Read Online The Comfort of Black by Carter Wilson - Free Book Online Page B

He keeps watching us.”
    Hannah felt herself turning but pulled back. “What does he look like?”
    Justine kept staring, assessing. After a few moments, she quietly said, “A problem.”

CHAPTER NINE
    Hannah turned. The man was three tables away, seated alone at a four-top, a glass of water on the table and nothing else. He was not a small man. His black sport coat was squared sharply at the shoulders, giving him the look of a linebacker. Shaved head, thin, dark goatee, and searching eyes that probably were most comfortable behind sunglasses.
    The man sipped his water and offered a single nod at Hannah.
    â€œWho is he?” Justine asked.
    Hannah turned back to her sister. “I have no idea.” She was suddenly worried about Zoo, and she looked back outside to find him. He was still there, and now he was facing away from her, staring off toward the street. “But I don’t think I want to be here anymore.”
    â€œAgreed.” They didn’t bother asking for the check. Hannah reached into her purse and dropped two twenties on the table. As they got up to leave, the man stood.
    â€œWhat is going on?” Justine asked.
    â€œI’m going to find out.” Hannah began walking toward him. She was in the mood for confrontation, even though she had no idea who this man was or what, if any, threat he represented. Justine followed.
    They were dwarfed by him. A waiter carrying a tray slipped deftly around the small circle the three of them formed in the middle of the restaurant.
    â€œCan we help you?” Hannah asked. Her tone didn’t suggest helpfulness in the least.
    The man looked down on Hannah with a barely restrainedsmile, a parent amused by a child’s defiance. “Most women wouldn’t have come up to me,” he said. His voice was deep and purposeful. “So you saved me from having to follow you outside.”
    â€œWhat do you want?”
    â€œI want to talk to you.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause it’s my job. My name is Peter. I work for Echo.”
    â€œDallin…” Hannah said.
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œI’ve never seen you,” Hannah said.
    â€œIt’s a pleasure to meet you.” Peter stuck out his fielder’s-glove-sized hand. Hannah took it without thinking. His fingers consumed her entire hand as he gave it a light pump. “I certainly didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
    â€œYou just said you were going to follow us outside,” Justine said.
    Peter ignored her. “Is there a place we can go to talk?”
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œA favor.”
    Justine said, “We can talk here.”
    Peter studied her for a moment. Finally he nodded, then pulled a chair from the table where he had been sitting. He motioned for Hannah to sit. She looked to her sister, who sat first. Hannah followed suit. Peter slid back into the chair he’d been in, defying its delicate wood frame to withstand him. He looked directly across the table to Hannah.
    â€œI’m in charge of Risk Management for your husband’s company. Simply put, I make sure everyone is happy in their jobs, and if there’s a problem, it’s my job to handle it quickly, efficiently, and to an agreeable end.”
    Justine said, “You’re a thug for Echo.”
    His black gaze shifted to her. “I’m not a person you want to make simple assumptions about, Ms. Parks.”
    Hannah looked at her sister. Peter’s use of Justine’s last name was effective in further unnerving Hannah, though Justine herself didn’t seem fazed in the least.
    â€œYou still haven’t told us what you want,” Justine said.
    â€œI mitigate risk for Echo. This, of course, is the primary objective. Company first.
Your husband’s company
, Mrs. Leighton.”
    â€œI don’t go by Leighton,” Hannah said. “I kept my maiden name. Parks.”
    â€œMy apologies.” Peter held