Chapter 11 - The Men at the Door
One of the men outside wore a jacket over a shirt that said PRIVATE SECURITY. The other kept his hands in his pockets. Neither looked like he was there for pancakes.
"Don't look at them," Miriam said. "Tessa, call the police."
The front door opened. The taller man scanned the booths and stopped when he saw me.
"Emily Bennett? Your father wants a word."
"He can call my attorney."
"He tried."
"Then he has her number."
The man took another step. The waitress, a tough woman with a tattoo of a hummingbird, planted herself between us.
"You ordering food?" she asked.
"Move, ma'am."
"That wasn't an answer."
The second man reached toward Tessa's camera. She pulled it back. His hand struck her shoulder, hard enough to knock her against the counter. Dr. Shah shouted. Chairs scraped. For one horrible second I was back in the graduation courtyard, watching an adult use his size to decide who got to speak.
I grabbed the metal coffee pot and held it between us. "Back up. The police are coming."
He saw the camera above the register and stepped away.
"Tell Richard," I said, "I'm not going anywhere with you."
They left without another word. Through the window I saw Maya take a picture of the license plate. A police cruiser arrived as the sedan sped away.
My legs started shaking after they were gone. Tessa rubbed her shoulder. "That was a great way to get free coffee," she muttered, then winced.
We gave statements. Miriam asked the officer to preserve the diner footage and documented Tessa's injury. Nothing could make the men vanish from my memory, but now they were on record.
That night Lena sent the inventory through a secure link. Each barrel had a weight, a date, and a destination that didn't exist. Across the top of the final page, somebody had written HOLD UNTIL AFTER BURN.
Below it were two initials: R.B.
Tessa called me at midnight. "I found Otis Bell. He's been living under his mother's last name. Miriam has reached his attorney."
"Is he willing to talk?"
"He says he kept the dispatch tape from the night of the fire."
May you like
"Then what's the problem?"
Tessa went quiet. "He says the tape includes a second voice. Someone you know."
