Chapter 13 - People on the Payroll
Nora didn't sign Victor's statement. The next morning she told Sal about it, including the warning about innocent employees.
“He's right about one thing,” Sal admitted. “The club has sixty-three people on payroll. Not one of them deserves to lose a shift because my sons and I couldn't behave like family.”
“You have one son,” Nora said. “And one daughter.”
Sal closed his eyes briefly. “I know.”
“Do you?”
They met at an ordinary coffee shop, not his apartment. Sal brought a draft notice from Julia that would temporarily remove Victor from day-to-day management while the company reviewed security procedures. It named a longtime operations supervisor, Denise Park, as acting manager.
Nora pushed the notice back. “Why are you showing me this?”
“Because I used to think doing something right meant making sure it looked right on paper.”
“Then don't ask me to approve your paper.”
He nodded. It was an answer he might once have punished.
Denise refused the interim job until Sal promised the staff would be paid during the transition, and until independent counsel confirmed she wouldn't personally inherit Victor's disputed decisions. Sal agreed. He also asked Julia to contact the appropriate authorities about the truck incident and to arrange for preserved records to be available. He understood that reporting the facts might bring attention to things he'd rather forget.
At three, Victor learned the access codes would be changed under the company's formal procedures. He called Sal and shouted for ten minutes. Sal held the phone away from his ear until the shouting stopped.
“You don't get to throw me away because your daughter has a kid,” Victor said.
“I'm not throwing you away. I'm removing you from a position you've used to hurt people.”
“I learned the job from you.”
“Then I owe you more than an excuse.”
Victor hung up.
The news moved quickly among employees. A bartender worried about rent. A line cook worried about a scheduled raise. Malik told Nora the staff were angry at Victor but afraid the whole club would close.
Nora went to the club after the afternoon school pickup, this time without Rosie. She spoke to Denise in the empty dining room, where the chairs were stacked and the air smelled of floor polish.
“I don't want any of them punished for helping me,” Nora said.
“I can't promise what every investigation finds,” Denise replied. “I can promise nobody's being asked to lie to keep a job.”
That evening Ben returned home carrying Rosie's repaired teddy bear. A woman at the dry cleaner had resewn the ear at no charge after hearing his awkward explanation.
Rosie held Captain Sunday up to the light. “He's got a scar now.”
“Yeah,” Ben said. “So do some of us.”
Nora reached for his hand across the table.
May you like
Then his phone rang. The warehouse lawyer was ready to release the truck—but only after Ben signed for its condition exactly as it stood.
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