Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO KNEW MY FATHER'S LAST SECRET
Vivien waited exactly eleven minutes before trying to have me fired.
She called Charles to Table 4 while Nathaniel was distracted by another business call.
“The new waitress is unprofessional,” she announced.
Charles went pale.
“I'm terribly sorry, Miss Croft. What happened?”
“She made an inappropriate personal remark and implied that she knew confidential information about me.”
Charles looked toward me.
“Harper?”
I kept my voice steady.
“I recognized someone from my family's past. I shouldn't have discussed it during service.”
Vivien smiled triumphantly.
“Then we're finished here.”
She picked up her glass.
“I expect her to be dismissed immediately.”
Charles looked miserable.
I couldn't blame him entirely. The Winslow was his livelihood, and Vivien had enough influence to make his professional life unbearable.
But Nathaniel had returned in time to hear the final sentence.
“Dismissed for what?”
Vivien's smile faltered.
“It's a staff matter, darling.”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Did you insult my fiancée?”
“No, Mr. Reed.”
“Did you threaten her?”
“No.”
Vivien's expression hardened.
“Nathaniel—”
“Then Charles can investigate the complaint properly.”
It wasn't a grand defense.
But it was the first time I had ever seen someone question Vivien's authority inside that restaurant.
She went silent.
After dinner service, I found Calvin waiting beside the delivery entrance.
I should have walked away.
Instead, I stopped several feet from him.
“How did you know my father?”
“I worked in security for Jenkins Capital.”
My stomach tightened.
“Your name wasn't in his employee records.”
“I worked through a contractor.”
He reached into his jacket.
I immediately stepped backward.
Calvin stopped.
“Easy.”
He removed a folded photograph.
My father stood in front of a Manhattan office building beside three employees.
Calvin was one of them.
Another was a man I recognized from old newspaper articles.
Graham Voss.
Dad's former business partner.
And between them stood a younger woman with dark hair and an uncertain smile.
Samantha Bell.
Vivien.
I stared at the photograph.
“She worked for my father?”
“As a compliance analyst.”
“What happened to her?”
“She became very useful to Graham.”
Calvin glanced toward the street.
“Nine years ago, Graham was moving money through shell companies while your father was negotiating a major fund restructuring.”
“You're saying Graham stole it?”
“I'm saying the original investigation didn't have all the records.”
“Then why didn't you tell the authorities?”
His expression changed.
“Because I wasn't innocent.”
That answer frightened me more than another lie would have.
Calvin admitted he had helped remove physical records from Jenkins Capital after investigators became involved.
He claimed Graham paid him to transport boxes to a private storage facility.
“What was inside?”
“Transaction records. Access logs. Copies of authorizations.”
“And you kept them?”
“Some.”
I stared at him.
“You let my father die believing nobody could prove what happened.”
Calvin looked away.
“I know.”
For several seconds, I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked the only question that mattered.
“Where are the records now?”
He hesitated.
“Somewhere Graham can't reach them.”
“Then give them to the authorities.”
“I intend to.”
“When?”
Calvin looked toward Park Avenue.
“When I'm certain they won't disappear again.”
Then he handed me a business card.
No company name.
Just a phone number.
“Your father called Samantha Bell on the last night he was alive.”
My breath caught.
“What did he say?”
“I don't know everything.”
Calvin paused.
“But the call lasted eleven minutes.”
I waited.
Then he said something I would remember for the rest of my life.
“Harper, your father didn't call her to accuse her of stealing the money.”
May you like
He looked directly into my eyes.
“He called because he believed Samantha was the only person who could prove someone had forged his authorization.”
