“Great. Just let me know if there’s anything you need.”
The man nodded, his attention already back on his date.
The restaurant slowly emptied out as eleven o’clock neared. Andra and Ruth were off in a corner, talking intently and waving their hands. As if they could feel his stare, they both turned toward Nico, but he’d already busied himself placing a lipstick-smeared glass into one of the plastic bins they used to clear the tables. Moments later, both of them were talking to Carole.
Satisfaction curled Nico’s mouth into a smile. He was pretty sure Julia wasn’t going to be short any meals tonight.
Once everyone finally left, he hurried to her office. She was already on her computer, pulling up the evening’s results. Nico looked at the number on his counting device. Exactly the same as the total from her system.
“You didn’t lose a cent tonight,” he said, thrilled for her.
“Thank God.” She frowned, clearly thinking. “Carole didn’t have my new password tonight, after I changed it on the terminal. In the past, I’ve always changed it on my computer. Does that mean she knows the password to get into my computer?”
Nico was pretty sure they’d find spyware on her work computer. But all he said was, “Call Zoe.”
He stood close to Julia as she dialed her friend. As soon as Zoe answered the phone, Julia said, “No missing meals tonight.”
Nico leaned close to the phone, resisting the impulse to rest his cheek against Julia’s. “Carole, Ruth and Andra didn’t look happy,” he said into the phone. “They were whispering together all night.”
“Good,” Julia said. “I hope they’re worried.”
“Yeah,” said Zoe. “I hope they are, too. Here’s what we’re going to do.”