Chapter 11 - Pancakes for a TraitorMoretti’s accountant was named Leonard Fisk, and according to Dominic, he feared three things: prison, his ex-wife, and cholesterol.
According to Sarah, that meant he was still a man and therefore probably vulnerable to pancakes.
They found him at 7:15 a.m. in a booth near the window, wearing a brown suit and the haunted expression of a man whose life had become a balance sheet full of sins.
Emma approached with coffee.
“Morning,” she said brightly. “You Leonard?”
His hand jerked around the mug. “No.”
“That’s awkward, because your credit card says Leonard Fisk.”
Sarah appeared with syrup. “And your face says panic.”
Leonard looked toward the door.
Cole stood there.
Not smiling.
Leonard slowly looked back at Emma. “I don’t know anything.”
Emma poured coffee. “That’s a shame. Pancakes are better with confession.”
“I want a lawyer.”
“You should get one.”
He blinked.
Emma set down a plate. “Blueberry stack. On the house.”
“Is this poison?”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Sir, this diner has survived three recessions and one raccoon incident. We do not waste poison on accountants.”
Leonard stared at the pancakes like they were a trap.
Dominic entered five minutes later.
Leonard nearly knocked over his coffee.
“No,” Emma said sharply.
Dominic stopped.
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed to the counter. “Sit.”
Dominic’s eyebrows lifted.
“Now.”
Sarah whispered, “I have waited my entire life to hear someone say that to him.”
Dominic sat at the counter.
Leonard looked more confused than comforted.
Emma slid into the booth across from him. “Mr. Fisk, I’m going to tell you what happens next. Not what Dominic wants. Not what Moretti wants. What I think.”
Leonard swallowed.
“Moretti is losing control. Adrian Vale is reckless. Inspector Rourke is suspended. Reporters are digging. Detective Harris is building a case. When powerful men fall, they crush whoever kept their receipts.”
Leonard stared at her.
“That’s you,” Emma said.
His face went gray.
She softened her voice. “You can be the man they blame, or you can be the man who helps stop them.”
Leonard laughed weakly. “You think the law protects people like me?”
“No. But hiding behind Moretti won’t either.”
Dominic spoke from the counter. “I can protect you.”
Emma looked at him.
Dominic corrected himself. “Legally. Through Harris. Safe house. Federal contact.”
Leonard’s fingers trembled.
Emma pushed the pancakes closer. “You’re already afraid. Choose the fear that comes with a future.”
For a long moment, Leonard said nothing.
Then he whispered, “There’s a ledger.”
Dominic went still.
Leonard looked down. “Digital copy. Offline drive. Moretti keeps it in a private vault at the Marlowe Club.”
Sarah muttered, “Of course there’s a club.”
Leonard continued. “Loan records. Payoffs. Shell properties. Inspectors. Police. Judges. Everything.”
Emma’s pulse quickened.
Harris arrived twenty minutes later through the back door.
Leonard gave a full statement.
By noon, the plan was formed.
By midnight, it had already gone wrong.
The Marlowe Club sat beneath a hotel on Wabash, all velvet curtains and private elevators. Harris had arranged a warrant through a judge outside Chicago. Dominic had arranged access through a man who owed him a favor and looked like he regretted every life choice that led to that sentence.
Emma was not supposed to be there.
She came anyway.
Not inside, technically.
She waited in the surveillance van with Sarah and Elena, which everyone agreed was safer until it wasn’t.
The first explosion came from the alley.
Not large.
Just enough to kill the lights.
The monitors went black.
Elena gripped her cane. “Adrian.”
Sarah whispered, “I hate being right about disasters.”
Gunfire cracked from inside the club.
Emma’s blood froze.
Dominic was in there.
Harris was in there.
Cole was in there.
The van door yanked open.
A masked man grabbed Sarah.
Again.
But this time Sarah was ready.
She hit him in the face with the emergency flashlight and screamed, “Absolutely not!”
Emma grabbed the man’s arm. Elena swung her cane into his knee. He dropped hard.
Emma snatched his dropped radio.
Voices crackled through.
“Vale is pinned near the vault. Moretti exiting east.”
Emma looked at Elena.
Elena looked back.
“No,” Elena said.
Emma opened the van door.
Sarah grabbed her arm. “Emma.”
“Moretti has the ledger.”
Elena’s face hardened.
Sarah released her.
May you like
“Go ruin him,” she said.
Emma ran into the dark.
