Chapter 2 - THE FOOTAGE TODD WANTED GONE
The security company called Margaret at 9:11 p.m.
Todd had attempted deletion.
Not after slap.
Before police arrived.
The system showed administrator access at 7:24.
Six minutes after assault.
User credentials:
TMercer.
The deletion command failed because the diner’s security package maintained encrypted off-site backup for twenty-four hours.
Todd apparently did not know.
Margaret did.
“That’s why I photographed the clock,” she told Jenna.
They were still at diner.
Police had taken statements.
Customers slowly left.
Some hugged Jenna.
One trucker gave his number as witness and said:
“If anyone says she touched him first, call me.”
Jenna appreciated.
But her mind was elsewhere.
“My father was your son.”
Margaret nodded.
“You never knew?”
“No.”
“Daniel never spoke about me?”
“He said his mother died when he was young.”
Pain crossed Margaret’s face.
“Maybe, to him, I did.”
That sentence sounded less defensive than Jenna expected.
She remained wary.
People who disappeared for seventeen years did not earn trust by arriving with old photographs.
“What did Todd’s father steal?”
Margaret answered:
“Cash at first.”
Todd’s father, Raymond Mercer, had managed Maple Street during the late 1990s.
Harold Ellison—Margaret’s husband—became ill.
Raymond started handling books.
Daniel, twenty-two and working college summers at diner, discovered supplier invoices didn’t match bank withdrawals.
He suspected Raymond created fake vendors.
“How much?”
“About two hundred thousand dollars.”
In 2000s, substantial.
“What happened?”
“Daniel confronted him.”
“And you?”
“I believed Raymond when he said Daniel had made bookkeeping mistakes.”
“Why?”
Margaret looked ashamed.
“Raymond had worked for us eighteen years.”
“And Dad was your son.”
“Yes.”
“So why believe employee over him?”
“Because Daniel was angry. Raymond was calm.”
Jenna laughed bitterly.
She had heard that pattern before.
Todd calm.
Employee emotional.
Reality rewritten.
Margaret continued.
“Raymond produced records making it look like Daniel moved money.”
“Did Dad?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because years later I found original ledgers.”
Jenna clenched jaw.
“After Dad left.”
“Yes.”
“Did you apologize?”
“I tried.”
“He changed number. Returned letters.”
“He believed I had accused him of stealing.”
“You had.”
“Yes.”
No excuses.
Good.
Daniel married Melissa Brooks, took her surname, moved Wichita outskirts, worked maintenance and later trucking.
He never told Jenna family owned diner.
Why would he?
To him, Maple Street represented betrayal.
“Did Todd know who I was when he hired me?”
Margaret said:
“I don’t know.”
That possibility frightened Jenna more than answer.
Todd had been manager ten months.
Jenna had worked there four years.
He may have seen personnel file.
Father name likely emergency records? Usually not.
But surname Brooks.
Could still discover.
Security footage became available.
Detective requested preserved copy.
Margaret’s attorney also sent preservation notice.
Jenna did not watch slap.
She already lived it.
But investigators reviewed earlier footage.
At 6:53, Todd entered order for Table 14.
At 7:06, he blamed Jenna.
Clear.
At 7:17, he approached Jenna aggressively.
At 7:18, slap.
At 7:19, after Jenna turned away, Todd reached toward her apron pocket.
Why?
Zoom showed him remove something.
A folded receipt.
Jenna hadn't noticed.
“What receipt?” detective asked.
She thought.
Then remembered.
At 6:30, customer paid cash.
Jenna had printed duplicate because register total seemed wrong.
Todd took cash drawer later.
The duplicate was in apron.
He stole it after hitting her.
Why?
Register manipulation.
Audit began next morning.
Tip pool reports were ugly.
Servers were supposed to contribute 3% of sales to support staff.
Instead Todd’s system deducted between 5 and 8%.
Difference categorized as “administrative service allocation.”
Where did it go?
A consulting company.
Mercer Hospitality Solutions.
Owned by Todd.
Illegal or unlawful depending specifics, but at minimum conflict and potential wage theft.
Over ten months:
$78,400.
From workers.
Jenna calculated.
She had lost around $4,200.
That was months of groceries.
Kayla cried when told.
Cook Luis swore.
Dishwasher Devin said he knew checks felt short but couldn't understand.
Todd stole small amounts because small losses are easier to doubt.
Then ghost employees.
Three names receiving payroll.
Nobody recognized.
One:
Raymond Mercer Jr.
Todd's late father’s name? Actually Todd maybe Jr? Let's say Raymond Mercer II, Todd’s brother? Better ghost names of family.
Payroll deposits went into account controlled by Todd.
Another $96,000.
Vendor payments:
Midwest Linen Logistics.
Company address was UPS mailbox.
Owner?
Rebecca Mercer.
Todd’s wife.
Margaret's daughter.
Margaret went silent.
“Rebecca wouldn’t.”
Jenna looked at her.
“You believed that about Raymond too.”
The words hurt.
Margaret nodded.
“You’re right.”
No automatic defense.
Good.
Rebecca arrived diner at noon.
She was forty, pale, hair pulled back.
Long-sleeved beige sweater.
Todd's wife.
Jenna’s aunt by blood? Rebecca is Margaret's daughter, Daniel's sister, yes. So Jenna's aunt.
Rebecca looked at Jenna for long time.
“Oh my God.”
She knew.
“You look like Daniel.”
Jenna stood.
“Did you know I worked here?”
Rebecca started crying.
“No.”
“Your husband did.”
“How do you know?”
“He asked me once if Brooks was my married name.”
Jenna remembered.
Month after Todd began:
“Brooks your ex-husband’s name?”
“No. My dad’s.”
Todd went quiet.
Then changed subject.
He knew surname triggered something.
Rebecca covered mouth.
“He knew.”
Margaret asked:
“When?”
Rebecca looked terrified.
“Mom, there’s something I need to tell you.”
There it was.
Another secret.
Todd knew exactly who Jenna was.
He told Rebecca nine months earlier.
“Daniel’s daughter works here.”
Rebecca wanted contact.
Todd stopped her.
Why?
“He said Jenna hated us.”
Jenna stared.
“I didn't know you existed.”
Rebecca cried harder.
Todd told her Daniel raised Jenna believing Ellisons were cruel and corrupt.
Maybe partly.
He claimed contact would destabilize Jenna.
Rebecca believed.
Again.
Todd controlled narrative.
Then Margaret asked about Midwest Linen Logistics.
Rebecca looked confused.
“What?”
Company in her name.
She had never heard.
Signature appeared on formation documents.
Forged? Likely.
Todd used wife's identity too.
Rebecca whispered:
“He handles all finances.”
Jenna looked at long sleeves.
Something about posture.
“Does he hurt you?”
Rebecca flinched.
Margaret stared.
“Rebecca?”
“No.”
Too fast.
Jenna knew that no.
She had given similar answers about former boyfriend once.
“Does he scare you?”
Rebecca's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Margaret stood.
Her chair scraped.
But Jenna said:
“Don’t make this about confronting him.”
Margaret stopped.
Rebecca looked surprised.
Jenna continued.
“Get a lawyer. Somewhere safe. Don't tell him everything you know.”
Rebecca nodded shakily.
Margaret seemed to realize granddaughter who served coffee understood something she had missed in own daughter.
Then Rebecca said:
“Todd has a safe.”
“Where?”
“Home office.”
“Don't open it.”
Jenna immediately.
Rebecca blinked.
“Why?”
“Because if there's evidence, let professionals handle it.”
Detective later obtained process where appropriate.
Inside safe they found no stacks of cash.
Worse.
Employee files.
Photos.
Notes.
Personal vulnerabilities.
JENNA — single mother, needs weekends, father deceased.
KAYLA — probationary lease, cannot miss rent.
LUIS — immigration paperwork pending? verify.
Todd catalogued pressure points.
Not just managing staff.
Controlling.
Then Jenna's file had additional note:
DANIEL’S DAUGHTER. KEEP CLOSE. DO NOT LET M.E. SEE.
M.E.
Margaret Ellison.
Todd had deliberately kept Jenna away from grandmother.
Why?
The next line:
If Margaret connects Jenna to Daniel, old trust problem returns.
What trust?
Margaret stared when detective read.
“I don't know.”
But Rebecca did.
Her face drained.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“Dad created a trust for Daniel’s children.”
Jenna's heart stopped.
Harold Ellison, Margaret's late husband.
Her grandfather.
“He left something to me?”
Rebecca whispered:
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
Margaret did.
She closed eyes.
“At least six hundred thousand when Harold died.”
Jenna laughed once.
She had forty-three dollars in checking account yesterday.
Her son wore shoes with glue under sole.
A trust worth hundreds of thousands existed?
“Where is it?”
Margaret's silence answered.
She didn't know.
Then Rebecca began crying.
“Todd does.”
Jenna stared.
“How?”
“He’s been managing family accounts for eight years.”
The slap had uncovered wage theft.
Wage theft uncovered fraud.
Fraud uncovered family.
And now family had uncovered money Jenna had never known existed.
May you like
Todd had not simply stolen tips from her.
For years, he may have been stealing inheritance meant for her and Noah too.
