Chapter 2 - The Missing Valet
Fiore D’Oro had never been quieter.
Forty customers remained seated while Nicholas’s men checked exits and spoke to employees.
Ellie sat at the bar with an ice pack against her wrist.
Nicholas stood nearby.
“You should go to a hospital.”
“I can’t afford an emergency room because somebody blew up your Mercedes.”
“I’ll pay.”
“No.”
Nicholas glanced at her.
“You always this stubborn?”
“You always try to solve everything with money?”
“Usually works.”
“Not with me.”
Marco approached.
“We have a problem.”
Nicholas turned.
“The valet who brought the car around is gone.”
Ellie frowned.
“Tommy?”
Marco looked at her.
“You know him?”
“He works Tuesdays through Saturdays.”
“What’s his last name?”
“Dawson.”
Marco shook his head.
“No Tommy Dawson works here.”
Ellie stared at him.
“Yes, he does.”
The restaurant owner approached nervously.
“Ellie…”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“There’s no Tommy.”
“I talked to him tonight.”
The owner went pale.
Nicholas noticed immediately.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“I—I thought he was new.”
“You own the restaurant.”
“My manager handles staffing.”
Nicholas stepped closer.
“Who hired him?”
“I don’t know.”
Ellie suddenly remembered something.
“He asked about you.”
Everyone looked at her.
Nicholas’s voice dropped.
“What did he ask?”
“He asked whether you always left around midnight.”
Marco cursed under his breath.
Nicholas remained calm.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
“Think.”
Ellie closed her eyes.
“He asked if you drove yourself.”
“And?”
“I said I didn’t know.”
“Anything else?”
“He asked if the black Mercedes belonged to you.”
Nicholas’s jaw tightened.
Ellie looked at him.
“You think he planted it.”
“I think someone wanted me to.”
A younger man hurried toward Marco and whispered something.
Marco turned.
“Security footage.”
Nicholas followed him into the manager’s office.
Ellie stayed seated.
For approximately ten seconds.
Then she got up.
Nicholas noticed her entering.
“I told you to stay outside.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Marco muttered, “She has a point.”
Nicholas gave him a look.
Marco immediately faced the monitor.
Footage showed the alley behind Fiore D’Oro.
At 11:31, a valet drove Nicholas’s Mercedes into view.
Tommy.
He parked.
Another man entered the frame.
Ellie leaned closer.
“Wait.”
The man wore a baseball cap and dark jacket.
His face remained turned away.
Nicholas said, “Do you recognize him?”
“No.”
The stranger opened the passenger door.
Twenty seconds later, he stepped away.
Tommy remained beside the car.
Then the stranger turned.
For one frame, his face became visible.
Nicholas froze.
Marco whispered, “No way.”
Ellie looked between them.
“Who is he?”
Nicholas did not answer.
“Nicholas?”
His eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Finally he said:
May you like
“My cousin.”
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