The Waitress Who Wouldn't Sign
Chapter 07 - The Waitress Who Wouldn't Sign
The Ashford Grand's former banquet manager called Isabella and offered her a settlement: compensation in exchange for agreeing that the gala incident had been a misunderstanding. The proposed document also prohibited her from discussing what she'd witnessed that night.
Isabella read it twice. Then she called her own legal aid adviser.
“I don't want to make a big scene,” she said. “I just want the record to say I didn't do anything wrong.”
Her adviser explained the options. The hotel's independent HR review had already concluded that firing her on the spot was unjustified. She was entitled to decline a broad confidentiality restriction that she considered inappropriate.
When Samuel Cross learned about the proposed agreement, he withdrew it and arranged for the company to correct her employment record. Isabella received the wages owed to her and an offer to return without retaliation. She accepted a different position at another hotel instead.
Ethan called to congratulate her.
“You could have taken the money and disappeared,” he said.
“And spent the next ten years wishing I'd spoken?” she answered. “No thanks.”
That evening, Isabella visited the lakefront with Ruth and Ben. Mara used to bring them there in summer, feeding crumbs to gulls despite every sign warning visitors not to. Isabella told Ben she'd finally spoken to someone who remembered Mara from the night she disappeared.
Ben stared at the water. “What if she's alive?”
“Then we keep looking.”
“And if she's not?”
May you like
Isabella held his hand. “Then we learn what happened and make sure she isn't forgotten.”
Her phone buzzed. An unknown sender had attached a photograph of a motel in Wisconsin. Beneath it: ASK WHO CHECKED INTO ROOM 18 ON THE NIGHT OF THE CRASH.
