Chapter 4 - They Came for the Witness
Gage Sartori survived because a helicopter pilot finally decided the storm was worth risking.
By sunrise, he was in surgery.
By noon, Hollis Bend was full of black SUVs.
And by evening, everyone in town suddenly remembered my name.
Vera Pike entered the ruined diner carrying coffee.
She stopped in the doorway.
“Oh my God.”
“Morning.”
“This looks like a war happened.”
“Technically, yes.”
She stared at the bullet holes.
Then at me.
“You opened the door.”
“I did.”
“I told you not to.”
“I remember.”
“You brought the mafia into town.”
“They were already outside.”
“That distinction is not going to matter to people.”
She was right.
Three neighbors had already driven past without stopping.
The same people who had eaten in my father’s diner every Sunday for twenty years.
Vera set the coffee down.
“How is Sartori?”
“Alive.”
“And the sister?”
“Alive.”
Vera stared at me.
“You went with them?”
“Yes.”
“Into the storm?”
“Yes.”
“To rescue a kidnapped woman?”
“Yes.”
She slowly sat down.
“I’m going to need something stronger than coffee.”
My mother entered from the kitchen.
“I have bourbon.”
“Mom.”
“What? We’ve had a difficult night.”
A black sedan pulled into the lot.
Vera immediately stood.
“I should leave.”
“Sit down.”
“I suddenly remembered I have errands.”
“It’s seven in the morning.”
“I’m very productive when threatened by organized crime.”
The door opened.
Curtis entered.
His coat was clean now.
He looked almost ordinary.
Almost.
“Ms. Reed.”
“Delaney.”
He nodded.
“Delaney.”
“How is Gage?”
“Out of surgery.”
“Meaning?”
“He’ll live.”
My shoulders relaxed.
Curtis noticed.
“He asked about you.”
“Already?”
“His first coherent words.”
I crossed my arms.
“What did he say?”
Curtis hesitated.
“Is she alive?”
I looked away.
“And then?”
“Did she save Elena?”
Vera whispered, “Oh, this is definitely going somewhere.”
I glared at her.
Curtis ignored us.
“He wants to see you.”
“I have a diner to fix.”
Curtis looked around.
“About that.”
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re about to offer money.”
“Technically, I was going to offer contractors.”
“No.”
“Windows?”
“No.”
“Roof?”
“No.”
“Your front wall has three bullet holes.”
“They add character.”
Curtis sighed.
“He won’t accept that answer.”
“Then he can come argue when he can stand.”
A voice came from behind Curtis.
“I can stand.”
I froze.
Curtis closed his eyes.
“Boss.”
Gage Sartori appeared in the doorway.
He looked terrible.
Pale.
Bandaged.
Moving slowly with one hand against his side.
Elena stood beside him.
I stared.
“You left the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“You had surgery yesterday.”
“Also yes.”
I marched toward him.
Curtis stepped aside immediately.
Smart man.
“What is wrong with you?”
Gage raised an eyebrow.
“Several things medically, apparently.”
“You could tear your stitches.”
“I was careful.”
“You traveled forty-seven miles through snow!”
“Forty-three.”
“That does not help.”
Elena smiled.
“I like her.”
Gage looked at his sister.
“I knew you would.”
I stopped.
Something about the way he said it made the room suddenly feel smaller.
Gage looked around the diner.
The smile disappeared.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“This.”
He touched a bullet hole in the wall.
“I brought war through your door.”
“You didn’t fire the bullets.”
“No. But they came because of me.”
I leaned against the counter.
“So what happens now?”
“Victor is gone.”
“Dead?”
“No.”
That worried me more.
“He escaped the mill,” Gage continued. “But he lost men, money, and access to most of his network.”
“He’ll come back.”
“Yes.”
“For you?”
Gage looked at me.
“For everyone involved.”
My stomach tightened.
Elena spoke quietly.
“That includes you.”
Before I could answer, Gage placed an envelope on the counter.
I stared at it.
“What’s that?”
“Open it.”
“No.”
“Delaney.”
“If it contains money, take it back.”
“It does not.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside was the deed to the diner.
I stared at the document.
Then at Gage.
“What did you do?”
“I purchased the debt.”
My face burned.
“You what?”
“The bank sold it.”
“You bought my foreclosure?”
“I bought the loan.”
“You had no right.”
“I had several lawyers who assure me otherwise.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
I threw the papers onto the counter.
“I don’t belong to you.”
The room went silent.
Gage’s expression changed.
“That isn’t what this is.”
“That’s exactly what it looks like.”
“I erased the debt.”
“And now I owe you.”
“No.”
“You think because you’re rich you can walk into my life and—”
“I owe you.”
His voice stopped me.
Gage stepped closer.
“You saved my life when you knew who I was.”
I said nothing.
“You risked your home.”
Another step.
“You drove me across a mountain while I bled all over your father’s truck.”
“Earl forgives you.”
A smile almost appeared.
Then disappeared.
“You helped me save my sister.”
His voice lowered.
“There is no amount of money that repays that.”
I looked at the deed.
“Then don’t try.”
“I’m not.”
“What do you call this?”
“Removing one problem.”
“I can handle my problems.”
“I know.”
That answer irritated me because he meant it.
Elena stepped forward.
“Delaney.”
I looked at her.
“My brother is terrible at gratitude.”
Gage glanced over.
“I’m standing here.”
“He normally says thank you by purchasing buildings.”
“Please stop helping.”
Elena ignored him.
“He isn’t trying to own you.”
Gage looked at me.
“I couldn’t.”
The words came too quickly.
Too quietly.
Nobody joked after that.
I folded the deed and pushed it toward him.
“I’ll make payments.”
“No.”
“Then take it back.”
“No.”
We stared at each other.
Curtis cleared his throat.
“This seems like a conversation for people with fewer weapons.”
My mother spoke from the kitchen.
“I agree.”
Then the front window exploded.
Gage hit me before I heard the shot.
We crashed behind the counter.
Curtis drew his weapon.
“SNIPER!”
Elena dropped behind a booth.
Another shot hit the wall.
Gage covered me with his body.
“You’re bleeding!”
“Not new.”
“Get off me!”
“No.”
Curtis shouted.
“Rear exit!”
Two guards rushed Elena toward the kitchen.
My mother yelled.
“I am not leaving my diner!”
“Mom!”
“I’m seventy years old. Stop pushing me!”
Another round struck the building.
Curtis fired toward the tree line.
Gage grabbed my face.
“Look at me.”
“What?”
“You leave with Elena.”
“I’m not—”
“Victor is here.”
My stomach went cold.
“You know that?”
“He doesn’t use distance shooters unless he wants fear first.”
A phone rang.
Mine.
Unknown number.
Gage looked at the screen.
“Don’t.”
It rang again.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Victor’s voice came through.
“You should have kept your door locked.”
Gage held out his hand.
I put the phone on speaker instead.
Victor laughed.
“Still alive, Sartori?”
Gage’s face hardened.
“You shot at her.”
“I warned you. Anyone who helped you became part of the game.”
“This is between us.”
“It stopped being between us the moment that waitress pulled you inside.”
I felt Gage’s hand tighten around mine.
Victor continued.
“She gave you something you never had before.”
Gage said nothing.
“A weakness.”
His eyes met mine.
Victor laughed softly.
“And now I know exactly where to cut.”
The call ended.
Another shot shattered the coffee machine.
My mother shouted something I had never heard her say before.
Curtis looked impressed.
Then his radio crackled.
“Movement east ridge. Four shooters.”
Gage stood.
I grabbed him.
“You cannot fight.”
“I don’t need to.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked at Curtis.
“Protocol Black.”
Curtis stared at him.
“Here?”
“Here.”
“Boss, that brings everyone.”
“Exactly.”
Curtis grabbed his radio.
“All units, Black protocol. Hollis Bend. Reed Diner.”
Within seconds, radios began answering.
I looked at Gage.
“What did you just do?”
“Made your diner the safest building in the county.”
“You brought more mafia here.”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
He hesitated.
“Gage.”
“A lot.”
I closed my eyes.
“This is my nightmare.”
He almost smiled.
Then the front door opened.
Everyone aimed.
Uncle Otis stood outside holding an old hunting rifle.
“Delaney!”
I stared.
“Uncle Otis?”
He walked inside.
“I saw men in the woods.”
Gage looked at the ancient rifle.
Curtis looked at me.
“Your family has terrible survival instincts.”
“You came to my diner after getting stabbed.”
“Fair.”
Otis pointed at Gage.
“You Sartori?”
“Yes.”
“You brought this mess?”
“Yes.”
Otis nodded toward me.
“She saved you?”
“Yes.”
“Then keep her alive.”
Gage’s expression became serious.
“With everything I have.”
Otis lowered the rifle.
“Good answer.”
Outside, engines began rumbling.
One after another.
SUVs climbed the road.
Ten.
Twenty.
More.
Men poured into Hollis Bend from every direction.
Victor’s shooters stopped firing.
Curtis listened to his radio.
“East ridge secure.”
Another voice.
“South road secure.”
Another.
“Two hostile vehicles retreating.”
Gage looked toward the snowy road.
“Let them.”
Curtis frowned.
“Boss?”
“They’re going to Victor.”
Understanding appeared on Curtis’s face.
“You want them followed.”
“Yes.”
Gage turned toward me.
“This ends today.”
“How?”
“We find Victor.”
“And then?”
His eyes became cold.
“Then I make sure he never comes near you again.”
I should have been afraid of the man standing in front of me.
Instead, I noticed the blood beginning to spread beneath his shirt.
“You popped a stitch.”
Gage looked down.
Then back at me.
“You have remarkable timing.”
“Sit.”
“Delaney—”
“Sit.”
He actually obeyed.
Curtis stared.
Elena smiled.
“Oh, I definitely like her.”
I grabbed the medical kit.
While I replaced Gage’s dressing, Curtis's radio crackled again.
“Holland, we found the retreat vehicle.”
“Location?”
“Old quarry road.”
“And?”
A pause.
Then the guard answered.
“It’s empty.”
Gage looked up.
The man continued.
“But Victor left something behind.”
“What?”
“A photograph.”
Curtis's face tightened.
“Of who?”
The answer made every person in the diner go silent.
“Delaney’s mother.”
My hands stopped.
My mother stared at the radio.
Then another voice came through.
“There’s writing on the back.”
Curtis swallowed.
“Read it.”
The radio crackled.
“Next time, I don’t miss.”
Gage slowly stood.
This time, I didn’t tell him to sit down.
His face had changed.
Whatever restraint remained in him was gone.
He looked at Curtis.
“Find Victor.”
Curtis nodded.
“Alive?”
Gage’s eyes moved to my mother.
Then to me.
“Yes.”
He paused.
“I want him alive long enough to tell me who gave him Delaney Reed’s name.”
That was the moment we realized Victor wasn’t simply watching the diner.
May you like
Someone in Hollis Bend had been helping him.
And whoever it was had known my family long before Gage Sartori ever knocked on my door.
