"I'm the manager of this restaurant—anything happens, that's on me!"
"What are you all standing around for?"
"Move! Now!"
Janet turned to the security guards behind her and barked, "I don't care how you do it. Get those watches off their wrists!"
The moment she finished, the guards had no choice. They started toward me.
Watching this unfold, I was so furious my face had gone pale.
They weren't even bothering to pretend anymore.
"Stop! I'll pay. Let my clients go first!"
I shouted, and at the same time glanced past the private room door.
The police still hadn't arrived.
I had to pay first—keep my clients safe now, sort the rest out after. The payment record would exist. They couldn't wriggle out of that.
The second I relented, a smug look spread across Janet's face.
"See, Lucille? Would it have killed you to just pay up from the start?"
"A place as big as Harborview House—you think we need to scam you out of a few bucks?"
"You try to eat for free and act like we're the problem!"
I ignored her. "Give me an invoice," I said, voice flat and cold.
"And pull up the payment code."
My phone was already recording. Every second I dragged this out was another second closer to the police walking through that door.
Janet was clearly prepared. She snapped her fingers at someone behind her. "Two hundred thousand for one bill, twenty thousand for the other. Two hundred and twenty thousand total."
"Pay up."
She shot me a satisfied look as she said it.
I kept my face calm, picked up my phone, and opened the payment screen.
Just as I was about to scan the code, the door to the private room swung open and several police officers walked in.
"We received a report. Which one of you is Ms. Lucille Dickerson?"
They looked around the room and asked immediately.
I visibly let out a breath of relief.
I turned. Janet's face had already gone white.
I didn't spare her another glance. I raised my hand and called out, "Officer, that's me!"
"And I'm not just reporting extortion."
"They held us against our will."
"And they tried to rob us."
My voice carried. Every officer in the room turned to me.
Before they could respond, Janet cut in. "A misunderstanding, officer. It's all a misunderstanding!"
Her voice was tight, threaded with panic.
"Officer—she ate at our restaurant and wouldn't pay! That's the only reason any of this happened!"
"We don't need police for this. Really, we can handle it ourselves!"
She forced a smile in my direction. "President Dickerson, come on—it's such a small thing, we can work it out right here!"
I let out a cold laugh. "I don't think this is small at all."
"And I'm very curious who exactly racked up a bill like that at your restaurant and had it charged to me."
"Manager Gilbert, are your surveillance cameras really broken?"
I stared her down, anger burning through every word. "You're not the one coming after us for money."
"We're the ones coming after you."
