The Manager Who Knew the Alley
Chapter 02 - The Manager Who Knew the Alley
Roman did not reinstate Naen.
That surprised David.
It surprised Naen too.
He asked her what she wanted.
Three people at the host station pretended not to listen.
“My job back.”
David’s mouth opened.
Naen raised one finger.
“Temporarily.”
Roman waited.
“Until I find another one.”
David looked offended.
Roman looked almost amused.
“And Mr. Kesler stays my manager?”
“No.”
Naen frowned.
“You said you weren’t firing him.”
“I said I hadn’t said I would.”
“That is lawyer language.”
“Occupational hazard.”
David’s face went gray.
Roman continued:
“He is suspended pending the audit.”
Not revenge.
Process.
That mattered.
Naen looked at the restaurant.
“I need shifts.”
“You’ll have them.”
“Same rate.”
Roman’s eyebrow lifted.
“Not more because of the alley.”
“Why?”
“Because then I’m being paid for saving you.”
Roman stared.
“Fine.”
“And tips normal.”
“Yes.”
“And no bodyguard following me home.”
His expression changed.
“I didn’t—”
“Good.”
She turned toward the service door.
Then stopped.
“Who manages tonight?”
The assistant manager, Claire Munroe, raised a hand reluctantly.
Naen nodded.
“Table seven always complains about butter temperature.”
Claire stared.
“Welcome back.”
Service was terrible.
Perfectly normal.
That helped.
Roman took a corner table he did not need.
Ordered soup.
Ate half.
He had a private doctor with him for ten minutes in the back office, then sent the man away.
Naen did not ask.
Around eight, she brought Roman coffee.
“You don’t drink coffee at night.”
He looked up.
“How do you know?”
“You ordered chamomile when you came in last month.”
Roman stared.
“You remember guests.”
“I remember bills.”
“Why bills?”
“Tea drinkers tip worse.”
He almost laughed.
Then:
“Sit.”
“No.”
“I want to ask you something.”
“You can ask while I stand.”
Good.
He looked toward the service corridor.
“Did David say anything when you arrived late that night besides what you told me?”
Naen thought.
“No.”
“Did he touch your coat?”
“No.”
“Look at the blood?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She understood.
“Like he knew it wasn’t mine.”
Roman’s eyes hardened.
Maybe.
Still only a look.
“He recognized me?”
Naen frowned.
“He never saw you.”
“Maybe he knew someone had been hurt.”
That was different.
Roman had been attacked less than two blocks from Laura.
He had been leaving a meeting at a building he owned nearby.
The meeting location had been changed twenty minutes before arrival.
Only six people knew.
“Was David one?”
Naen asked.
Roman looked at her.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
His expression almost warmed.
Then he caught himself.
“Go back to work.”
She smiled.
“Bossy.”
“Yes.”
“Not my boss.”
“Your landlord.”
“Worse.”
At closing, Roman asked Claire for office access.
Not David’s desk drawers personally.
Auditors.
Two independent accountants arrived.
Naen saw them carry sealed laptops into a conference room.
She clocked out.
Then Roman’s driver appeared near the door.
“Ms. Walker, I can take you home.”
“No.”
The driver blinked.
Roman approached slowly with his cane.
“Rain.”
“I own an umbrella.”
“It’s eleven-thirty.”
“I live two subway stops away.”
Roman looked toward the street.
Naen waited.
“Would you like a ride?”
Better.
“No.”
He nodded.
No argument.
She left.
On the platform her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
“Hello?”
A man breathed once.
Then:
“You should have kept walking.”
The line went dead.
Naen stood perfectly still.
Train noise rushed into the station.
The sensible thing was to call police.
She did.
Not Roman.
Police took the report.
No trace.
Prepaid number.
When she got home, Leo was asleep on the couch beneath his dinosaur blanket while their neighbor Mrs. Alvarez watched television quietly.
“You’re late.”
“I know.”
“Good shift?”
Naen looked at her son.
“Complicated.”
Mrs. Alvarez went home.
Naen locked the door twice.
At 1:03, she texted Claire that someone had threatened her and she would speak to police again in the morning.
She did not text Roman.
At 1:11, Roman called anyway.
“How did you know?”
“Claire.”
Naen closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
“What did they say?”
She told him.
Silence.
“Stay inside.”
“I was planning to.”
“I’m sending—”
“No.”
“Naen.”
“No guards.”
“You were threatened because of me.”
“Probably.”
“Then—”
“I called police.”
Roman breathed slowly.
He was not used to being told that institutions should handle something instead of his men.
“Fine.”
“That sounded painful.”
“It is.”
“Good night.”
“Naen.”
“What?”
“Did Leo’s medicine work?”
She stopped.
“How do you know his name?”
“You talked about him in the alley.”
Right.
She had forgotten what she said.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
No offer to pay.
Good.
The next morning, Roman’s audit found three things.
First, David had been shaving server tips through a fake “service quality adjustment.”
Second, he had billed the landlord for repairs the restaurant owner should have paid.
Third, a camera behind Laura’s loading dock had been disabled the afternoon Roman was attacked.
Manual override.
Using David’s manager code.
David’s lawyer arrived before Roman could ask a question.
That was smart.
David denied involvement in the attack.
Admitted disabling the camera.
“Why?”
No answer until counsel whispered.
Then:
“Deliveries.”
“What deliveries?” the auditor asked.
David looked sick.
“Cash.”
Not Roman’s cash.
Someone else’s.
For eighteen months, David had allowed sealed cash envelopes to move through Laura’s loading entrance after hours.
In exchange, his personal debt was reduced.
“To who?” police asked.
David swallowed.
“Caruso people.”
Roman’s face changed.
“Names.”
David looked directly at him.
“Your uncle, Enzo.”
Roman went still.
Enzo Caruso had retired from daily operations five years earlier.
At least officially.
David continued.
“He said the alley cameras could never be active on transfer days.”
“The night I was attacked was a transfer day.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know I would be there?”
“No.”
“Then why did you recognize the blood on Naen?”
David closed his eyes.
Because Enzo’s man had called at five ten.
Before Naen arrived.
Instruction:
If a waitress comes in wet, bloody, or talking about the alley, fire her and get her out.
David had obeyed.
Not because Naen was late.
Because someone wanted every witness pushed away before Roman could learn who had seen the attack.
May you like
And David Kesler’s cruelty had not merely cost Naen a job.
It had been part of an evidence-cleaning plan.
