Saved From Suicide, Sold Into a Lie novel · Chapter 19 of 24
Chapter 19: Dinner Service
We came in through the kitchen at nine fifty.
Hank went first with his cane, then me, then a woman from the fraud unit in a plain black coat with a leather folder under her arm.
Two uniformed officers waited by the loading door.
The line cooks looked up from their pans.
The head chef, a big quiet man with burn scars on his wrists, wiped his hands on his apron.
I had built him a prep table two winters ago and never sent the bill.
"Mr. Ledford," he said.
"Evening."
"He's in the main room with the money."
"I know."
He looked at the woman with the folder, then at the door.
"Take your time," he said, and he turned his back so nobody could say he had let us in.
The main room was bright with candles and spotlights.
The investors sat at a long table down the middle, nine of them in good suits, glasses raised.
Dorian stood at the head, one hand on the back of a chair.
"To the next chapter," he was saying. "To three restaurants and a family that stands behind them."
He saw me and did not stop smiling.
"Connor. You're late for dinner."
"I came for the signing."
"This is a private event."
"Then I'll make it short."
I walked up to the table and set the bank wires down in front of the nearest investor, a gray-haired woman in pearls.
She looked at the top page, then at me.
"What am I reading?"
"Eleven cash payments from this restaurant's accounts to a man who sells death certificates," I said. "The last page is his receipt. My brother signed it."
Dorian laughed.
It was a good laugh, warm and easy.
"He's unwell," he said to the table. "There was a hearing on Monday. His mother can tell you."
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