Chapter 1: The Woman at the Door
“We don’t serve people dressed like that.””
Denise said it loudly enough for half the dining room to hear.
Evelyn stopped beneath the restaurant’s crystal chandelier.
For one second, she didn’t move.
The marble floor reflected the warm gold light above her, making the worn gray coat around her shoulders look even more out of place among the polished tables, expensive handbags, and pressed suits.
At the hostess podium, Denise folded her arms.
She pointed toward the entrance.
“You need to leave.””
Evelyn’s fingers tightened around the edge of her coat.
“I’m not here to cause trouble,” she said quietly.
Denise barely looked at her.
“Then don’t.””
A nearby diner lowered his fork.
Another woman whispered something to the man beside her.
Evelyn noticed.
She always noticed.
She lowered her eyes and took one slow step toward the door.
Then another.
Behind her, glasses clinked. Silverware scraped against porcelain. Someone laughed too loudly, pretending not to be watching.
At a table near the center of the restaurant, Maya was carrying two plates of salmon and vegetables.
She heard Denise’s voice.
She looked toward the entrance.
The older woman’s shoulders were hunched, but there was something strangely familiar about the way she walked.
Maya couldn’t explain it.
She had never seen her before.
At least, she thought she hadn’t.
“Maya,” a customer called.
Maya turned automatically.
“Sorry. Coming right up.””
She set the plates down, but her eyes drifted back toward the entrance.
Evelyn reached for the brass door handle.
Her sleeve slipped.
Just slightly.
Maya saw the mark.
A tiny star-shaped burn scar.
Five uneven points.
Darkened skin in the shape of a star.
Maya froze.
One of the plates in her hand tilted.
A glass rattled.
Then her serving towel slipped from her fingers and landed on the marble floor.
Maya stared.
Her breathing stopped.
“No…”
The word escaped her before she knew she had spoken it.
She abandoned the plates and ran.
“Maya!”” someone shouted.
She didn’t answer.
The restaurant doors were already closing.
“Please wait!””
Evelyn stopped outside.
Slowly, she turned.
Maya pushed through the door and hurried toward her.
“Please,” Maya said, breathless.
“Please wait.””
Evelyn looked at her face.
Something changed in the old woman’s expression.
Fear.
Recognition.
Grief.
Maya pointed at her wrist.
“That mark.””
Evelyn immediately pulled her sleeve down.
Maya swallowed.
“Where did you get that mark?””
Evelyn stared at her.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Evelyn whispered, “Your mother gave it to me.””
Maya stopped breathing.
The sounds of the restaurant seemed to disappear.
“My mother?””
Evelyn nodded.
Maya stepped closer.
“My mother has been missing for twenty-two years.””
“I know.””
Maya’s eyes filled instantly.
“You knew her?””
Evelyn looked toward the restaurant.
Toward the dining room.
Toward the polished tables and chandelier hanging above them.
“I knew her before you were born.””
Maya shook her head.
“That’s impossible. Nobody knows anything about her.””
“She knew what happened.””
“What happened to her?””
Evelyn’s lips trembled.
“I promised her I would never tell.””
Maya stared at her.
“Then why are you here?””
Evelyn reached inside her coat.
Maya instinctively stepped back.
The old woman pulled out a small photograph.
It was faded, its edges curled with age.
Maya’s heart began pounding.
“Where did you get that?””
Evelyn held it out.
“She told me to give you this someday.””
Maya reached for it with trembling fingers.
The moment her fingertips touched the photograph—
“HEY!””
Victor’s voice exploded across the entrance.
Maya turned.
The restaurant owner was rushing toward them.
Victor crossed the marble floor faster than Maya had ever seen him move.
His expensive dark suit was perfectly pressed.
His face was not.
He looked terrified.
“Give me that.””
Maya barely had time to react.
Victor snatched the photograph from her hand.
His fingers closed around it.
They were shaking.
Maya stared at him.
“Mr. Hale?””
Victor said nothing.
Evelyn stepped backward.
Victor looked at her.
And for the first time, Maya saw pure fear in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not irritation.
Fear.
Victor looked down at the photograph.
Then back at Maya.
“That picture was never supposed to leave this building.””
Maya’s voice became barely audible.
“You knew my mother?””
Victor went completely pale.
May you like
He opened his mouth.
And stopped.
