He said, “I’m a paying customer?—”
I said, “Not anymore.”
I came around the counter and I opened the front door and I held it open and I did not say another word. He left, muttering something about small-town hospitality, and I closed the door behind him and I locked it, which I never did during business hours, and I sat down on one of the lunch stools and I felt my heart doing something very fast and very loud in my chest.
I called Mira.
She answered on the second ring. “What’s wrong.”
I said, “A reporter was just here. He was asking about Knox. About the diner. About whether I was his girlfriend and whether he saved the diner.”
Mira said, “What did you tell him, sugar.”
I said, “Nothing. I made him leave. But how does he know? Who told him?”
Mira said, “Maple, I don’t know. But this is not nothing. This is someone on the outside knowing your business.”
I hung up.
I sat for three minutes and then I got back up and I locked the diner from the inside and I made a sign that said “back in 30 minutes” and I left.
I drove to Maddox’s office.
It was in the same building as the rink, a small suite that said “Frostbite Management” on the door. I had never been inside. I had never had reason to go. But I knew Maddox Ash from the team lunch, and I knew he was the one who had bought my debt, and I needed to understand how the situation had spiraled from my private nightmare into a sports story.
His door was unlocked.
I went in.
Maddox was at his desk, looking at something on his computer screen. He looked up and his expression did not change, which told me that he had been expecting me, or something like me, had been waiting for this moment to arrive.
I said, “I need to know what’s happening.”
He said, “Come in. Close the door.”
I did.
He said, “A reporter called me this morning. He said he had a tip about the diner situation. I told him I had no comment.”
I said, “How does he know about the diner situation?”
Maddox said, “Someone told him. It could be anyone. Could be a banker. Could be someone at the town council. Could be someone who overheard a conversation. Small towns don’t keep secrets well.”
I said, “You bought my debt.”
Maddox said, “Yes.”
I said, “Through a holding company so that no one would know.”
Maddox said, “Yes.”
I said, “And Knox knows.”
Maddox said, “Knox knows.”
I said, “How long has he known.”
Maddox said, “Since Day 15.”
