Chapter 8 - The Waitress Who Walked Back InDelaney returned to the diner at 11:28 p.m.
Exactly one week after Teresa had entered it.
This time, no rain fell.
Gabriel hated every second of the plan.
So did Sebastian.
That was how Delaney knew it might work.
Hale had demanded she come alone.
Technically, she did.
No Moretti entered with her.
The pendant hung visibly around her neck.
Hale sat in the back booth.
The hostages were gone.
“You released them?”
“When I saw you were approaching.”
“That almost sounds decent.”
“Don’t insult me.”
Delaney sat opposite him.
Twenty years of power had made Martin Hale comfortable.
That was his weakness.
He believed survival proved intelligence.
He believed the dead had lost the argument.
“You killed my mother.”
Hale smiled.
“No.”
Delaney stared.
“She killed herself by refusing to understand the world.”
“That's a poetic way of saying yes.”
His smile faded.
“She was given choices.”
“So was Antonio Moretti?”
“He was sentimental.”
“You mean honest?”
“I mean weak.”
Outside, Gabriel listened through a transmitter hidden inside the pendant clasp.
Sebastian sat beside him in a surveillance van.
Federal investigators from outside Rhode Island were waiting three blocks away.
Not Hale’s people.
A special corruption unit Thomas had contacted using Rachel’s evidence.
But they needed Hale talking.
Delaney leaned forward.
“My mother recorded you.”
A lie.
Hale’s eyes narrowed.
“She recorded Antonio.”
“Among other people.”
Another lie.
“What did she say?”
Delaney smiled.
There.
Fear.
Tiny.
But real.
“You’ve spent twenty years wondering, haven’t you?”
Hale's jaw tightened.
“What does the microfilm contain?”
“Enough.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To hear you say it.”
He laughed.
“You think life is a movie?”
“No. In movies the waitress usually has better health insurance.”
Despite himself, Hale smiled.
Then his expression hardened.
“Rachel begged.”
Delaney’s heart stopped.
In the van, Gabriel clenched his fist.
Hale continued.
“She begged me to leave you alone.”
Delaney forced herself not to react.
“She offered the evidence?”
“She offered everything.”
“And you killed her anyway.”
Hale leaned back.
“I didn’t intend to.”
That was enough for the investigators listening.
But Delaney wanted all of it.
“What happened?”
“She ran.”
His voice was almost bored.
“She was supposed to hand over the copies. Instead she drove toward Teresa’s house. I followed. She lost control.”
“You forced her off the road.”
“I encouraged her to stop.”
Delaney’s nails dug into her palm.
“And Antonio?”
Hale smiled.
“Vincent should have taught those boys never to ask questions they don't want answered.”
Outside, Gabriel closed his eyes.
Hale continued.
“Antonio believed being respected made him untouchable. It didn’t.”
“You sabotaged his boat.”
“I paid someone.”
“And Sebastian saw you.”
“Sebastian saw enough.”
The diner door opened.
Hale stood instantly.
Gabriel entered.
Delaney’s stomach dropped.
That was not the plan.
Hale pulled a gun.
“I said alone.”
Gabriel’s gaze never left Delaney.
“You did.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because she has been alone long enough.”
Hale pointed the weapon at Delaney.
Gabriel stopped.
“Put yours down.”
Gabriel slowly placed his gun on the floor.
Delaney whispered, “What are you doing?”
“Ruining your plan.”
“I noticed.”
Hale stepped behind Delaney.
The gun touched her neck.
Gabriel’s face changed.
For the first time, Delaney saw fear openly.
Not anger disguised as fear.
Fear.
Hale noticed too.
“Oh.”
He smiled.
“That’s interesting.”
Gabriel said nothing.
“The great Gabriel Moretti.”
Hale tightened his arm around Delaney.
“Finally found something money and guns can't protect.”
Gabriel’s voice was barely audible.
“Let her go.”
“Your father said something similar once.”
That was his mistake.
Gabriel’s eyes shifted toward the window.
Hale followed the movement.
Delaney moved.
She slammed her heel into his foot, threw her head backward, and dropped.
The gun fired.
Glass shattered.
Gabriel crossed the room.
Hale aimed again.
A second shot came from outside.
Hale’s weapon flew from his hand.
Sebastian entered through the kitchen.
Federal agents stormed both doors.
Hale was forced to the floor.
For twenty years, Martin Hale had controlled rooms because everyone entering them feared him.
Now he lay against greasy diner tile beneath the same fluorescent lights where Delaney had served coffee for four years.
An agent cuffed him.
Hale looked at Delaney.
“You think they’re heroes?”
“No.”
She looked at Gabriel.
Then Sebastian.
Then Teresa, who appeared outside behind Thomas.
“No.”
Delaney faced Hale again.
“I think that's the difference between us. I don't need anyone to be a hero to know you chose to become a monster.”
The agents took him away.
Gabriel immediately reached Delaney.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He checked anyway.
Shoulders.
Arms.
Face.
“Gabriel.”
His hands stopped.
“I’m okay.”
He stared at her.
Then pulled her against him.
The embrace was not elegant.
It was desperate.
Delaney felt his heart pounding.
She wrapped her arms around him.
“You ruined my plan.”
“I know.”
“You’re terrible at following instructions.”
“I know.”
“You could have gotten killed.”
“I know.”
She leaned back.
“And stop saying ‘I know.’”
Gabriel kissed her.
Delaney froze.
So did everyone else.
Thomas looked toward the ceiling again.
Sebastian murmured, “Finally.”
Gabriel pulled away immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
Delaney stared at him.
“You apologize too much after doing interesting things.”
Then she grabbed his jacket and kissed him back.
Teresa began laughing.
For the first time since the rain started a week earlier, nobody in the diner was afraid.
Then Sebastian’s phone rang.
His smile disappeared.
“What?”
He listened.
Gabriel saw his expression.
“What happened?”
Sebastian lowered the phone.
“Hale wasn't working alone.”
Delaney’s stomach sank.
“Who?”
Sebastian looked toward the federal vehicles outside.
“Someone just emptied every account connected to Hale.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Who had access?”
May you like
Sebastian answered.
“Uncle Vincent.”
