Chapter 11: Say My Name

Missy did not ask Chan in.

She took the folder out of his hand and read the first page standing on her own doorstep.

It was a lease for a cabin in the next town.

It was signed in Chan's name, for all four of them, starting Friday.

"You moved them," she said.

"I moved them somewhere safe. There are no windows on the water."

"Nobody will see you, and nobody will follow you."

"You decided for them."

"I decided for everyone's good."

"You decided without asking one single person, honey. Me included." She shut the folder. "Walk with me."

"Where?"

"My café. It's open."

The Wick was full of Thursday lunch.

Rain on the glass, steam on the windows, a dozen cats on a dozen laps, and every table taken.

The retired teacher was at her usual stool.

Two women near the door had their phones out on the table.

Missy walked to the middle of the room with Chan behind her, and the noise slowly dropped.

She held up the folder.

"This is a lease for a cabin I don't own, in a town I don't live in."

"A man signed it this morning without asking the three people it moves."

"He didn't ask the woman it's meant to protect, either."

Chan's face went gray.

"Missy."

"Rule three. Nobody decides for anybody else. You heard it, I heard it, and you did it before breakfast."

"I know."

"And I'll tell you what I told you in my kitchen."

She turned to face him, in front of every cup and every phone.

"Come back," she said, loud and clear, "when your label lets you say my name out loud."

The café was silent.

A cat dropped off a chair and trotted away.

Chan looked at the two women with the phones.

He looked at the window, and at the street beyond it.

Then he looked at her, and she watched the whole careful structure of the man come down.

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