told one of his cooks that yes, he could go smoke, but no, he couldn't take twenty minutes.
Evelyn looked around the room.
"I came here because I didn't want anyone recognizing me."
"You succeeded with me."
"Apparently."
"Why this restaurant?"
"My mother used to bring me here."
Gideon looked around again.
"Your mother was a ribs-and-neon-signs person?"
"She was a leave-your-phone-in-the-car person."
"Sounds dangerous."
"She would have agreed."
May you like
A quiet sadness passed over Evelyn's face, gone almost immediately.
Gideon did not ask.
