Chương 2 - The Man Who Was Listening
Nobody moved.
The voice disappeared into a thin hiss.
Luca leaned toward the device.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Then a soft click.
The red light went dark.
Vanessa reached for the transmitter.
Luca caught her wrist before she touched it.
He didn’t squeeze.
He simply held her hand still.
“Don’t.”
“I was going to turn it off.”
“It’s already off.”
Across the table, an older man with silver hair pushed back his chair.
“This has gotten embarrassing, Luca.”
Vanessa’s father.
Victor Bellini.
I had seen him twice before.
Both times, the staff had been told to keep their eyes down.
Luca released Vanessa.
“Sit down, Victor.”
“You’re frightening your guests.”
“Someone was listening to them.”
Victor looked at me.
That was worse than Vanessa shouting.
His expression was calm, almost bored.
“What exactly did you see, young lady?”
“Your daughter putting her hand beneath the chair.”
“That isn’t the same as installing something.”
“I saw the device after she stood up.”
“And you conveniently waited until everyone arrived?”
My fingers tightened around the chair.
“I wasn’t sure what to do.”
“Because you weren’t sure what you saw.”
“No.
Because I was afraid of losing my job.”
That stopped the little whispers around the table.
Luca turned to his security chief.
“Marco.
Preserve the device.
Nobody handles it without gloves.”
Marco DeLuca took a clean napkin from an unused place setting and lifted the transmitter.
“Phones on the table,” Luca said.
Victor smiled without warmth.
“You cannot be serious.”
“Someone contacted that device while standing close enough to know what was happening here.”
Guests began setting down their phones.
A woman at the far end protested.
Luca told Marco to explain the situation and arrange cars for anyone willing to provide contact information and remain available for questions.
The doors opened under supervision.
Vanessa stayed beside the table.
So did her father.
I took one step toward the service entrance.
“Grace,” Luca said.
I stopped.
“You’re not fired.”
Relief hit so hard my knees weakened.
Then Marco returned from the hallway carrying an event tablet.
“The receiver registration is hidden behind a shell company,” he said.
“But the catering network logged a connected device.”
He turned the screen toward Luca.
I saw a photograph attached to an access credential.
A familiar face.
Adrian Shaw.
Luca’s attorney.
The man who had shaken every guest’s hand an hour earlier.
His chair near the middle of the table was empty.
Marco checked his radio.
Then his face changed.
“Shaw left through the garage six minutes ago.”
My phone vibrated inside my apron.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
A photograph of my mother’s front porch.
May you like
Beneath it were six words.
Put the chair back next time.
