CHAPTER 3 – THE WAITER WHO REMEMBERS EVERYTHING
Eli wiped down tables long after Bellwether closed.
He should have forgotten the night.
But he didn’t.
Because Grant Vale had looked at him differently.
Not like staff.
Like recognition.
That was impossible.
Eli had worked at Bellwether for two years. Invisible years. The kind where people speak through you, not to you.
But Grant had said his name.
The next day, Eli found a sealed envelope in his locker.
No sender.
Inside was a single line:
“Stay observant. Not emotional.”
And a card.
No logo.
Only coordinates.
That night, Eli stood outside the restaurant long after his shift ended, holding the card.
A man in a dark coat approached him.
“You’re coming with me,” the man said.
“To where?”
“Training.”
“For what?”
The man looked at him calmly.
“For rooms like this.”
Eli should have been afraid.
May you like
Instead, something inside him settled.
Because for the first time in his life, he wasn’t being ignored.
