Chapter 4 - The Promise Vincent Remembered
While investigators reviewed the office, Vincent led Mara and Rory into a quieter dining room.
Mara remained cautious.
She had heard stories about Vincent Kane all her life. Some were probably exaggerated. Some were probably not.
“I appreciate what you did,” she said, “but I don’t want to owe you anything.”
Vincent sat across from her.
“That is reasonable.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
Rory climbed onto a chair between them.
“Are you really the boss of Chicago?”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Rory.”
Vincent considered the question.
“No.”
Rory frowned. “Mr. Sterling said you were.”
“Mr. Sterling says many things that aren’t true.”
“Are you a bad guy?”
Mara nearly stopped breathing.
Vincent looked at the child for a long moment.
“I have made choices I would not want you to make.”
Rory appeared to think about this.
“Did you say sorry?”
“Not often enough.”
She accepted the answer more easily than any adult would have.
Mara studied him.
“Why are you helping us?”
Vincent reached into his wallet and removed an old photograph.
It showed a young woman in a diner uniform standing beside a boy of about ten. The photograph was creased and faded.
“My mother,” he said. “She worked nights in a restaurant not far from here.”
Rory leaned closer.
“She’s pretty.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
Vincent’s thumb rested against the photograph’s edge.
“She worked for a man who stopped paying her. She was too frightened to complain because she thought he would make sure no one else hired her.”
Mara’s expression softened.
“One winter, she became ill. She kept working because we needed heat. By the time she finally went to a doctor, her condition had become much worse.”
He did not give Rory the details.
He only said, “She never came home.”
The child’s face fell.
Vincent returned the photograph to his wallet.
“I spent years believing power meant making sure no one could hurt me. Tonight, your daughter reminded me that power should also mean stopping people from hurting those who cannot fight alone.”
Mara looked through the glass doors toward the main restaurant, where employees were speaking with investigators.
“What happens now?”
“Sterling is removed immediately. The accountants will calculate every dollar taken from every employee. Restitution will be paid from his ownership share, his assets, and the restaurant reserve.”
“And if it isn’t enough?”
“It will be.”
Vincent’s answer was calm enough that Mara did not question it.
Rosen entered with a document.
“Mara Carter is owed five thousand four hundred thirty dollars and thirty cents in regular wages,” he said. “With overtime corrections, withheld tips, penalties, and interest, the preliminary amount is twelve thousand eight hundred six dollars.”
Mara gripped the edge of the table.
Rosen placed a company check before her.
“This is an advance against the final amount. Accepting it does not waive your right to additional recovery.”
Mara looked at Vincent.
“This is real?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
Rory touched her arm.
“Mommy, are those happy tears?”
Mara laughed through them.
“Yes, baby.”
Vincent stood.
“There is something else.”
Mara’s expression became guarded again.
“Sterling’s position is vacant. The restaurant needs an interim operations manager.”
“I’m a server.”
“You have kept detailed records for eleven weeks while working under pressure, raising a child, and covering responsibilities your manager ignored. Every employee we interviewed said you were the person who fixed scheduling problems, trained new staff, and kept the dining room functioning.”
Mara stared at him.
“I’ve never managed a restaurant.”
“You have been managing this one without the title or the salary.”
She looked toward the kitchen, where her coworkers watched through the doorway.
The chef raised his hand.
“We’d work for you,” he said.
One by one, the others nodded.
Mara lowered her eyes to the check, then to Rory’s purple stars.
“I want everything in writing.”
May you like
Rosen smiled.
“An excellent first decision.”
