Chapter 2 - The Woman in Apartment 4B
Norah thought Gabriel was joking.
Then she saw his face.
He wasn’t.
“You’re Rosa’s son?”
Gabriel leaned back.
“What did she look like?”
“Short. Gray hair.”
“That describes half the grandmothers in Chicago.”
Norah narrowed her eyes.
“She smoked cheap cigarettes beside an open kitchen window and thought nobody knew.”
Gabriel’s mouth twitched.
“She kept flour in an old coffee can.”
His expression changed again.
Norah continued.
“She hated expensive shoes.”
Leo glanced at Gabriel’s Italian loafers.
Gabriel almost smiled.
“That was her.”
Norah pulled out the chair opposite him.
One guard immediately moved forward.
Gabriel lifted one finger.
The guard stopped.
Norah sat.
“She watched me after school. My mother worked at the hospital.”
Gabriel studied her.
“You lived in 4C?”
“Yes.”
“What was your mother’s name?”
“Elaine Bennett.”
Gabriel looked away.
“I remember her.”
Now it was Norah’s turn to freeze.
“You knew my mother?”
“Not well.”
Gabriel looked toward the rain-covered window.
“My mother talked about everyone.”
“That sounds like Rosa.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Gabriel asked, “Why that dish?”
“Because you needed food.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Norah hesitated.
“You looked scared.”
The diner became very quiet.
Leo stared at her.
Benny appeared ready to faint.
Nobody called Gabriel Hayes scared.
Norah apparently had not received that information.
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Say that again.”
“You looked scared.”
“Of what?”
“The food.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know what hungry people look like.”
Norah stood.
“And I know what fear does when you feed it long enough.”
She collected his empty bowl.
Gabriel caught her wrist.
Not violently.
Just enough to stop her.
Norah looked down at his hand.
Gabriel immediately released her.
“Sorry.”
That surprised Leo more than anything else that evening.
Gabriel Hayes did not apologize.
“Why nursing?” Gabriel asked.
Norah glanced at him.
“How do you know?”
“Your textbook is behind the counter.”
She looked.
A thick nursing examination guide sat beneath the register.
“I want out.”
“Out of the diner?”
“Out of surviving one paycheck at a time.”
Gabriel nodded.
“How much do you need?”
Norah’s expression hardened.
“No.”
“I haven’t offered anything.”
“You were going to.”
“I could pay your tuition tonight.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I fed you dinner.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“That doesn’t mean you own my future.”
Leo turned his face away, hiding a smile.
Gabriel noticed.
“Something funny?”
“No, boss.”
Norah carried the bowl toward the kitchen.
Gabriel called after her.
“Norah.”
She turned.
“Tomorrow.”
“What about tomorrow?”
“I’m coming back.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at the empty bowl.
“Because apparently I can eat here.”
The following evening, he returned.
No convoy.
Only Leo and one driver.
Norah placed another bowl before him.
“You know we sell other food.”
“I don’t trust other food.”
“You trust mine?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Yes.”
That answer made her uncomfortable.
For six nights, Gabriel returned.
And for six nights, Norah cooked.
On the seventh night, Gabriel arrived after midnight.
Norah noticed immediately that something was different.
Leo closed the diner door behind them.
“What happened?”
Gabriel sat.
“Nothing.”
“You’re bleeding.”
A thin red line marked Gabriel’s temple.
“It’s nothing.”
Norah grabbed the first-aid kit.
Gabriel watched her approach.
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“You also didn’t ask me to cook for you the first night.”
She cleaned the small cut.
Gabriel remained unusually still.
“Someone attacked your car?”
He looked at her.
“How did you know?”
“You keep looking toward the window.”
Leo spoke from behind them.
“Someone knew exactly which route we were taking.”
Norah’s hand stopped.
Gabriel’s eyes moved toward Leo.
“Enough.”
But Norah understood.
The poisoning.
The ambush.
The fear.
Someone close to Gabriel wanted him dead.
And whoever it was had failed twice.
Now Gabriel Hayes had something else to worry about.
He looked at Norah.
May you like
Because everyone in his organization knew where he had been eating.
---
