Alan's men moved first.It happened quickly and without much ceremony. Three of them came from the front and two from the side, the standard spread of people who have done this kind of thing before but not against anyone who knew what they were doing.Luke had already put the envelope inside his jacket. He looked at the two coming from his side and rolled his neck once.The next two minutes were not complicated. Logan handled the three in front with the efficiency of someone for whom this kind of situation was not new, moving through them in a sequence that left each one on the ground before the next one had fully processed what had happened to the one before him. Luke dealt with his two in a similarly straightforward manner, and by the time the pavement settled, all five men were on the ground in various states of discomfort and the street around them had gone very quiet.Alan had not moved from his spot beside the car. He was looking at the five men on the ground and then at Logan a

Leslie spotted them first.She was being led to a table near the center of the restaurant when she turned her head and saw Logan sitting in a booth at the far end with two men she did not recognize. She stopped walking. The host took two more steps before realizing she was no longer following and turned back with a polite expression.Stacy almost walked into her mother from behind. "Mum, why did you""Look," Leslie said quietly.Stacy looked. She saw Logan, then the booth, then the restaurant around them, and her expression went through several things quickly before settling on something between disbelief and irritation.Leslie thanked the host and told him they would find their own table. She chose one close enough to Logan's booth to be deliberate and sat down with her back straight and her bag on the chair beside her."What is he doing here?" Stacy said, sitting across from her and keeping her voice down."The same thing he always does," Leslie said, opening her menu. "Pretending."

Ava had been staring at the Astral Corp contact number for ten minutes before she finally called it.She had gone over the proposal three more times that morning, adjusting the language, tightening the figures, preparing for every version of a difficult conversation she could think of. She had looked at the rejection history again. She had read the notes from the last two people who had tried and failed to get anyone at Astral Corp to return a call. She had done everything she could do from her desk and the only thing left was to make the call.So she made it.The line connected after two rings. A woman’s voice answered, polished and professional. “Astral Corp, Project Partnerships. How can I help you?”Ava sat up straighter in her chair, gripping the phone a little tighter. “My name is Ava Cooper. I’m the Sales Director at Synergy Corp. I’m calling regarding a potential strategic partnership. I was hoping to speak with your project manager.”There was a brief pause on the other end

The food arrived in stages, each dish brought in and set down by staff who moved efficiently and left without lingering. Scott watched each plate come in with the focused appreciation of someone who spent their days thinking about food professionally and could not help evaluating everything that was put in front of him."That sauce," Scott said, pointing at one of the dishes. "What is that base?""I do not know," Luke said. "I just eat it.""That is the problem with people who do not cook," Scott said, already reaching for the serving spoon. "You miss the conversation the food is having with you."Luke looked at Logan. "Is he always like this?""Yes," Logan said.They ate for a while without the conversation going anywhere in particular, the easy movement of people who were comfortable enough with each other not to fill every silence. Outside the window the city had settled into its evening version of itself, the light changing and the streets thinning.When the main dishes were mostl

Logan kept his eyes on the road, but his mind was somewhere else. "And then Mrs Harlow said we had to clean up before the bell," Mia was saying, "but Tommy didn't clean up his side because Tommy never cleans up his side and nobody ever says anything to him about it." "That doesn't sound fair." "It's not fair at all. I always clean up my side." She shifted in her seat. "Daddy, do you think Mrs Harlow has a favorite?” "I think Mrs Harlow probably has a lot going on." "That's not an answer." Logan glanced at her in the mirror. She was looking at him with her arms crossed, waiting. He turned back to the road. "Yes," he said. "I think most teachers have favorites." "I knew it." She uncrossed her arms, satisfied. "Tommy is definitely her favorite." Logan smiled and said nothing. The afternoon traffic was light, and the drive home had the easy, unhurried feel it usually did at this hour. He listened to her talk, responding when she needed a response, staying quiet when she