Chương 6
Anna looked down.
“Okay.”
After Torres left, Leah said, “Your manager is involved.”
“We don’t know that.”
“He lied.”
“Maybe.”
“Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
Anna poured the coffee she had forgotten to drink.
“Apparently maybe is doing a lot of work today.”
At three that afternoon, Craig called again.
Anna answered.
His voice sounded injured.
“Why did you tell police I lied?”
“Did you?”
“That’s not fair.”
“Did you know Daniel had been in the kitchen before my shift?”
A pause.
Craig exhaled.
“He introduced himself as Mr. Moretti’s security director.”
“Then why did you act like you didn’t know him?”
“I didn’t act like anything.”
“Craig.”
“I was under pressure.”
“You told me I brought dangerous attention to the restaurant.”
“I was upset.”
“You asked for my locker key.”
“The whole property is part of an investigation.”
“You fired me.”
“I did not fire you.”
“Am I still employed?”
Silence.
Anna closed her eyes.
Craig said, “The owners are reviewing staffing.”
“That means no.”
“It means exactly what I said.”
“Do I get paid while you review?”
Another silence.
“Right.”
“Anna, you have to understand what this has done to us.”
The words landed harder than she expected.
Not because she respected Craig enough to care what he thought.
Because part of her did understand.
The restaurant had eighty-three employees.
Tips vanished when dining rooms closed.
Dishwashers did not have savings for forensic investigations.
Line cooks still had rent.
Hostesses still had tuition.
A poisoning attempt against one wealthy customer had consequences for people who had never seen the plate.
“I’m sorry they’re closed,” Anna said.
Craig softened slightly.
“I know.”
“But if I had let him eat it, you’d be closed too.”
Craig said nothing.
“And maybe explaining why somebody died at table twelve.”
His voice hardened again.
“You always have to make yourself right.”
Anna’s grip tightened on the phone.
That sentence reached somewhere old.
Craig knew it.
He had worked with her for three years.
He had watched her correct ticket times, allergy notes, inventory errors and coworkers who called her exhausting behind her back.
“You should save your schedule records,” she said.
“What?”
“The police may ask.”
She ended the call.
Then she stood in the kitchen and hated him.
Five minutes later, she hated herself for enjoying the last word.
At four, Vincent called.
“I heard Craig contacted you.”
Anna stared at the phone.
“How?”
“He contacted me first.”
“Why?”
“To ask whether I would issue a public statement saying the restaurant acted appropriately.”
Anna laughed.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know whether it did.”
The answer was almost identical to Torres’s philosophy.
Anna found that interesting.
Vincent asked, “What did he say to you?”
“That I always have to make myself right.”
Vincent was silent.
Anna regretted telling him something that personal.
Then he said, “Do you?”
She frowned.
“What?”
“Always have to make yourself right.”
“You called to insult me?”
“I’m asking.”
“I don’t know.”
“That means yes.”
“Goodbye, Vincent.”
“Wait.”
She almost hung up.
“What?”
“Daniel resigned.”
Anna sat on the edge of the couch.
“Why?”
“He says he cannot effectively protect me while I suspect him.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Even though both plates were poisoned?”
“Especially because both plates were poisoned.”
She stood again.
“Explain.”
“Daniel’s job was security. If he believed the first plate was compromised, protocol required removing it, isolating it and informing me. Instead he secretly replaced it with another plate and said nothing.”
Anna felt the shape of that.
“Unless he knew the second one was safe.”
“He couldn’t have known that without controlling it.”
“So either he’s lying about suspecting poison—”
“Or he was conducting his own unauthorized intervention and failed catastrophically.”
“Neither is good.”
“No.”
“What does he say now?”
“That he saw Craig near the first plate.”
Anna stopped.
“Craig?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before service.”
“That’s his manager. He’s everywhere.”
“Exactly.”
Anna sat again.
The story kept changing.
Every new fact made the previous certainty look childish.
“Vincent?”
“Yes.”
“Do you trust any of your people?”
A pause.
“Some.”
“That didn’t sound convincing.”
“It wasn’t supposed to.”
“Why would your head of security want you dead?”
“He might not.”
“Then who does?”
Vincent did not answer.
Anna heard a faint sound on his end. Glass. Maybe ice in a tumbler.
She pictured him somewhere expensive and quiet.
“I have competitors,” he said.
“That sounds like a polite word.”
“It is.”
“Business competitors?”
“Some.”
“Family?”
The silence changed.
Anna immediately knew she had touched something real.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Apologize every time you notice something.”
She leaned back.
“You hate apologies.”
“I hate useless ones.”
“Useful apologies are fine?”
“Rare.”
Anna smiled despite herself.
Then Vincent said, “There were six people at the private dinner before I moved to the main room.”
“Who?”
“My attorney. My chief financial officer. Daniel. A city development consultant. My cousin Anthony. And Elise Ward.”
“Who is Elise?”
“Chief operating officer.”
“Your company?”
“My holding company.”
“Were they all still there when the plate was prepared?”
“No. The meeting ended. Daniel stayed in the building. Anthony left through the front. Elise took a call in the lounge. The others left.”
“And you moved tables.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I like the window.”
Anna thought of the skyline beyond the tall glass.
“You risk your life for a view?”
“I didn’t know it was a risk.”
“Fair.”
Vincent said, “The original plan was to serve dessert in the private room.”
Anna’s attention sharpened.
“But you moved.”
“Yes.”
“So whoever poisoned the plate knew you moved.”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
That detail frightened her more than anything yet.
It meant the poisoning had not been planned hours earlier and left to chance.
Someone had adjusted.
Someone watching.
“Who knew?”
“Most of my table. Some restaurant staff. Security.”
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Craig.”
“Yes.”
“Elise?”
“Yes.”
“Anthony?”
“He left before I moved.”
“According to who?”
Vincent did not answer for a beat.
May you like
Then: “Good question.”
The next three days dismantled Anna’s life in surprisingly ordinary ways.
