Chapter 2 - The Man Everyone Obeyed
Nobody opened the door.
The storm pressed hard against the building while the men outside waited beneath their headlights.
Evelyn stood behind the counter.
“How many?”
Vincent moved toward a window.
Damian stopped him.
“Stay away from the glass.”
Vincent obeyed.
One of the younger men whispered, “They shouldn’t know we’re here.”
“No,” Damian said. “They shouldn’t.”
That single sentence changed the atmosphere.
Evelyn looked around the diner.
Eighteen men had entered together.
Now they were studying one another.
“You have a traitor,” she said.
Vincent gave her a sharp look.
“Stay out of this.”
Evelyn shrugged.
“Fine. Betray each other quietly. Noah needs attention.”
She walked into the kitchen.
Damian followed.
Noah lay on the prep table with his jacket removed.
He was conscious, but barely.
Evelyn pressed clean towels into one man’s hands.
“Keep pressure here.”
The man stared.
“Here?”
“Yes, here. And if your hands shake, I’ll replace you.”
His hands stopped shaking.
Damian stood nearby.
“You’re very comfortable giving orders.”
“I own the building.”
Something almost resembling amusement appeared in his eyes.
Outside, the voice returned.
“Cross! We only want you!”
Evelyn glanced at Damian.
“Cross?”
“Damian Cross.”
“And that should mean something?”
“To some people.”
“Not to me.”
“Probably better that way.”
Vincent entered.
“They’re offering safe passage to everyone except you.”
Damian looked at him.
“And you believe them?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Evelyn continued working.
“Noah needs a hospital.”
“The road south is blocked,” Vincent said. “Bridge washed out.”
“North?”
“Trees down.”
Evelyn looked at Damian.
“So you’re trapped.”
“For the moment.”
A hard knock sounded against the front door again.
Damian turned.
“Keep everyone away from the windows.”
Vincent nodded.
Evelyn caught Damian’s sleeve before he left.
“If this becomes a fight, not in my dining room.”
Vincent stared at her in disbelief.
Damian looked down at her hand.
“You think I can schedule these things?”
“I think a man who can make eighteen people stop breathing with one word can make an effort.”
Damian studied her for a moment.
“I’ll make an effort.”
He returned to the dining room.
Evelyn looked after him.
Noah managed a weak smile.
“You really don’t know who he is?”
“No.”
“Lucky.”
“Who is he?”
Noah’s smile disappeared.
Before he could answer, Vincent returned.
“Noah.”
The warning was enough.
Evelyn shook her head.
“You people are exhausting.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“You should be afraid.”
“I am.”
That stopped him.
Evelyn met his eyes.
“Being afraid and being useless are two different things.”
Vincent had no answer.
From the dining room, Damian called him.
Vincent left.
Noah spoke softly.
“Mrs. Carter.”
“Evelyn.”
“Evelyn… thank you.”
“For what?”
“For treating me like I matter.”
She adjusted the blanket over him.
“You’re twenty-something and bleeding in my kitchen. Of course you matter.”
Noah closed his eyes.
Evelyn’s expression changed.
Whoever these men were, the boy on her counter was still somebody’s son.
She walked back toward the dining room.
Damian stood beside the counter while his men argued.
“We cannot stay here,” one said.
“There’s nowhere to go,” another replied.
“They want him. Give them what they came for.”
The entire room went silent.
The speaker was a thick-necked man named Cole.
Vincent reached for him.
Damian raised one hand.
“No.”
Cole swallowed.
Damian approached him.
“You think they’ll let you leave?”
“They said—”
“They also knew our route.”
Cole’s face tightened.
Damian continued.
“They knew the backup route.”
No one spoke.
“They knew which vehicles we changed into.”
Silence.
“They knew Noah was hurt.”
Cole stared at the floor.
Damian stopped in front of him.
“So before anybody volunteers me as a sacrifice, understand something. Someone in this room told them exactly where to find us.”
Evelyn heard a quiet mechanical click behind her.
She turned.
A man near the pie case was holding a phone beneath his coat.
Damian saw her expression.
“What?”
Evelyn pointed.
“Him.”
The man ran.
He got three steps.
Vincent tackled him against a booth.
The phone skidded across the tile.
Damian picked it up.
A message was open.
LOCATION CONFIRMED.
Evelyn stared.
Vincent dragged the man upright.
“Who are you talking to?”
The man remained silent.
Vincent slammed him against the booth.
Damian’s voice stopped him.
“Enough.”
Vincent released him.
Damian studied the traitor.
“You sold eighteen men for what?”
The man finally spoke.
“For a chance to survive you.”
Damian’s expression remained unreadable.
Outside, an engine started.
Then another.
Evelyn moved to the side window and looked through a narrow gap in the curtain.
The vehicles were repositioning.
She suddenly understood.
“They’re not waiting for you.”
Damian turned.
“What?”
“They’re moving around back.”
Vincent swore.
“The generator.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“There’s a propane tank behind the kitchen.”
Damian moved immediately.
“Everybody away from the rear wall.”
A moment later, something struck the metal siding outside.
Evelyn flinched.
Then came another sound.
Not gunfire.
A breaking window.
Cold wind rushed into the storage room.
Damian grabbed Evelyn and pulled her behind the counter as glass scattered across the floor.
For several seconds, he kept one arm around her shoulders.
Protecting her.
Evelyn looked up.
“You can let go.”
Damian did.
Slowly.
“You’re shaking,” he said.
“So are you.”
“I’m not.”
“You should be.”
A surprised laugh escaped him.
It was quiet.
Brief.
But every man in the diner heard it.
Vincent stared as though he had witnessed an eclipse.
Damian looked at Evelyn differently afterward.
Not because she was fearless.
Because she wasn’t.
May you like
And she had stayed anyway.
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