Chapter 2 - THE NAME ON THE CAR THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE EXISTED
“What happened?”
Adrian Rourke’s voice was controlled, but Lena heard something beneath it that the rest of the restaurant probably missed.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For Evelyn.
Lena looked at the older woman first.
Is it okay if I tell him?
Evelyn nodded.
Tell him everything.
So Lena did.
She explained the sedan, the stranger pretending to be a family driver, the missing front plate, the second man behind the wheel, and the way the first man had tried to take Evelyn by the arm after realizing she could not hear him.
Adrian did not interrupt once.
That surprised her.
Men with his kind of reputation usually seemed addicted to their own voices.
When she finished, Adrian turned toward Evelyn.
Did they hurt you?
No.
Did either man show you a weapon?
No.
Did they ask you to sign anything?
Evelyn hesitated.
Lena noticed.
So did Adrian.
Mother?
Before the car came, a man called the restaurant.
Adrian frowned.
You answered a telephone?
Evelyn gave him the look only mothers could give adult sons.
The hostess gave me a note.
Lena turned toward Tessa.
Her manager had been standing near the service station pretending to reorganize silverware while watching everything.
“What note?”
Tessa stiffened.
“I don’t know what she means.”
Evelyn opened her handbag and removed a folded piece of paper.
MRS. ROURKE—YOUR SON’S DRIVER IS DELAYED. PLEASE WAIT OUTSIDE UNDER THE AWNING. A SUBSTITUTE VEHICLE WILL ARRIVE.
No signature.
Adrian read it once.
Then again.
His face did not change.
That was somehow worse than anger.
“Who handed this to my mother?”
Tessa looked toward the hostess station.
“Probably Chloe.”
A nineteen-year-old hostess named Chloe went pale.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“I didn’t write it.”
“Did you give it to her?” Adrian asked.
Chloe swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“A man.”
“What man?”
“He said he worked for Mr. Rourke.”
Adrian’s security men moved closer.
Chloe began shaking.
“I’m sorry. He knew Mrs. Rourke’s name. He knew she was Deaf. He said Daniel had been delayed because of an accident downtown.”
At that exact moment, one of Adrian’s men returned from outside.
“Mr. Rourke.”
Adrian turned.
“Daniel’s been found.”
Evelyn rose so quickly her tea nearly spilled.
Where?
The security man signed poorly.
Hospital.
Adrian corrected him in fluent ASL.
He is alive.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Lena saw relief pass through her whole body.
“What happened to him?” Adrian asked.
“Police found him unconscious in the lower level of a parking garage near Lincoln Park. His car is missing.”
“Condition?”
“Stable. He has no memory yet of what happened after he stopped for coffee.”
Drugged, Lena thought.
She did not say it.
Adrian already looked as though he had arrived at the same possibility.
He turned toward another man.
“Marcus, coordinate with Chicago PD. Nobody from our private security team touches Daniel’s vehicle if they find it until police process it.”
That surprised Lena too.
No shadowy cleanup.
No private retaliation.
Procedure.
Marcus nodded.
Adrian looked at Lena again.
“You said the sedan had no front plate.”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“Black. Probably Mercedes or BMW. Large sedan.”
“That describes half the Loop.”
“I know.”
“Driver?”
“Baseball cap. Male. Maybe forties. I barely saw him.”
“The man outside?”
“Late thirties or early forties. Around six feet. Brown hair. Scar near his chin.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“Scar?”
“Small. Left side.”
Marcus looked at Adrian.
They knew something.
Lena caught it.
“What?”
Adrian did not answer immediately.
That annoyed her.
“You asked me to tell you everything.”
“I know.”
“Then do the same.”
A strange silence settled between them.
Evelyn watched with obvious interest.
Finally Adrian said:
“I know a man matching that description.”
“Who?”
“Sean Bell.”
“Family driver?”
“No.”
“What?”
“Former security contractor.”
“Former?”
“I fired him eighteen months ago.”
“Why?”
“Extortion.”
Lena stared.
“Against you?”
“Against one of my executives.”
“And now he tried to take your mother?”
“We don’t know that yet.”
Good.
He did not convert suspicion into fact.
Then Marcus returned his attention to the restaurant staff.
“We need security footage.”
Tessa immediately stepped forward.
“Our cameras are private property.”
Adrian looked at her.
Marcus said calmly:
“Police will request it.”
“Oh.”
That removed most of her courage.
Then she turned toward Lena.
“You still have tables.”
Lena stared.
“What?”
“You abandoned your section.”
“Someone was being forced into a car.”
“And now she’s safe.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
She could not hear the words, but she had no trouble reading the room.
Lena glanced at the shattered glass she had left on the floor.
She knew what was coming.
Tessa enjoyed rules most when they gave her permission to punish someone.
“Finish your shift,” Tessa said. “Then we’ll discuss whether you still have a job.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“No.”
Lena immediately looked at him.
He looked back.
Tessa’s eyebrows rose.
“Excuse me?”
Adrian said:
“Ms. Harper is helping police identify the man who attempted to take my mother.”
“She works for me.”
Lena felt irritation rise.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked at Adrian.
“I work for the restaurant.”
His face hardened slightly.
“Not tonight.”
“You don’t decide that.”
Evelyn smiled.
Actually smiled.
Adrian looked toward his mother.
She signed:
I like her.
Lena almost laughed.
Adrian exhaled.
Then looked at Tessa.
“May she leave?”
Tessa seemed delighted to reclaim authority.
“Yes.”
Lena removed her apron.
Tessa added:
“Permanently.”
The room went quiet.
Lena stared.
“You’re firing me?”
“You endangered the restaurant, abandoned customers, broke glass, and created a public disturbance.”
“A man tried to abduct a Deaf woman outside your door.”
“And you had options other than running outside.”
“Such as?”
“Getting a manager.”
Lena laughed once.
“You?”
Tessa’s face hardened.
“Turn in your key.”
Fine.
Lena untied the apron fully.
She had rent due in eight days.
Her younger brother’s tuition payment due next month.
A credit-card balance she had been pretending did not scare her.
None of that changed the answer.
She handed Tessa the key.
“Good luck finding another waitress willing to ignore an abduction because table twelve needs sparkling water.”
Then she went to gather her coat.
Adrian followed.
“Ms. Harper.”
“No.”
He stopped.
She turned.
“I know what you’re about to do.”
“What?”
“Offer me money.”
His silence confirmed it.
“I don’t want it.”
“You lost your job because you helped my mother.”
“I lost my job because my manager is an idiot.”
From the booth, Evelyn signed:
Correct.
Lena smiled despite herself.
Adrian did not.
“I can compensate you.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because helping someone does not create an invoice.”
Something in his expression changed.
Very slightly.
Perhaps nobody spoke to him like that.
Good.
Then Marcus approached.
“CPD is outside.”
Police took statements.
They photographed the note.
Collected restaurant footage.
Asked Lena the same questions three different ways.
She answered.
Evelyn did too through a certified video interpreter the department arranged remotely after Lena insisted.
Adrian noticed that.
“You could have interpreted.”
“I’m not certified for police work.”
“You sign fluently.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Again that almost-imperceptible shift.
He was learning something.
Maybe.
Two hours later, Lena finally stepped outside.
The rain had weakened to mist.
Her bus would arrive in nine minutes.
A black SUV waited at the curb.
Adrian stood beside it.
“No.”
“I haven’t asked anything.”
“The answer is still no.”
His mouth almost moved toward a smile.
“My mother wants to speak to you.”
That changed things.
Evelyn sat inside.
Lena leaned toward the open door.
You should go to the hospital, she signed.
Soon.
Then Evelyn took Lena’s hand.
Not tightly.
Thank you.
You already said that.
Not enough.
Lena’s throat tightened.
My son thinks money fixes everything.
Adrian saw.
“Mother.”
Evelyn ignored him.
He will offer you a job next.
Lena looked at him.
“Was that the plan?”
“No.”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
Adrian amended:
“Not exactly.”
Lena laughed.
Evelyn continued.
Come see me tomorrow.
Why?
Because I want to know why a waitress on Belmont Avenue knows better ASL than half my household staff.
That was fair.
“My brother is Deaf.”
Evelyn’s face softened.
Tomorrow.
Lena hesitated.
Then nodded.
One hour.
Adrian looked relieved, which was ridiculous.
“Marcus will send a car.”
“No.”
“Lena.”
“Bus.”
His jaw tightened.
Evelyn signed to him:
Do not start.
Lena laughed again.
The bus arrived.
She climbed aboard.
From the window she watched the three black SUVs pull away toward the hospital.
Twenty minutes later, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Chicago Police.
“Ms. Harper?”
“Yes.”
“We located the sedan from the restaurant.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Where?”
“Abandoned near a warehouse on Goose Island.”
“Did you find the men?”
“No.”
Then the detective continued.
“We traced the vehicle registration.”
Lena gripped the metal pole beside her.
“To who?”
“A corporate fleet company.”
“Which one?”
There was a pause.
“Rourke Holdings.”
Lena stared out at the wet city.
The car that had almost taken Evelyn Rourke belonged to her own son’s empire.
May you like
And suddenly the most frightening possibility was no longer that Adrian Rourke had enemies.
It was that one of them was already standing inside his house.
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