Chapter 1 - THE WRONG WITNESS
Walter Hayes was halfway through handing Lily Carter her hot dog when Claire Bennett knocked it out of his hand.
The hot dog hit the pavement.
Lily jumped back.
Walter stared at it.
Then at Claire.
She stood beside his food cart in a cream coat and black heels, with half of Lower Manhattan moving around her as if nothing had happened.
Glass towers.
Taxis.
Luggage-colored crowds coming out of office buildings.
Her black Mercedes waited at the curb twenty feet away.
Claire pulled a thick envelope from her handbag.
Then threw it into Walter's chest.
“Take it. Forget what you saw.”
The envelope hit him and fell between his shoes.
Walter did not bend down.
Lily looked from him to Claire.
“Mr. Walter?”
“You're fine, sweetheart.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Pick it up.”
Walter's face remained calm.
That seemed to make her angrier.
She put the toe of one shoe against the envelope and pushed it toward him.
“I'm not asking twice.”
Walter finally bent.
Claire relaxed slightly.
Then he walked past her.
Placed the envelope on the hood of her Mercedes—
and threw it down.
The flap opened.
Hundred-dollar bills spilled across the black paint.
A few slid onto the windshield.
Claire's face hardened.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
Walter turned back toward his cart.
Claire grabbed his collar.
Lily gasped.
Walter hit the steel side panel behind him.
Before Claire could speak, Ethan came around the cart.
Twenty-five.
Walter's grandson.
Apron still on.
He knocked Claire's hand away.
“Don’t touch him.”
Claire stared at him.
“You have no idea what this is.”
“I know what I just saw.”
“Stay out of it.”
Ethan did not move.
Claire slapped him.
Hard.
His head snapped sideways.
A man waiting for coffee stepped backward.
Someone else raised a phone.
Walter immediately moved between Claire and Ethan.
“Enough.”
Claire pointed at him.
“You take the money and you keep your mouth shut.”
Walter looked at her for a long second.
Then he walked to the Mercedes.
Gathered the envelope.
Pushed it firmly back into Claire's hands.
“I already talked.”
Her fingers closed automatically around the cash.
“What?”
Walter turned away.
Claire's confidence disappeared.
“To who?”
He started replacing the food he had dropped.
“Walter.”
Her phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
For some reason, she answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice.
Calm.
“You paid the wrong witness.”
Claire stopped moving.
She slowly looked back toward Walter.
May you like
He did not look at her.
The call remained connected.
