Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Came Before Him
Hannah turned.
Millie stood in the doorway.
The older woman's face went pale when she saw the open locker.
“Hannah.”
“You knew.”
Millie closed the door.
“Put the envelope down.”
“Vincent's wife left this here.”
“I know.”
“You told me you'd never met her.”
“I lied.”
The admission came without defense.
Hannah stared at the woman who had employed her for three years.
“Why?”
“Because Elena asked me to.”
Millie walked toward the locker.
“She came here seventeen nights ago. Around one in the morning. Lucia was with her.”
Hannah looked at the folded blanket.
“What happened?”
“She was terrified.”
Millie sat.
For the first time Hannah could remember, her boss looked old.
“Elena used to work here.”
“What?”
“Years ago. Before you.”
Millie nodded.
“Before Vincent. Before the money. Before any of it.”
Hannah lowered herself into the other chair.
Millie explained.
Elena Russo had been twenty-three when she started working nights at Millie's.
She was funny, stubborn, and saving for nursing school.
Vincent Moretti had been twenty-eight and far from powerful.
He came in after working at his father's warehouse.
Coffee.
Two eggs.
Toast.
Same booth.
Seven.
“They fell in love here?” Hannah asked.
Millie smiled sadly.
“Pretty much.”
“Then why didn't you tell him she came back?”
“Because she made me promise.”
“She's missing.”
“I know.”
“Then promises change.”
Millie's eyes hardened.
“You don't understand what she was afraid of.”
“Then explain it.”
Millie looked toward the envelope.
“Elena said someone inside Vincent's organization had been moving money through companies she didn't recognize. She found records. Names. Payments.”
“Luca?”
“She didn't know.”
“But her voicemail said not to trust him.”
Millie frowned.
“You heard the voicemail?”
“Vincent told me.”
Millie stood suddenly.
“Then it's worse than I thought.”
“Why?”
“Elena didn't distrust Luca.”
Hannah stared.
“What?”
“She trusted him more than anyone except Vincent.”
“Then why tell Vincent not to trust him?”
“I don't know.”
The answer landed badly.
Hannah picked up the envelope.
“We need to give this to Vincent.”
Millie caught her wrist.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena specifically said he couldn't have it until someone came asking about his return.”
Hannah went still.
“Two men did.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
Millie released her.
“What did they look like?”
Hannah described Gabriel.
Millie's face drained.
“You know him.”
“I know who he is.”
“Who?”
“Elena's brother.”
Hannah stared at her.
Gabriel wasn't merely Vincent's former employee.
He was family.
Everything shifted.
“Why would Elena's brother be looking for Vincent?”
“I don't know.”
Hannah thought of Gabriel's words.
What happened to Elena wasn't supposed to happen.
She opened her apron and removed the receipts.
Millie stared.
“What are those?”
“Every time Vincent came in. Every person who watched him. Every time somebody asked questions.”
Hannah spread them across the desk.
Millie read.
Her expression changed.
“You've been documenting this?”
“I didn't know what else to do.”
Millie picked up one receipt.
Then another.
“Look.”
“What?”
“These dates.”
Hannah looked.
Millie pointed.
“Vincent came every four nights.”
“Yes.”
“Except here.”
One visit had occurred after three nights.
Hannah remembered it.
Lucia had been sick.
Vincent arrived at 1:52 A.M.
No watchers appeared until 2:55.
More than an hour later.
“That proves they didn't follow him,” Hannah said.
“They expected him at 2:37.”
“Someone gave them his routine.”
Millie nodded.
“And when he changed it unexpectedly, they didn't know.”
Hannah looked again at Elena's envelope.
“We call Vincent.”
Millie shook her head.
“We call Detective Sarah Cole.”
“Who?”
“The detective Elena trusted.”
Before Hannah could respond, a loud crash came from the dining room.
They froze.
Ernesto shouted.
Hannah ran out.
A chair had fallen.
A man stood near booth seven.
Not Gabriel.
Not one of Vincent's guards.
He wore a gray jacket and baseball cap.
He had been reaching beneath the table.
For the key.
He saw Hannah.
Then he ran.
Ernesto tried to block him.
The man shoved past and disappeared through the front door.
Hannah rushed to the window.
A black SUV sped away.
Millie came behind her.
“He knew where the key was.”
Hannah's stomach dropped.
Only a handful of people could have known.
Elena.
Millie.
Now Hannah.
And whoever Elena had feared.
The diner phone rang.
Hannah answered.
No one spoke.
“Hello?”
Breathing.
Then a distorted male voice.
“You opened the wrong locker.”
The line went dead.
Hannah looked at Millie.
Millie immediately locked the front door.
“We're calling the police.”
Twenty minutes later, Detective Sarah Cole arrived.
She was in her forties, calm-eyed, wearing jeans beneath a long coat.
She listened without interruption.
Then Hannah gave her the envelope.
Cole photographed it before opening it.
Inside were photocopies of financial transfers.
A memory card.
And a handwritten letter.
Vincent,
If you're reading this, I couldn't tell you in person.
Someone close to you has been using your name.
Someone close enough to know where you sleep, where you eat, and where you take Lucia.
I thought it was Luca.
I was wrong.
Hannah looked at Vincent's receipts.
The letter continued.
The person you're looking for will know about Millie's.
But there is one thing he does not know.
I kept the original ledger somewhere only you and I would understand.
Remember where you first promised me you would leave your father's world behind.
E.
Detective Cole looked at Millie.
“Where did Vincent make that promise?”
Millie slowly turned toward booth seven.
Hannah's heart started pounding.
They moved the table.
Nothing.
They checked beneath the booth.
Nothing.
Then Hannah noticed something carved into the wooden wall panel.
Two initials.
V + E.
Beneath them was a tiny brass screw.
Cole removed it.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside was a black notebook.
Millie whispered, “That's it.”
Cole reached toward it.
Then headlights flooded the windows.
Three black vehicles stopped outside.
Vincent stepped from the first.
Luca stepped from the second.
May you like
And from the third vehicle emerged Gabriel.
All three men were walking toward the same locked door.
