Chapter 2 - THE MAN AT TABLE TWELVE
“Vincent?”
Malcolm Reed’s voice pulled him back to the restaurant.
Vincent lowered the purple note beneath the table.
Gavin Shaw leaned forward.
“What did the kid give you?”
Vincent looked at him.
For seventeen years, Gavin had been close enough to know when Vincent Calder was angry.
What Gavin did not know was that anger was not what Vincent felt now.
Anger was hot.
This was cold.
“Nothing important.”
Vincent folded the paper once more and slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Then he looked across Bellweather Grill.
Ellie had returned to table twelve.
The man in the navy suit rested one hand against the back of her chair.
The little girl sat completely still.
The woman beside her had not touched her food.
Vincent pushed his plate away.
“Malcolm.”
“Yes?”
“Have someone close the front door.”
Gavin frowned.
“Why?”
Vincent did not look at him.
“And the kitchen exit.”
Malcolm studied Vincent’s face for half a second.
Then he understood something serious had happened.
He took out his phone.
“Quietly?”
“Very.”
Gavin sat straighter.
“Vincent, what’s going on?”
“Dinner.”
“You just stopped eating.”
“I lost my appetite.”
Across the room, the man at table twelve signaled for the check.
Vincent stood.
Every server in the restaurant noticed.
So did the maître d’.
So did half the customers.
When Vincent Calder stood unexpectedly, people who knew his reputation tended to remember urgent appointments elsewhere.
Vincent walked toward table twelve.
Malcolm followed.
Gavin hesitated.
Then came after them.
The man in the navy suit saw Vincent approaching and stood with a polite smile.
“Mr. Calder.”
Vincent stopped beside the table.
“Do I know you?”
“Derek Sloan.”
The name meant nothing immediately.
But Derek knew his.
That mattered.
“This is my fiancée, Nora Harper.”
Nora looked up.
Her eyes were gray.
Exhausted.
Ellie stared at Vincent as if trying not to breathe.
Derek placed a hand on her shoulder.
“And this little troublemaker is Ellie.”
Ellie flinched again.
Vincent looked at the hand.
“Take your hand off her.”
Derek’s smile weakened.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
The restaurant became quieter.
Derek removed his hand.
“Is there a problem?”
Vincent pulled out the empty chair opposite Nora and sat.
“Yes.”
Derek glanced around.
“I’m afraid we’re leaving.”
“No.”
A tiny muscle moved in Derek’s jaw.
“No?”
Vincent leaned back.
“Nobody leaves Bellweather until I say they leave.”
Gavin stepped closer.
“Vincent.”
“Stay out of this.”
Gavin stopped.
Derek gave a nervous laugh.
“I’m not sure what kind of misunderstanding this is.”
Vincent looked at Ellie.
“Where are you going tonight?”
The little girl’s eyes moved toward Derek.
Derek answered.
“Home.”
Vincent never looked away from Ellie.
“I asked her.”
Derek’s voice sharpened.
“She’s a child.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m responsible for her.”
That finally made Ellie speak.
“No, you’re not.”
Derek looked down.
“Ellie.”
“You’re not my dad.”
Nora closed her eyes.
Vincent’s gaze shifted to her.
“Is he?”
“No.”
Her answer was barely louder than a breath.
Derek stared at Nora.
A warning lived in that look.
Vincent had seen it before.
Twenty-four years earlier.
Angela.
His sister had looked at her boyfriend exactly that way.
“Who is Ellie’s father?” Vincent asked.
Nora swallowed.
“He died six years ago.”
Derek pushed his chair back.
“That is enough.”
Vincent remained seated.
“What phones did you take?”
Derek froze.
Nora looked at Vincent.
Ellie’s mouth opened slightly.
Gavin said, “What phones?”
Vincent removed the purple note.
Derek stared at it.
And for the first time, the friendliness vanished completely.
“You went through a child’s private property?”
Ellie whispered, “I gave it to him.”
Derek’s face changed.
Nora grabbed Ellie’s hand.
Vincent unfolded the note and placed it on the table.
Malcolm read it.
His expression hardened.
Gavin stepped forward.
“Vincent, we don’t know what’s happening here.”
“No,” Vincent said. “You don’t.”
Something about the way Gavin’s eyes moved toward Derek bothered him.
Too quick.
Too familiar.
Vincent stored it away.
Derek lifted both hands.
“My fiancée has been under enormous stress. Her daughter has behavioral issues.”
Ellie’s cheeks went red.
“I do not.”
“No,” Vincent said. “You don’t.”
Derek looked at him.
“You don’t know these people.”
“I know she asked me not to let you take her.”
“And you believe a nine-year-old over an adult?”
“Yes.”
The answer came so quickly that Nora looked stunned.
Derek’s face darkened.
“You have no authority over my family.”
Vincent stood.
He was not the tallest man in the restaurant.
He did not need to be.
“I’m going to explain what happens next.”
Derek said nothing.
“Nora and Ellie are going to leave this restaurant through a private exit.”
“No.”
Vincent continued as though Derek had not spoken.
“They’re going somewhere you do not know.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Then call the police.”
That seemed to surprise everyone.
Especially Gavin.
“Vincent.”
Vincent glanced at him.
“Problem?”
Gavin lowered his voice.
“You don’t want police here.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
Malcolm looked between them.
Derek pulled out his phone.
Then remembered something.
He had taken Nora’s and Ellie’s phones.
His own remained in his pocket.
Vincent nodded toward it.
“Go ahead.”
Derek hesitated.
Interesting.
“If I’m kidnapping your family,” Vincent said, “call 911.”
Nothing.
“Tell them Vincent Calder is refusing to allow a frightened child to leave with you.”
Derek’s fingers curled.
“You think your reputation makes you untouchable.”
“No.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“I think your refusal to call the police tells me more than you intended.”
Nora suddenly stood.
“Derek has Ellie’s passport.”
Silence.
Derek turned toward her.
“Nora.”
“He took mine too.”
“Nora, shut up.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
Derek realized his mistake immediately.
Too late.
Nora’s voice trembled.
“He said we were going to Montreal tonight. Then somewhere else.”
“Why?”
She looked toward Gavin.
It lasted less than a second.
But Vincent saw it.
So did Malcolm.
Nora quickly looked away.
Derek grabbed her wrist.
Vincent caught Derek’s hand before his fingers closed.
The room stopped breathing.
Vincent’s voice dropped.
“Do that again.”
Derek went pale.
Vincent released him.
Malcolm moved Nora and Ellie behind him.
At that moment, two of Bellweather’s security men appeared near the bar.
Vincent had not called them.
The maître d’ had.
Derek looked toward the exits.
Then at Gavin.
Again.
There.
That was not coincidence.
Vincent turned slowly toward his second-in-command.
“You know him.”
Gavin gave a short laugh.
“Who?”
“Him.”
“I’ve met hundreds of people.”
Derek said quickly, “I don’t know this man.”
Vincent smiled without warmth.
“I didn’t ask you.”
Gavin’s face remained composed.
“We may have crossed paths.”
“Where?”
“I don’t remember.”
Nora whispered, “I do.”
Every eye turned toward her.
Derek’s face emptied.
Nora was shaking now.
But she kept speaking.
“Calder Freight.”
Vincent did not move.
“What?”
“I worked in accounts payable at Calder Freight.”
He remembered her name now.
Not her face.
Nora Harper had been part of an internal accounting team eighteen months earlier.
She had resigned suddenly.
“Why did you leave?”
Nora looked at Gavin.
“I didn’t.”
Gavin’s mouth tightened.
“I was fired.”
“By whom?”
No one answered.
Nora did.
“Him.”
She pointed at Gavin.
Derek moved.
Fast.
He reached inside his jacket.
Vincent’s security reacted faster.
A guard slammed Derek against the table.
Plates crashed.
Customers screamed.
A small handgun hit the floor.
Ellie buried her face against her mother.
Vincent looked at the weapon.
Then at Gavin.
Gavin took one step backward.
“You think that has something to do with me?”
Vincent stared at the man he had trusted for seventeen years.
“No.”
He buttoned his jacket.
“I think the next ten minutes are going to tell me whether it does.”
Then Vincent did the first thing no one in Bellweather Grill expected.
He took out his phone.
Dialed 911 himself.
And said, clearly enough for Gavin to hear every word:
“My name is Vincent Calder. There is an armed man threatening a woman and a nine-year-old child at Bellweather Grill.”
Gavin’s face changed.
Vincent watched it happen.
And suddenly he knew.
May you like
Whatever Nora Harper had discovered at Calder Freight had not ended when she was fired.
It had followed her daughter into a restaurant with a purple crayon.
