Chapter 7 - The Cousin's Betrayal and the Kidnapping
By evening, they had obtained Dean’s archived register files through a subpoena Rebecca arranged.
Claire searched transactions from the date of Caleb’s recording.
There were hundreds.
Then she found something strange.
At 11:43 p.m., long after the diner closed, a one dollar charge had been attempted.
Declined.
Three times.
The cardholder name was Caleb Warren.
Roman leaned over her shoulder.
“He wanted the transaction recorded.”
Claire nodded.
“Why?”
Diane whispered, “To prove he was there.”
“No.”
Claire enlarged the record.
“He wanted someone to think this proves he was there.”
Rebecca studied her.
“What do you see?”
“The card was keyed manually.”
Claire pointed.
“No chip.”
“No swipe.”
“No signature.”
“Anyone with his card number could have done it.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“Dean.”
Claire looked toward him.
Her manager had gone pale when Roman entered the diner that morning.
He had released Claire without asking why.
He knew Roman.
He also had administrator access to the register system.
Claire remembered something else.
Dean’s last name.
Mercer.
Claire turned slowly.
“Roman.”
He already knew what she was going to ask.
“Dean is my cousin.”
Diane stared.
Claire felt rage rise so fast it almost made her dizzy.
“You put your cousin in my diner?”
“Yes.”
“To watch me?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Eleven years.”
Claire stood.
“You let me work for the man you assigned to spy on me.”
“I assigned him to protect you.”
“He paid me three dollars above minimum wage and moved me out of camera shots because he thought I looked wrong at the front of his diner.”
Roman went still.
Diane closed her eyes.
Rebecca looked furious on Claire’s behalf.
Roman said quietly, “I did not know that.”
“That sentence is becoming a problem.”
Claire walked away from the table.
Roman followed two steps.
She turned.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
That mattered too.
Claire pressed both hands against the kitchen counter.
She was tired of discovering that every ordinary part of her life had invisible hands behind it.
Her father.
Her mother.
Roman.
Dean.
People who claimed to protect her while deciding what she deserved to know.
Rebecca approached.
“There is another possibility.”
Claire looked at her.
“If Dean was Roman’s watcher, Caleb may have discovered him years ago.”
“And turned him?”
“Or replaced his loyalty.”
Roman’s phone rang.
Dean.
Everyone looked at it.
Roman answered on speaker.
“Where are you?”
Dean sounded terrified.
“They took Marty.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
The cook.
“What?”
Dean continued.
“Two men came back after the police left.”
“They wanted Claire’s schedule.”
“I told them I didn’t know where she was.”
“They took Marty instead.”
Roman asked, “What do they want?”
Dean’s breathing trembled.
“The silver key.”
Claire touched her necklace.
Dean continued.
“They said midnight.”
“Pier Nine.”
“Claire comes alone.”
“Or Marty dies.”
Roman ended the call.
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
“You don’t get to decide.”
“I know.”
The answer irritated her more than an order would have.
Roman continued.
“But I can tell you it is a trap.”
May you like
“Obviously.”
Rebecca said, “Which means nobody is going alone.”
