Chapter 5 - THIRTY MEN AND ONE TRAITOR
The next morning, nobody laughed.
Thirty dangerous men sat around the breakfast table staring at one another like every chair might contain a traitor.
I hated it.
So I dropped a plate of pancakes in the center of the table.
“If anybody intends to murder anybody before coffee, take it outside.”
Benny raised his hand.
“What about after coffee?”
“Depends whether you clean your plate.”
A few men laughed.
Good.
Fear becomes dangerous when people feed it too long.
Roman doubled security.
Vincent changed the locks.
And I changed the kitchen rules.
Nobody entered without washing their hands.
Nobody touched my knives.
Nobody complained about vegetables.
Rule three caused the most outrage.
By noon, I had learned everyone’s name.
Leo liked burned bacon.
Tommy hated onions.
Marcus pretended not to enjoy my cinnamon rolls and then stole three.
These men were dangerous.
But they were also ridiculous.
That afternoon, the front doors opened.
Walter Briggs walked in wearing a clean coat.
I nearly dropped an entire pot.
“Walter?”
He smiled.
Roman stood behind him.
“The veterans’ residence has room for him permanently after Christmas. Until then, your friend is staying in the guest cottage.”
I stared at Roman.
“You brought him here?”
“You said you wouldn’t accept the job unless he was safe.”
Something painful pressed against my ribs.
Kindness had become suspicious to me.
I didn’t know what to do with it anymore.
So I hugged Walter instead.
That night, Walter joined dinner.
Within ten minutes, he and Benny were arguing about football like lifelong enemies.
For the first time in months, I laughed until my stomach hurt.
Then Walter quietly slipped something into my palm.
A folded piece of paper.
“I found that inside the pocket of the coat Roman’s driver gave me.”
I opened it beneath the table.
Four words.
LEAVE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, MAGGIE.
Below them:
OR THE OLD MAN DIES.
I looked across the room.
Everyone was eating.
Everyone was talking.
Everyone looked normal.
Then I noticed a man near the doorway watching me.
The moment our eyes met, he turned away.
May you like
I knew every man at the table by then.
But I had never seen him before.
