He looked at her.
She shook her head.
“You said dispatch may be compromised.”
Leah stared.
“What do we do?”
Evelyn looked around.
Truckers.
Cameras.
People.
“Make noise.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“Public.”
“Visible.”
“We do not run into an empty parking lot.”
She stood.
Walked directly toward the diner manager.
“Excuse me.”
The man looked up.
“Yes?”
“That truck outside contains someone who has been threatening us.”
The manager blinked.
“What?”
“I need every exterior camera recording saved.”
“And I need your security guard at this table now.”
Her voice carried.
People turned.
Daniel almost smiled.
Leah whispered:
“She is terrifying.”
Daniel answered:
“Yes.”
“Helpful, isn't it?”
Vale entered the diner.
He stopped when he saw the attention.
Two security employees approached.
Daniel remained seated.
Evelyn stood beside him.
Vale smiled.
“Daniel.”
“Marcus.”
Vale’s eyes moved to Evelyn.
“Mrs. Hart.”
Her face became cold.
“You knew my husband.”
“Briefly.”
“That makes one of us.”
Vale’s smile tightened.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Do not use his death as manners.”
The diner had gone quiet.
Vale looked around.
“This doesn’t need to become a scene.”
Evelyn smiled without warmth.
“It already is.”
Leah lifted her phone.
Recording.
Vale saw.
His expression changed.
Daniel spoke.
“You're done.”
Vale looked at the reporter.
Then at the security cameras.
“Done with what?”
Daniel slid one photocopy across the table.
Vale glanced down.
The inspection waiver.
His signature.
For the first time, he lost color.
Daniel continued.
“Originals are already elsewhere.”
“Three places.”
Vale looked at Evelyn.
She added:
“Four.”
Daniel glanced at her.
Evelyn shrugged.
“I mailed another.”
Vale’s jaw tightened.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
Evelyn’s answer came gently.
“No.”
“But I know what frightened men sound like.”
Vale stepped backward.
Security moved closer.
He smiled.
Then turned and left.
Nobody stopped him.
Not yet.
That mattered later.
Because the goal was not revenge.
It was evidence.
Leah published the first story forty-eight hours later.
State investigators opened formal inquiries.
The contractor suspended two executives.
Marcus Vale disappeared for eleven days.
Then an attorney contacted authorities on his behalf.
Daniel spent those eleven days at Evelyn’s house.
Partly because his leg was confirmed fractured once she finally convinced him to visit a doctor in another county.
Partly because investigators wanted him nearby.
Mostly because neither of them had figured out how to say goodbye.
The house changed.
Not dramatically.
Daniel’s boots appeared near the back door.
A coffee mug stayed beside the sink.
He fixed a loose cabinet hinge despite Evelyn telling him to rest.
She yelled at him.
He laughed.
She threatened to remove his crutches.
He stopped laughing.
At dinner, he asked about the piano.
“Do you play?”
“No.”
“James?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“My daughter.”
“Good?”