Page 19 of The Newcomer
Ava chuckled and handed Letty an armload of freshly laundered sheets. “Looks like you’re gonna need these. How about you start in the morning? Is eight too early?”
“I’ll see you then,” Letty said. “Thanks, Ava.”
8
New York City
ZOEY SPOTTED TABLE TWO THEmoment he stepped into the diner. The balls of this guy! He sat right down at his old spot, unfolded the newspaper, and tapped his fingertips on the tabletop while he read.
When Hailey headed that way with the coffeepot, Zoey grabbed it from her. “Hold up. That’s the guy I told you about. The one who used to come in here all the time. Messed with my girl Letty.”
Hailey’s eyes widened. “That girl who killed her sister and kidnapped the baby?”
“Hush! That’s some bullshit right there,” Zoey said. “Letty would never. You take my table and I’ll take yours. And I’ll split the tip with you. Okay?”
“I guess.” Hailey was new, but she wasn’t dumb.
Zoey eased over to the table. Evan held out his coffee mug and she filled it. He looked up and she could tell he recognized her. Vaguely. Men didn’t look at Zoey the way they did girls who looked like Letty.
“Long time, no see,” Zoey said.
“Uh, yeah.”
“The usual today?”
“That’s right. Rye toast, dry. Poached egg. Crisp bacon. Small grapefruit juice. Oh, and, I’ve got somebody joining me.”
“Should I go ahead and put in your order?”
He glanced at his watch and frowned. “Yeah. She’s late.”
Ironic,Evan thought. Vikki Hill had never been late when it came time for an under-the-table payoff. She’d turned up, unannounced, at his building in Tribeca two months earlier, and demanded to see the apartment on the third floor, his most recent purchase.
Naturally, he’d been alarmed. Where, he’d asked, was Norman, the city housing inspector he’d been dealing with for the past few years?
The new inspector had shrugged. “Gone. That’s all I know.”
Which was obviously a lie. Vikki Hill seemed to know quite a lot. She let him know, subtly, that she could be “influenced” to overlook his illegal short-term rentals. And she seemed to know exactly how much she could expect as reward for turning a blind eye.
Just then the door opened and the new inspector walked in. She spotted him at his table and hurried over to join him.
Interesting,Zoey thought. The woman was definitely not the guy’s usual type. She was skinny, no boobs to speak of, probably around Table Two’s age. Dressed in jeans and Chuck Taylors with a black turtleneck sweater under a boxy no-name navy blazer. A light-skinned black woman with flat-ironed hair. Or maybe she was biracial.
Zoey grabbed a menu and the coffeepot.
“Morning,” she said, sliding the menu onto the tabletop. “Can I get you started with coffee?”
“No thanks. Just some ice water.” The woman glanced at the menu. “I’ll have a bagel egg sandwich, and you can bring me two packets of mustard.”
Whenthe waitress was gone, Evan thumbed through photos on his phone, found the one he wanted, and handed it across the table to his guest.
She studied the photo, enlarged it with her fingertips. “She’s a lot prettier than that photo they ran in theDaily News.Is this the most recent one you’ve got?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, text that to me. And any other photos you’ve got of her. And the kid, of course.”
“Maya.”
