Chapter 2 - The List Nobody Was Supposed to Find
The next morning, Elias called Josie at 7:10.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Good morning.”
“You're awake.”
“I work nights.”
“That wasn't my question.”
She smiled.
“I just got home.”
“Did you sleep?”
“Three hours.”
“You need more.”
“So do you.”
He almost smiled.
“You sound tired.”
“So do you.”
A pause.
“Are you happy?”
The question surprised her.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why did you ask?”
“Because I want to know.”
She sat on the edge of her bed.
“Elias?”
“Yes?”
“Did Rocco call you?”
Silence.
She knew.
She sighed.
“I told you he would report if I got home safely.”
“He did.”
“Did he tell you anything else?”
Another pause.
“No.”
She smiled.
“That's a lie.”
Elias closed his eyes.
“You notice too much.”
“That is why you married me.”
“That and your coffee.”
She laughed.
The conversation became ordinary again.
That was what Elias wanted.
Ordinary.
But at 8:00 a.m., he sat in his office with three files open.
The first contained Warren Kesler's financial history.
The second contained Mercer Development.
The third contained the employee records from Fairbank Market.
Josie Hartley appeared on paper as a woman with no college degree, no criminal history, no outstanding debt, and no previous connection to Providence.
But Elias knew the truth.
Josie had once been Josephine Bellucci.
Daughter of a union organizer.
Granddaughter of a woman who had fed half of Federal Hill during a winter strike.
She had changed her name after marrying him because she wanted one year without anyone knowing what her husband did.
She had wanted to know whether she could stand in a grocery-store aisle and simply be a cashier.
He had thought it was brave.
He had not realized someone would mistake humility for weakness.
Rocco entered.
“You were right.”
Elias looked up.
“About Kesler?”
“Partly.”
He placed a folder on the desk.
“Fairbank has an employee database separate from the payroll system.”
“Who accesses it?”
“Managers.”
“Anyone else?”
“Regional office.”
Elias opened the folder.
“Show me.”
Rocco pointed to a line.
“Kesler accessed Josie's file thirteen times in two months.”
Elias went still.
“Why?”
“That's the interesting part.”
Rocco handed him another page.
Every access occurred after Josie's closing shift.
Never during business hours.
Only after 2:30 a.m.
Elias's jaw tightened.
“Who's authorizing him?”
“Nobody.”
“What about Priscilla?”
“Seven accesses.”
“Different nights?”
“Yes.”
“What are they looking at?”
Rocco placed a list in front of him.
Josie's emergency contact.
Address.
Previous employment.
Medical history.
And something else.
Her marriage status.
But the strangest entry was the last.
Spouse: withheld by employee.
Elias stared.
Josie had deliberately withheld his name.
He knew that.
But someone had flagged the field.
“Who flagged this?”
“Unknown.”
“Find out.”
Rocco nodded.
Elias's phone rang.
Salvatore.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Mercer pulled out of the harbor negotiations.”
“So?”
“He isn't negotiating anymore.”
Elias looked at the Fairbank file.
“What changed?”
“Someone offered him access to something larger.”
“What's larger than the harbor?”
Salvatore hesitated.
“A list.”
Elias's stomach tightened.
“What list?”
“The old one.”
He knew.
Names.
Payments.
Judges.
Politicians.
Business owners.
The records Elias's father had kept hidden.
The same records Elias had been trying to erase from the criminal part of his family.
“Who has it?”
“That's what we're trying to find.”
Elias looked at the Fairbank file.
“Ask again.”
Salvatore did.
“Who has the list?”
A voice in the background answered.
A name.
Warren Kesler.
Elias hung up.
For the first time, he considered breaking his promise.
He wanted to drive to Fairbank himself.
He wanted to walk inside.
He wanted to stand beside Josie and see who dared laugh.
Instead, he stayed where he was.
Because Josie had asked him not to.
That afternoon, Josie woke to find a message from Peg.
You coming in tonight?
Josie replied.
Yes. Why?
Peg answered.
Priscilla is in a mood.
Josie smiled.
She's always in a mood.
No. Tonight is different.
Josie frowned.
She dressed.
She put on her uniform.
And before leaving, she opened the tin box.
Her silver wedding band sat inside.
She held it for a moment.
Then put it back.
Not yet.
She wanted to walk into Fairbank as Josie.
Not as Elias Marchetti's wife.
At 10:45 p.m., she clocked in.
The store looked normal.
Too normal.
Priscilla was standing near the customer-service counter.
Warren Kesler had returned.
And three men in suits were walking through the aisles without carts.
Josie recognized one.
The man who had thrown the quarters.
His name was Mason Mercer.
He saw her.
He smiled.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Josie ignored him.
He followed.
“You still picking up change?”
Peg looked over.
Josie kept walking.
Mason laughed.
“Don't be shy.”
Josie turned.
“You need something?”
He smiled.
“I need you to remember something.”
“What?”
“This store belongs to people like me.”
Josie looked at the shelves.
“No.”
“It does.”
“Then why are you shopping for water at midnight?”
The two men beside him laughed.
Mason's smile disappeared.
He stepped closer.
Josie did not move.
“Careful.”
She stared at him.
“About what?”
“You don't know who you're talking to.”
Josie thought about Elias.
She knew exactly what Mason meant.
The irony almost made her smile.
But before she could answer, the store lights flickered.
Warren shouted at an employee.
“Check the breaker!”
The three men moved toward the back.
Josie watched them disappear.
Then she looked at Peg.
Peg whispered:
“They've been here every night this week.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
Josie's voice dropped.
“Have they asked about me?”
Peg looked away.
“Yes.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That you're good at your job.”
Josie smiled.
“Thank you.”
At 1:30 a.m., a delivery truck arrived.
Josie noticed something strange.
The driver did not unload boxes.
He gave Warren Kesler an envelope.
Warren took it directly into the office.
Josie wrote it down.
At 1:42, Warren came out.
He looked at her.
Then at the envelope.
Then back at her.
Josie understood.
She was part of the problem now.
At 2:15, Mason returned to her register.
He placed another sparkling water on the counter.
“Six forty.”
He paid with a hundred-dollar bill.
Josie gave him his change.
He watched her count.
“See?”
“What?”
“Some people give change.”
She placed the bills on the counter.
“Have a good night.”
He leaned closer.
“You should ask your husband how much this is going to cost him.”
Josie froze.
Mason smiled.
Then he walked away.
For three seconds, she could not breathe.
She did not know whether Mason knew Elias was her husband.
Or whether he was bluffing.
She looked toward the black windows.
Then toward the clock.
2:16.
She took out her notebook.
For the first time, her hand shook.
Mason Mercer knows about Elias.
She closed it.
At 2:45, Peg found her behind the stock room.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
Josie looked at her.
Peg folded her arms.
“I've been alive sixty-two years. I know what fear looks like.”
Josie smiled sadly.
“I'm trying not to be afraid.”
Peg sat beside her.
“You don't have to be brave every minute.”
Josie looked down.
“I'm not afraid for me.”
Peg waited.
“Then who?”
Josie did not answer.
Because she suddenly realized the answer.
Elias.
For a year, she had tried to see whether she could live without his protection.
Now someone was threatening to pull his world directly into hers.
At 3:05, Josie returned home.
She placed the notebook on the table.
Then her phone rang.
Elias.
She stared at the screen.
She answered.
“Hi.”
“What happened?”
Her heart stopped.
“Nothing.”
“Josie.”
She closed her eyes.
“I'll tell you.”
“When?”
“Now.”
She sat.
“Mason Mercer was at the store tonight.”
Silence.
“He mentioned you.”
Elias's breathing changed.
“What exactly did he say?”
“He asked whether I had asked my husband how much this would cost him.”
Elias said nothing.
“Elias?”
“I’m here.”
His voice was different.
Colder.
Josie knew that voice.
It was not her husband.
It was the man the city feared.
“Don't come here,” she whispered.
“I won't.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
“Even if he comes back?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
She heard him exhale.
“Josie?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
She smiled through tears.
“I know.”
They hung up.
Elias immediately called Rocco.
“Move the car closer.”
Rocco hesitated.
“She told you not to interfere.”
“I know.”
“Then what?”
“Watch the building.”
“What am I looking for?”
Elias stared at Mason Mercer's file.
“Anyone who looks at my wife twice.”
The next morning, someone entered Fairbank's office using a stolen key.
They did not take money.
They did not take electronics.
May you like
They took one employee folder.
Josie Hartley.
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