Chapter 2 - THE BOTTLE THAT NEVER BELONGED THERE
Gabriel Moretti looked at Vincent.
“And if she’s right?”
Vincent’s expression tightened.
Nobody answered.
Gabriel turned back to Mara.
“Then we find out who expected me to drink it.”
For the first time since Mara had worked at the Halcyon Club, Vincent Keller had absolutely nothing to say.
Marcus returned from the cellar eleven minutes later carrying the bourbon inside a clear evidence bag.
He placed it on the service counter.
“The bottle was opened and resealed.”
Vincent’s face lost color.
Mara folded her arms.
“I told you.”
Marcus ignored her satisfaction.
“Cork has two puncture marks underneath the wax. Something was injected through it.”
Tessa whispered, “Oh, God.”
Gabriel’s eyes stayed on the bottle.
“Poison?”
“Unknown.”
Marcus had already called someone to collect it for testing.
Gabriel turned toward Vincent.
“Who handled the bottle?”
“The distributor.”
“After delivery.”
Vincent swallowed.
“Receiving staff.”
“Names.”
“Mara signed the afternoon liquor count.”
Vincent said it too quickly.
Mara stared at him.
Tessa stepped forward.
“She signed the count before that bottle showed up.”
Vincent looked at her.
“You don’t know that.”
“I was standing beside her.”
Mara felt the room tighten.
Gabriel noticed.
“What time did the bottle arrive?”
Mara answered.
“Delivery card says 3:31.”
“And when did you count inventory?”
“2:55.”
Vincent rubbed his jaw.
“Then I remembered incorrectly.”
That might have ended the suspicion.
Except Mara remembered something else.
“The delivery card is wrong too.”
Marcus looked at her.
“How?”
“Franklin Reserve doesn’t deliver through the service elevator on Mondays.”
Vincent gave a frustrated laugh.
“Now you’re an expert on delivery schedules?”
“No.”
Mara pointed toward the hallway.
“I’m the person who stands in that corridor every afternoon.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“Franklin comes Tuesdays and Fridays. If there’s a special release, they send one driver named Arthur. Gray beard, red clipboard, complains about our loading dock every single time.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“Was Arthur here?”
“No.”
“Who was?”
Mara closed her eyes.
She replayed the afternoon.
Cases of Burgundy.
Mineral water.
Linen carts.
The missing napkins.
A man rolling two wine boxes past the kitchen.
Navy delivery jacket.
Baseball cap.
Nothing memorable.
That was the problem.
“I saw somebody.”
Marcus became still.
“Describe him.”
“Mid-thirties, maybe forty. Dark hair. Navy jacket.”
“That’s half Chicago.”
“I know.”
“What else?”
Mara thought harder.
Then she saw it.
Not his face.
His hand.
“He wore a watch over his sleeve.”
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
“Big black watch. Outside the cuff of his jacket.”
Tessa made a face.
“Who wears a watch like that?”
“Someone who checks time without pushing up a sleeve.”
Gabriel studied Mara.
“You noticed that?”
“I notice people who don’t behave like the job they’re pretending to do.”
Vincent laughed under his breath.
Mara turned.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No. Say it.”
“You’ve known Mr. Moretti for eight minutes and suddenly you’re running an investigation.”
Gabriel’s voice dropped.
“She noticed my bottle had been tampered with while you were preparing to serve it.”
Vincent went quiet.
Gabriel looked at Mara.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
She walked toward the service corridor.
The others followed.
At the loading entrance, she pointed to the brass push plate beside the door.
A faint crescent of white wax clung near the bottom edge.
Mara scraped it gently with her fingernail.
“Same color.”
Marcus stared at it.
“The bottle was resealed here?”
“Maybe.”
“Why here?”
“Because the kitchen cameras don’t see this corner.”
Vincent looked at her sharply.
“They do.”
“No.”
She pointed upward.
“The linen cart blocks the camera every Monday afternoon.”
Tessa stared.
“It does.”
Mara nodded.
“Because housekeeping leaves clean banquet linen there before upstairs setup.”
Gabriel looked toward Marcus.
Marcus’s expression said he had just learned something he hated.
Somebody hadn’t merely slipped into the Halcyon Club.
Somebody knew its rhythms.
Its blind spots.
Its boring little routines.
The things executives rarely saw.
Gabriel faced Vincent.
“Give Marcus security footage, employee schedules, receiving logs.”
Vincent looked offended.
“You’re not law enforcement.”
“No.”
Gabriel paused.
“That is why I asked politely.”
Vincent disappeared toward the office.
Tessa waited until he was gone.
“I’m never complaining about Mondays again.”
Mara didn’t smile.
Her phone vibrated.
Caleb.
Again.
She nearly ignored it.
Then the message appeared.
I think I screwed up really bad.
Mara’s stomach tightened.
Gabriel noticed.
“Problem?”
“My brother.”
“Related?”
“No.”
She hoped.
Another message arrived.
That delivery job I told you about? They had me bring something to Halcyon today.
Mara stopped breathing.
Gabriel saw her face change.
“What did he say?”
She showed him.
Marcus immediately held out his hand.
“Call him.”
Mara did.
Caleb answered on the first ring.
“Mara?”
“What did you bring here?”
Silence.
“Caleb.”
“A box.”
“What box?”
“I didn’t open it.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“A guy from this courier app.”
“What app?”
“It wasn’t exactly an app.”
Mara closed her eyes.
Of course it wasn’t.
Gabriel stepped closer but stayed silent.
Caleb continued.
“I owed somebody money.”
“How much?”
“Mara—”
“How much?”
“Four thousand.”
Her chest went cold.
“You told me the payday loan was finished.”
“It was. This is different.”
“What did they ask you to do?”
“Deliver packages.”
“To where?”
“Restaurants. Hotels. Warehouses.”
Marcus and Gabriel exchanged a look.
Mara noticed.
“Which warehouses?”
“I don’t know.”
“Caleb.”
“I don’t know, okay? They send addresses.”
“Who is they?”
“He calls himself Reece.”
Gabriel’s expression changed slightly.
Marcus caught it.
Mara did too.
“You know that name.”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
Caleb said, “Mara?”
“What did you bring to Halcyon?”
“A box marked Franklin Reserve.”
Her hand tightened around the phone.
“Did you come inside?”
“No. A guy met me in the alley.”
“What guy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
Caleb breathed hard.
“He had a watch.”
Mara looked at Gabriel.
“What kind?”
“Big black thing. Wore it over his jacket.”
Every sound in the corridor seemed to disappear.
“Caleb, listen to me. Go home.”
“I am home.”
“Lock the door. Don’t answer anyone.”
“Mara, you’re scaring me.”
“Good. Stay scared for twenty minutes.”
She ended the call.
Gabriel was already speaking to Marcus.
“Send two people.”
Marcus nodded.
Mara stepped in front of him.
“No.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“My brother doesn’t know your people.”
“They’ll identify themselves.”
“And if he panics?”
“He’ll still be alive.”
The words struck harder than he intended.
Mara went quiet.
Gabriel softened his voice.
“Let Marcus protect him.”
She hated needing the help.
But she hated the alternative more.
“Fine.”
Marcus left.
Tessa touched Mara’s arm.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Gabriel looked toward the sealed bourbon.
“Who is Reece?” Mara asked.
“A man who used to move freight for people connected to my family.”
“Used to?”
“He disappeared eight months ago.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It was inconvenient.”
She gave him a look.
He almost smiled again.
Then Vincent returned carrying a tablet.
“Security footage.”
Mara watched the loading-dock video.
3:24.
Caleb appeared at the alley entrance holding a cardboard box.
Her heart sank.
3:25.
A man in a navy jacket walked toward him.
His face remained angled away from the camera.
Black watch outside his sleeve.
Caleb handed him the box.
The man waited until Caleb left.
Then he did something Mara hadn’t remembered.
He didn’t enter the building.
He passed the box to somebody already inside.
The second person wore a Halcyon Club uniform.
White shirt.
Black vest.
The same uniform Mara wore during evening service.
Tessa leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
Vincent’s face went still.
The person’s back stayed toward the camera.
Then the server reached up to adjust a collar.
A thin silver bracelet flashed around the wrist.
Mara knew that bracelet.
She had seen it every shift for seven months.
She turned slowly toward Tessa.
Tessa was already staring at the screen.
Because she knew it too.
The bracelet belonged to Daniel Cross.
Assistant beverage manager.
And Daniel had not shown up for work that night.
Gabriel looked at Vincent.
“Where is he?”
Vincent’s answer came quietly.
“He texted me two hours ago.”
“What did he say?”
Vincent turned the tablet around.
One message filled the screen.
I KNOW WHAT WAS IN THE BOTTLE.
DON’T LET MARA LEAVE WITH MORETTI.
Beneath it was a photograph.
Taken through the Halcyon Club kitchen window.
Mara was visible inside.
May you like
A red circle had been drawn around her face.
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