Chapter 2 - THE DEAD MAN IN THE PARKING LOT
Three months earlier, a traveling salesman named Lucas Granger died behind the diner. Official story: Robbery gone wrong. Unknown attacker. No usable surveillance. No suspects. The diner’s exterior camera had supposedly stopped recording at 11:43 p.m. Lucas died at 11:51. Eight minutes missing. At the time, I accepted it. Then Jack said something strange. “Our system doesn’t delete eight minutes.” He had installed those cameras himself. Then Amy admitted she had seen a dark SUV parked near Lucas’s rental car. She never told police. Why? One responding deputy told her: “You probably saw headlights in the rain.” She was twenty-seven and terrified. She let him talk her out of her own memory. Then the robbery happened. Warren Vale stepped into our diner and told Derek not to stop my recording. Why? That made no sense. Then he did something even stranger. He bent down and picked up Derek’s gun using a napkin. “Sit.” Derek stared. “You don’t order me.” Warren’s voice stayed quiet. “I just did.” Then Derek sat. I kept recording. Amy locked the front door.
Jack came out of the kitchen. No one knew whether Warren had just saved us or walked into a plan. Then he looked at me. “Nora, how much did you record?” My stomach tightened. “How do you know my name?” He paused. Then: “Everyone knows everyone in this town.” Lie. I had never met him. Then: “Answer.” “Enough.” He nodded. “Good.” Then he took out his own phone and called someone. Not 911. He said: “Bring Mercer.” Then hung up. Jack whispered: “Who’s Mercer?” Warren answered: “State police.” Good. Maybe. Then Derek laughed. “You really think they’ll protect you?” Warren looked at him. “They’re not here for me.” Silence. Then he turned toward the customers. “Everyone stays until investigators arrive.” One older man protested. Warren showed his badge. Then: “There may be an active conspiracy connected to a homicide.” The word hit the room. Homicide. Lucas. Then I asked: “Connected to him?” Warren looked directly at me. “Yes.” My skin went cold. Then: “Why didn’t your office say that?” He took a breath. “Because someone inside my office killed the investigation.”
There. Then Derek exploded. “You shut your mouth.” Warren raised the gun just enough to remind him where it was. “No.” Then we heard sirens. Finally. State police entered. A woman in a dark rain jacket led them. Captain Elise Mercer. She looked at Warren. Then at Derek. Then at me. “Phone.” I hesitated. She said: “Not to take it. To clone it.” Good. Then Derek started laughing again. Mercer asked: “What?” Derek looked at me. Then said: “The waitress thinks she recorded a robbery.” He leaned back. “She recorded a cleanup.” The room went silent. Then Warren Vale closed his eyes. And I knew Derek had just said too much. What were they cleaning up? Before anyone answered, Mercer’s phone buzzed. She looked at screen. Then at Warren. “You need to see this.” She showed him a photo. His face drained. Then he looked at me. “Nora... did Lucas Granger ever leave anything with you before he died?” My heart stopped. Because he had. A motel key card. Taped beneath the diner counter. And I had never told anyone.
