Chapter 2 - The Man at the Back Door
Nicole didn't open it.
"Name."
Silence.
Then:
"Daniel Mercer."
Nicole knew the name.
Not personally.
Daniel Mercer had owned a hardware store downtown until five years earlier.
Now the building belonged to Cain Realty.
"Step beneath the porch light."
A man moved into view through the narrow window.
Late sixties.
Thin.
Gray jacket.
Empty hands raised.
Nicole unlocked the door but left the security chain attached.
"What do you want?"
"To give you something I should've given your father."
He held up an envelope.
Nicole opened the door.
Mercer entered.
He looked toward Evelyn.
"She sleeping?"
"Yes."
"Good."
He placed the envelope on the kitchen table.
Inside was a photocopy of a land survey.
Nicole unfolded it.
The diner property was outlined in blue.
Behind it ran the narrow strip Wade Cain had been trying to purchase.
But the survey continued beyond the Turner parcel.
Parcel after parcel.
Most now belonged to Cain Realty.
Together they formed a nearly continuous corridor.
"What's this?"
"Access."
"To what?"
Mercer tapped the map.
"A development project."
"What project?"
"Nobody knows."
"Then how do you know this matters?"
"Because Wade bought my store for the same reason."
"You sold voluntarily?"
Mercer laughed without humor.
"My fire inspection failed three times in two months. Then my property taxes suddenly doubled because of an assessment error nobody could correct."
"Sheriff Harper?"
"Harper delivered the message."
Nicole looked up.
"What message?"
Mercer hesitated.
"Sell and the problems disappear."
"And did they?"
"The day after I signed."
Nicole sat back.
"Why didn't you report it?"
"To who?"
"State authorities."
"I had a wife with cancer and no money left for lawyers."
His voice broke.
"I sold."
Nicole didn't judge him.
Fear wasn't cowardice when people had something precious to lose.
Sometimes fear was arithmetic.
"What does this have to do with my father?"
Mercer stared at the table.
"Tom was organizing us."
Nicole's breathing slowed.
"Organizing who?"
"Property owners."
"For what?"
"To fight Cain."
Nicole had never heard this.
"He kept records," Mercer continued. "Offers. inspections. threats. Everything."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Did Wade know?"
"Eventually."
Mercer looked directly at her.
"Three weeks later, your father died."
Nicole folded the survey.
"You believe he was killed."
"I believe your father didn't drive off Route 9 because he forgot how to steer."
Before leaving, Mercer gave her another name.
Raymond Pike.
Former county mechanic.
Nicole slept for ninety minutes.
At sunrise, she returned to the diner.
Evelyn insisted on coming.
"You should be home."
"It's my restaurant."
"You have one usable arm."
"I've worked with worse."
Nicole knew that argument was unwinnable.
By seven, the coffee was brewing.
By eight, the regulars arrived.
Nobody mentioned Travis.
At eight-fifteen, Sheriff Harper entered.
He sat at the counter.
"Coffee."
Evelyn poured it.
Nicole watched from a booth.
Harper smiled.
"Good to see you back, Evelyn."
Her mother's face became rigid.
Nicole walked over.
"Interesting timing."
Harper looked at her.
"Breakfast is interesting?"
"You don't usually eat here."
"I've eaten here thirty years."
"Not since Dad died."
The sheriff's coffee stopped halfway to his mouth.
Evelyn whispered, "Nicole."
Harper set the cup down.
"You need to be careful."
"About cholesterol?"
"About accusations."
"I haven't accused you of anything."
"Not yet."
Nicole smiled faintly.
"Then why are you defending yourself?"
Harper stood.
He left five dollars beneath the cup.
At the door, he turned.
"Some things happened before you came home, Colonel. Maybe they should stay that way."
The bell rang as he left.
Nicole looked at her mother.
Evelyn's face was white.
"You know something."
"No."
"Mom."
Evelyn gripped the counter.
"Your father met Harper the night before he died."
Nicole felt the room narrow.
"Where?"
"Here."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"You heard nothing?"
"They went into the kitchen."
"For how long?"
"Twenty minutes."
"And afterward?"
"Your father was furious."
"Did he say why?"
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"He said, 'If anything happens to me, don't trust the badge.'"
Nicole didn't speak.
Her mother had carried those words for six years.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were overseas. Because you had soldiers depending on you. Because I had already lost your father."
"And you thought you might lose me."
Evelyn nodded.
Nicole hugged her carefully.
Then the bell above the diner door rang.
Travis Cain walked in.
He wore jeans, boots, a dark shirt, and an open plaid overshirt.
Two men followed but remained near the entrance.
Travis looked at Evelyn.
Then Nicole.
"So the soldier came home."
Nicole remained seated.
"Coffee?"
His smile faded.
"I'm not here for coffee."
"Then you're taking up a stool."
Several customers lowered their eyes.
Travis leaned toward her.
"Your mother needs to sign."
"No."
"I wasn't asking you."
"You're talking in her diner. That makes it everyone's business."
Travis laughed.
"You think being in the Army means something here?"
Nicole took a sip.
"I didn't mention the Army."
"Everybody knows."
"Apparently not everybody knows enough."
He leaned closer.
"This town belongs to my family."
Nicole put down her cup.
"No town belongs to a family."
"You've been gone too long."
"Maybe."
He smiled.
"Your father made the same mistake."
The diner went silent.
Nicole's face didn't change.
"What mistake?"
"Thinking he could stop progress."
"Interesting word."
"What?"
"Progress."
Nicole stood.
Travis was much larger.
She didn't care.
"Is that what you called it three weeks before his truck left Route 9?"
For the first time, Travis looked uncertain.
Only for a second.
But Nicole saw it.
Then he smiled again.
"You should ask your father."
Evelyn gasped softly.
Nicole stepped between them.
"Leave."
Travis stared at her.
Then he laughed and walked out.
Nicole watched through the window.
He spoke to one of the men outside.
That man immediately made a phone call.
Nicole's own phone vibrated.
Major Collins.
She answered.
"Colonel."
"Go."
"We ran the corporate names you sent through legal."
"And?"
"Cain Realty isn't the top."
Nicole looked through the diner window.
"Who is?"
"Shell companies. Four layers."
"Destination?"
A pause.
"You're going to want to sit down."
"Tell me."
"The final beneficiary isn't Wade Cain."
Nicole's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Collins gave her the name.
Nicole slowly turned toward the diner counter.
Her mother was standing there.
The coffee pot slipped from Evelyn's hand.
It shattered.
May you like
Because she had heard the name too.
And the name Major Collins had just spoken was someone Nicole had believed dead for six years...
