“Thank you, sir,” I said.

I turned and walked away, feeling his eyes on my back.

It was a small victory, but it bought us the time we needed.

I retreated to the service station near the back.

Elise was there, folding napkins into neat triangles.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, looking toward Nico’s table.

“I saw you talking to him.”

“I told him we are dropping the lawsuit,” I said quietly.

Her eyes widened.

“But Harper, your mother’s name—”

“It’s a distraction,” I interrupted, leaning closer.

“We aren’t stopping. We are just making them think we are.”

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“You scared me.”

“Keep your head down tonight,” I said.

“Go home right after your shift.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“I have some side work to finish up,” I lied.

The rest of the dinner rush passed in a blur of clattering plates and heavy trays.

My arms ached, but my mind was focused entirely on the midnight meeting.

I kept thinking about my mother, Lila.

She had spent her final years carrying the weight of a crime she didn’t commit.