The Men Who Walked Out novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: One Bag

Elliot's POV

They gave Gordon and Rosalind their minute in the small office off the boardroom, and the whole fifth floor watched the door.

Nobody could hear a word.

I saw only Rosalind's back, perfectly straight, and Gordon's hands moving as he talked.

At the end of nine minutes the door opened.

Gordon came out alone.

He had a leather bag over one shoulder, the same bag he must have carried into the east wing in January.

The driver had brought it up from the car while we waited.

He stopped in front of Gerard's chair.

"Gerard," he said. "I owe you thirty years of Christmases."

"You owe me nothing," Dr. Bradstreet said. "You owe my daughter an honest postcard."

"I'll send one."

"Send two. She'll want to know you're alive."

Gordon laughed, and it came out wet.

He shook the hand Gerard held out, and he held on a second longer than a stranger would.

"Thank you for not hitting me," he said.

"I considered it."

"I'd have deserved it."

"Yes," Gerard said mildly. "Go on."

We walked him to the elevators, the three of us, with half the floor following at a distance.

Daphne went beside him.

At the doors he turned to her.

"The last time I left, it was a letter on a kitchen table," he said. "This time I'm going out the front so you can see me go."

"Gordon."

"May I write to you?"

She took a second to answer.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Men Who Walked Out from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.