Chapter 5 - The Waitress Reed Chose
Reed disappeared before Dominic’s guards reached the road.
No shots.
No chase through the snow.
Just tire tracks leading toward the highway.
Emily hated that more.
She sat in Dominic’s study thirty minutes later.
“Tell me everything about Calvin.”
“There isn’t much.”
“Start anyway.”
“He hired me three years ago.”
“Did he know you were in nursing school?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I mentioned it.”
“Did he ask about your family?”
“Everybody asks about family.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Think.”
Emily tried.
Calvin had always been kind.
Flexible shifts.
Extra food at closing.
Small Christmas bonuses.
Then she remembered.
“He asked whether anyone would notice if I changed apartments.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“What did you say?”
“That nobody would notice.”
A silence followed that hurt more than she expected.
Dominic said quietly, “Emily.”
“Don’t.”
“You didn’t mean—”
“I said nobody would notice.”
“You meant you lived alone.”
“I meant exactly what I said.”
Dominic watched her.
Then his voice lowered.
“I would notice now.”
Emily looked at him.
Neither moved.
Marcus entered.
“We found Calvin.”
Emily stood.
“Is he okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Police station.”
That surprised everyone.
“He turned himself in,” Marcus continued. “He says he didn’t know about the kidnapping.”
Dominic grabbed his coat.
“Let’s hear him say it.”
This time, Emily went too.
Calvin looked twenty years older when Emily saw him in an interview room.
He stared at her through the glass.
“Emily.”
She entered.
Dominic remained near the door.
Calvin noticed him.
Fear spread across his face.
“You brought Vale?”
Emily sat down.
“You’re going to tell me why Reed owned the diner.”
Calvin closed his eyes.
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I borrowed money.”
“From Reed?”
“He approached me when the diner was going under.”
Emily felt anger rise.
“You said your brother gave you the money.”
“I lied.”
“What did Reed want?”
“At first? Nothing.”
Dominic spoke.
“Nobody like Reed gives money for nothing.”
Calvin looked down.
“He wanted information.”
“About what?” Emily asked.
“Customers. Trucks. People who stopped late.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“And Emily?”
Calvin’s silence answered.
Emily’s face changed.
“What about me?”
“He asked about you.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You gave him my address.”
Calvin looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Emily pushed away from the table.
Dominic caught her elbow before she stumbled.
Calvin whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Emily pulled free.
“What else?”
“He wanted someone with medical training around.”
The room went still.
Dominic said, “Explain.”
Calvin’s voice shook.
“He said someday somebody might come through that alley needing help.”
Emily stared.
“He planned this?”
“No. I swear. I thought drugs. Smuggling. Something like that. Then two weeks ago, he asked whether Emily still worked nights.”
Dominic leaned over the table.
“And you didn’t ask why?”
“I owed him two hundred thousand dollars.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Calvin swallowed.
“He said if I warned anyone, he’d take the diner.”
Emily almost laughed.
“You let him watch me because you were afraid of losing a diner?”
Calvin couldn’t meet her eyes.
Emily stood.
“I covered double shifts for you.”
“I know.”
“I came in when you were sick.”
“I know.”
“You told me I was family.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
She walked out.
Dominic followed.
In the corridor, Emily stopped.
“He chose me.”
Dominic’s expression was grim.
“Possibly.”
“Because I had medical training.”
“He may have expected the girls to reach the diner.”
“Then the crash wasn’t an accident.”
“No.”
Emily’s mind raced.
“What if Reed didn’t want them dead?”
Dominic stared.
She continued.
“What if he needed them frightened, but alive?”
“For leverage.”
“Yes.”
“And when they escaped sooner than expected, you became a problem.”
Emily looked back through the glass at Calvin.
“Then he isn’t afraid of what Lily told me.”
Dominic understood.
“He’s afraid of what you saw.”
Emily frowned.
“I saw nothing.”
“Think.”
She remembered carrying the girls inside.
Wet coats.
Boots.
Lily’s locket.
Grace’s torn sleeve.
Then—
“Grace had something in her pocket.”
“What?”
“I forgot about it.”
“What was it?”
“A plastic card. I thought it was part of a hotel key or something.”
Dominic went still.
“Where is it?”
Emily whispered, “In my apron.”
“The apron at the diner?”
She nodded.
Dominic immediately called Marcus.
“Lock down Miller’s Corner.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“Why?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Because if Reed is willing to threaten you, destroy your apartment and show up outside my house—”
He paused.
“That card is what he’s been looking for.”
Ten minutes later, Marcus called back.
“The apron is gone.”
Dominic asked, “Reed?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Someone entered the diner thirty minutes ago.”
“Who?”
“Emily’s manager.”
Emily turned toward the interview room.
It was empty.
May you like
Calvin Miller was gone.
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