Chapter 3 - The Trap at Benny’s
“Norah stops working here.”
Gabriel said it as though the decision belonged to him.
Norah put down the coffee pot.
“No.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“No?”
“You don’t employ me.”
“Someone tried to kill me.”
“I noticed.”
“They know I come here.”
“That sounds like your problem.”
“It becomes your problem if they think you matter to me.”
Norah paused.
“Do I?”
Leo suddenly became fascinated with the salt shaker.
Gabriel held Norah’s gaze.
“You’re the only person I trust to feed me.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
Gabriel stood.
“You don’t matter.”
Norah nodded.
“Great.”
She walked away.
Leo waited until she disappeared into the kitchen.
“That was terrible.”
Gabriel glared at him.
“What?”
“You could survive interrogation better than a conversation with a waitress.”
Gabriel sat again.
“I’m protecting her.”
“By insulting her?”
“It worked.”
The kitchen door swung open.
Norah leaned through.
“I heard that.”
Leo looked down.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Then the lights went out.
Benny screamed from the kitchen.
Leo immediately moved toward Gabriel.
“Stay down.”
A crash came from the rear hallway.
Norah shouted.
“Benny!”
Gabriel stood.
“Norah!”
Another crash.
Then silence.
Gabriel crossed the diner.
Leo grabbed his shoulder.
“Boss.”
“She’s back there.”
“That may be the point.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Then whoever planned it understands me better than I thought.”
He entered the kitchen.
Norah stood beside Benny, who had fallen near the freezer.
“He slipped when the lights went out.”
“Is he hurt?”
“His ankle.”
Leo entered holding a flashlight.
“The breaker was deliberately cut.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
Norah looked toward the rear exit.
It stood slightly open.
“I locked that.”
Leo immediately called the security team.
Gabriel turned to Norah.
“You’re leaving.”
“I have a shift.”
“Your shift is over.”
“My landlord doesn’t accept mafia emergencies instead of rent.”
“I’ll cover your—”
“No.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“This is not charity.”
“Then what is it?”
“Security.”
Norah folded her arms.
“I’m not moving into your penthouse.”
Gabriel blinked.
“I didn’t say penthouse.”
“You were going to.”
Leo coughed.
Gabriel glared at him.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
Twenty minutes later, Benny was taken to a hospital.
Gabriel ordered two guards to stay outside the diner.
Norah stood beneath the awning.
Rain fell beyond them.
“I can take care of myself.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“So could Paulie.”
That stopped her.
His voice lowered.
“I buried him anyway.”
Norah studied him.
For the first time, she understood that Gabriel’s paranoia wasn’t cowardice.
It was grief with nowhere to go.
“All right.”
Gabriel frowned.
“All right?”
“I’ll stay somewhere protected.”
“My penthouse.”
“No.”
“Norah.”
“A hotel.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Hotels have kitchens.”
She stared.
“That may be the strangest argument you’ve made.”
“My house.”
“Separate room.”
“Obviously.”
“No guards inside my room.”
“Fine.”
“And I keep working toward my nursing exams.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“You eat breakfast tomorrow.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Leo smiled.
Gabriel sighed.
“Fine.”
As they entered the SUV, Leo’s phone rang.
He listened.
His expression changed.
Gabriel noticed.
“What?”
Leo lowered the phone.
“We checked the diner’s rear camera.”
“And?”
“The man who cut the power didn’t break in.”
Gabriel’s eyes hardened.
“He had a key.”
Norah looked between them.
“Who has one?”
“Benny,” she said. “Me. Two cooks.”
Leo shook his head.
“There’s another.”
Gabriel waited.
Leo looked directly at him.
May you like
“One of your men.”
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