Nina has been the receptionist at Mercer & Field since before I got there. She’s twenty-six, she knows everybody’s coffee order and everybody’s kids’ names, and she’s the only person in that building who ever brought me soup when I had the flu.
I called her back.
“What?”
“Where are you?” She was whispering.
“Why?”
“You need to come back.”
“No, Nina. I really don’t.”
“I’m serious.”
“So was Gavin.”
“Chris. Listen to me.” Her voice dropped even lower. Something was wrong. “There’s a woman here. She says you helped her this morning.”
I sat up straight in the booth. The whole diner seemed to go quiet around me.
“She’s okay?”
“Yes. She’s fine. She’s walking around.”
A breath I didn’t know I’d been holding came out of me.
“Good. That’s good.”
“But she keeps asking for you.”
“Tell her I’m glad she’s okay.”
“Christopher.” Nina never uses my full name. “She didn’t come alone.”
“What does that mean?”
“There are four people with her. Two of them are lawyers. I heard one of them say Halston Capital.”
The name landed slowly.
Then all at once.
Halston Capital.
Everybody in my industry knows that name. Private investment. Real estate, logistics, healthcare, technology. The kind of firm you read about in The Wall Street Journal when they buy an entire company before breakfast. If a business needs fifty million dollars, Halston can write the check. If it needs five hundred million, they can probably do that too.
“What does Halston Capital have to do with her?”
“I don’t know. But Gavin’s been in Conference One with them for twelve minutes.” Nina hesitated. “And Chris? I’ve worked here six years. I have never, ever seen Gavin look this scared.”
I was already reaching for my jacket.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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