"I'm the manager of this restaurant. If there's a problem, it's on me!"
"What are you standing around for?"
"Get it done!"
Toby turned to the security guards behind him and barked, "I don't care how you do it. Rip those watches off their wrists!"
The moment the order left his mouth, the guards had no choice. They started toward me.
I saw them coming and my face changed with rage.
They weren't even pretending anymore.
"Stop! I'll pay. Let my clients go first!"
I shouted it loud, and at the same time, glanced toward the door of the private room.
The police still hadn't arrived.
My clients' safety came first. I'd pay.
The payment record would exist either way—they couldn't deny it.
The second I gave in, a smug grin spread across Toby's face.
"President Gilbert, why didn't you just do that from the start?"
"A place as big as Harborview—you think we need to scam you?"
"You eat and don't pay? How's that okay!"
I ignored him completely and said, flat and cold, "Give me an itemized receipt."
"And pull up the payment code."
My phone had been recording the whole time. I was stalling too. Drag it out until the police showed up, and this was done.
Toby was clearly prepared. He waved to someone behind him without missing a beat. "Two hundred thousand on one tab, twenty thousand on the other—two hundred twenty thousand. Pay up."
He shot me a triumphant look as he said it.
I stayed calm, picked up my phone, and got ready to scan.
Just as I raised my phone to the code, the door of the private room swung open and several police officers strode in.
"We received a report. Which one of you is Alex Gilbert?"
They scanned the room and asked immediately.
I let out a visible breath of relief.
I turned and saw the color already draining from Toby's face.
I didn't spare him another glance. I raised my hand and called out, "Officer, that's me. I'm Alex Gilbert."
"And I'm not just filing a complaint for extortion."
"They held us against our will."
"And they tried to rob us."
My voice was loud enough that every officer in the room turned to me.
Before any of them could respond, Toby cut in. "Misunderstanding, officer—all a misunderstanding!"
His voice was tight, threaded with something close to panic.
"He ate here—President Gilbert ate here and wouldn't pay the bill!"
"That's why—we only did this because of that! We can sort it out ourselves!"
Even as he said it, he fixed me with a strained smile. "President Gilbert, come on, it's a little thing. We can handle it ourselves."
I let out a cold laugh. "I don't think it's small at all."
"And I'm very curious who exactly ran up a bill this big at your restaurant and decided to stick it on me."
"Manager Dickerson, are your surveillance cameras really broken?"
I stared him down, voice full of barely contained fury. "Right now, you're not the one coming after us."
"We're coming after you."
