Chapter 6 - Why Mara Took the Job.
Mara had imagined this conversation hundreds of times, but she had always pictured herself choosing when to have it.
She had never imagined standing in a restaurant corridor with a photograph of her missing sister in one hand and a stranger’s suspicion in front of her.
Ethan waited.
Victor looked between them.
Mara folded the photograph carefully and put it into her pocket.
“I took this job because of Claire.”
Ethan’s face revealed nothing.
“That part I assumed.”
“I didn’t apply under false information.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
Mara looked directly at him.
“I came here to find out what happened to her.”
Victor let out a slow breath.
“You should have told me.”
Mara turned on him.
“You knew she left and never told me.”
“That was her decision.”
“So was mine.”
Ethan raised a hand slightly.
“Both of you can be angry later.”
His tone was not loud.
It was enough.
“What did you do after you were hired?”
Mara answered honestly.
“I watched.”
“For what?”
“Anything connected to Northstar.”
“Did you access records you weren’t authorized to access?”
“No.”
“Did you steal documents?”
“No.”
“Did you photograph anything?”
Mara hesitated.
Ethan noticed.
“What?”
“Delivery labels.”
Victor stared at her.
“Which labels?”
“Boxes that came through receiving without purchase-order numbers.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“How many?”
“Maybe twenty over three months.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because half of them had your initials on the receiving sheet.”
Victor went silent.
Ethan turned toward him.
“Did you sign them?”
“Some.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why would you sign deliveries without purchase orders?”
“Because Serena said they were private-event materials.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“You believed her every time?”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“Not every time.”
Ethan caught the distinction.
“What happened when you stopped believing her?”
Victor did not answer.
Mara knew he had another secret.
Ethan knew it too.
The three of them stood there until footsteps sounded from the kitchen.
A young busser named Owen Reyes rounded the corner carrying a stack of folded linens.
He stopped when he saw them.
“Sorry.”
Mara noticed his face.
He looked nervous.
“Owen.”
He glanced at her.
“Yeah?”
“Were you working the private hallway tonight?”
His eyes moved to Victor.
Victor said nothing.
“Just for a few minutes.”
“Did you see anyone come in from the bar entrance?”
Owen shifted the linens against his chest.
“Maybe.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“I’m not asking you to accuse anyone.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone who was sitting at Table Twelve.”
Owen’s expression changed immediately.
He knew.
Mara felt it.
“What did you see?” she asked.
Owen swallowed.
“A guy in a suit.”
“What did he do?”
“He had one of those little silver carts.”
Victor frowned.
“What silver cart?”
“The service cart from Private Room Three.”
“That cart was in storage.”
Owen shook his head.
“Not tonight.”
Ethan glanced at Mara.
“What was on it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you see his face?”
“Not really.”
“Anything else?”
Owen looked at Ethan’s cuff.
Then at the phone in Ethan’s hand.
“He had cuff links like those guys who came for the corporate dinner last month.”
Ethan’s expression tightened.
“Rectangular silver ones?”
Owen nodded.
Mara felt the circle closing around Daniel.
“Where did he take the cart?”
“Toward the kitchen pass.”
“When?”
“Right before the cameras went weird.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You knew the cameras went out?”
Owen looked instantly regretful.
“Everybody knew.”
“Why?”
“Because Serena told us not to use the employee hallway until she said it was clear.”
Mara stared at Victor.
Victor stared at Owen.
Ethan spoke first.
“What exactly did Serena say?”
Owen looked down at the linens.
“She said there was a systems test.”
“Did she say why a systems test meant the hallway had to be empty?”
“No.”
“Did that happen before?”
Owen hesitated.
“Once.”
Mara’s pulse quickened.
“When?”
“Last winter.”
“Who was dining here?” Victor asked.
Owen thought for a moment.
“That tech billionaire from Seattle.”
Ethan knew the name immediately.
Marcus Vale had collapsed during a private dinner six months earlier, and his company had delayed a merger vote for almost a month afterward.
The incident had been reported as a severe food reaction.
Ethan felt the room become smaller.
“Did he sit at Table Twelve?”
Owen shook his head.
“Private Room Three.”
“The same room the silver cart came from tonight,” Mara said.
Owen nodded.
Victor looked sick.
Mara turned to him.
“You knew about that dinner.”
“I cooked it.”
“Was there a blue mark?”
Victor’s silence answered before his words did.
“Yes.”
Mara took a step back.
Ethan’s suspicion hardened into something colder.
“So this has happened before.”
Victor looked at him.
“I never knew what was done to the plate.”
“But you knew something was wrong.”
“I knew after.”
“And you said nothing.”
Victor’s voice dropped.
“I was told my daughter’s school address would become public if I made trouble.”
Mara’s anger faltered.
Victor looked away.
“I chose my family.”
Ethan stared at him.
“And tonight someone chose me.”
Owen shifted nervously.
“There’s something else.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“The man with the cart dropped a receipt.”
“Do you still have it?” Mara asked.
Owen nodded.
“I thought it was trash.”
He reached into his pocket and unfolded a narrow strip of paper.
At the top was Aurelia’s logo.
At the bottom was a corporate billing code.
Ethan recognized the first four digits.
May you like
It belonged to Cole Meridian.
But the account listed beside it had been closed three years ago.
