Chapter 4 - What Richard Bell Was Hiding
By midnight, the diner was closed.
Jenna should have gone home.
Instead, she sat in Booth Seven.
Dominic sat opposite her.
Richard paced beside the counter.
The police had taken the recorder.
Todd had made another claim.
He said Richard had ordered him months earlier to delete footage connected to missing payroll money.
Richard denied it.
“That's insane.”
Dominic asked, “Is money missing?”
Richard stopped pacing.
Jenna looked at him.
“Richard?”
He rubbed his face.
“About eighteen thousand dollars.”
Kayla nearly dropped her phone.
“Eighteen thousand?”
“I thought it was accounting errors.”
Dominic leaned back.
“You didn't think eighteen thousand dollars was worth mentioning?”
“I've been trying to fix it quietly.”
“Quietly is how people like Todd operate.”
Richard glared at him.
“And you would know?”
The room became still.
Victor looked toward Dominic.
Dominic didn't react.
“Yes.”
Richard blinked.
Dominic continued.
“I would.”
Jenna leaned forward.
“Who exactly are you?”
Dominic looked at her.
“I own logistics companies, restaurants, real estate, and several businesses that respectable people suddenly become uncomfortable discussing when they learn who my father was.”
“And who was he?”
“Not a respectable person.”
Victor looked down.
Jenna understood enough.
“So Todd recognized your last name.”
“Yes.”
“Because you're mafia?”
Richard whispered, “Jenna.”
She looked at him.
“What? Everyone's thinking it.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“My family has a history.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
“Are you dangerous?”
Dominic considered the question.
“I can be.”
Victor muttered, “That's an understatement.”
Dominic looked at him.
Victor returned to his coffee.
Jenna didn't move.
“Then why are you helping me?”
Dominic’s expression became serious.
“Because there was a time when people around me stayed silent because they were afraid of losing something.”
“Money?”
“Jobs. Homes. Sometimes more.”
“And?”
“I benefited from their silence.”
Jenna watched him carefully.
Dominic continued.
“Eventually I had to decide whether being feared was the same thing as being respected.”
“What did you decide?”
“It isn't.”
Richard's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
Everyone turned.
Richard walked toward the window.
“Are you sure?”
He listened again.
“Send it to me.”
He ended the call.
Jenna stood.
“What happened?”
“The accountant found something.”
Richard opened an email.
“Todd wasn't stealing eighteen thousand.”
He looked up.
“He stole nearly sixty-four.”
Kayla whispered, “Oh my God.”
Richard scrolled.
“He manipulated overtime, skimmed cash deposits, created fake refunds…”
Jenna stepped closer.
“And blamed employees?”
Richard looked sick.
“Yes.”
Kayla suddenly understood.
“My missing tips.”
Richard looked at her.
“What?”
“Three times. Todd said the drawer was short and deducted it.”
Jenna said, “He did it to me too.”
Dominic stood.
“Then tonight wasn't about one slap.”
“No,” Jenna said.
“It was about somebody who had learned nobody would stop him.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Exactly.”
Richard sat down heavily.
“What happens now?”
Jenna answered before Dominic could.
“You stop hiding problems to protect your restaurant.”
Richard looked at her.
“And?”
May you like
“You protect the people working inside it.”
For the first time all night, Richard had no argument.
