Chapter 5 - The Café With Two FacesBellamy Café was not ordinary.
Mia learned that in the back office, where Caleb made Marcus sit in front of the security monitors while Adrian was treated by a private medic beside the window.
The customers had been escorted out. The blinds were lowered. The café that had been noisy minutes earlier became silent enough for Mia to hear the hum of the refrigerator.
Caleb stood with his arms folded.
“Mia,” he said, “how long have you worked here?”
“Eight months.”
“Did Marcus ever ask you to deliver sealed envelopes?”
Mia blinked. “Yes. Sometimes.”
“To whom?”
“Men who came in late. Always table nine.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened.
Marcus laughed. “She’s a waitress. She carries coffee and sugar packets. That’s all.”
Mia remembered the envelopes.
Thick. Cream-colored. Always marked with no names. Marcus told her they were invoices. She had never questioned it because she needed the job.
Now her stomach sank.
“What was in them?” she asked.
Adrian, sitting upright with effort, answered before Caleb could.
“Names. Locations. Payments. Evidence.”
Mia looked at him. “Evidence of what?”
“People using this café to hide crimes behind expensive coffee.”
Marcus slammed his hand on the desk. “You don’t know anything.”
Adrian’s eyes went cold.
“I know you sold my route this morning.”
The room chilled.
Marcus’s confidence cracked.
“You were supposed to leave town,” Marcus said under his breath.
“And you were supposed to stay loyal.”
Mia looked at Caleb. “Who is he?”
Caleb looked at Adrian, waiting.
May you like
Adrian sighed.
“My name is Adrian Vale,” he said. “And half this city fears me because I spent ten years making sure worse men feared me first.”
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