I thought of the shop, of the years of silence, of Rachel dying while he hid behind paperwork, of Mia in that broken doorway, hungry and cold.
“No,” I said, “but I will watch you.”
He actually gave the smallest, saddest smile. “That may be what I deserve.”
He tucked the phone into his inside pocket with the recording app still running, then walked out to the front of the shop and unlocked the main door.
Greg stepped inside with winter air curling around him.
Up close, he looked exactly like the sort of man people trust too quickly. Clean coat, calm eyes, hair neatly combed, no visible panic, no sign of a thief or a coward. Just a polished man with a careful face.
He smiled at Daniel. “There you are.”
Daniel did not smile back. “Why are you here?”
Greg glanced around the shop. “To save you from a very bad night.”
Through the crack in the office door, I could see only part of him, but that was enough. Mia stood beside me, stiff as wood, breathing through her mouth.
Daniel kept his voice even. “You should leave.”
Greg chuckled softly. “And you should thank me. I kept things tidy for years.”
Those words made me grip my hand so hard it hurt.
Daniel said, “You intercepted money.”
Greg shrugged one shoulder. “Money moves. People misunderstand.”
“You forged documents.”
Greg’s face stayed calm. “Big accusation.”
“You harassed Rachel.”
At that, Greg’s smile thinned. “Careful.”
Daniel took one step closer. “Did you think this would never come out?”
Greg looked past him toward the curtained office area, and I hated how easily he guessed where we were.
“I thought you of all people understood the value of silence.”
Daniel’s shoulders went rigid. “Not anymore.”
Greg laughed once. “That girl means nothing to your investors.”
I saw Daniel flinch, and for a terrible instant I was afraid he would crumble back into his old self.
Then he surprised me.
“She means more than they do.”
Everything in the room seemed to stop.
Mia looked up at me in shock.
I did not speak. I did not move. But something inside me, some tightly knotted part, loosened by the smallest amount.
Greg noticed it too. His pleasant mask cracked for the first time.
“Be careful, Daniel,” he said quietly. “You built your whole life on one version of events. You change that story now, and you may lose everything.”
Daniel’s answer came steady. “Then I lose it.”
Greg stared at him. Then his eyes sharpened.
“You think that shop can protect her?”
My blood went cold.
Before Daniel could answer, Greg reached into his coat pocket.
Mia gasped and stumbled backward, pulling me with her.
Daniel lunged forward, but Greg did not pull out a weapon. He pulled out a set of keys.
And dangling from one key ring was something small, pink, and worn with age.
Mia made a broken sound. “My rabbit,” she whispered.
Greg smiled again, and now there was nothing polite left in it. “I thought she might want this back.”
Mia’s knees nearly gave out. “You were in my things.”
Greg twirled the key ring once around his finger. “I’ve been in lots of things that weren’t mine.”
