Daniel wrote nothing down until each person agreed. June made copies of public wage-complaint instructions and gave them out without asking anyone to sign. She also persuaded a neighborhood labor center to send a representative.

The next day Celia Brandt arrived with security guards and accused them of harassing employees. Daniel remained on the public sidewalk.

“You can’t organize against a business that hasn’t opened,” she said.

“Then why are you already collecting money from workers?”

“These are voluntary program fees.”

Imani stepped forward. “They told us we couldn’t get shifts unless we paid.”

Celia stared at her. “We’ll discuss your attitude later.”

“No,” Imani said, her voice shaking. “We can discuss it now.”

For the first time, the people waiting in line stopped pretending not to hear. Rafael moved beside Imani. Tomas followed. Celia looked toward her guards, but they had no authority to move people off a public sidewalk.

“This isn’t finished,” she said.

“I know,” Daniel replied. “That’s why we’re here.”

Chapter Eight: A Confession Without a Bargain

Adrian Vale visited Daniel at the garage that evening. He seemed surprised to find the place crowded with workers eating sandwiches around a folding table.

“You’ve made yourself visible,” Vale said quietly.

“That was the point.”

“Visibility brings risk.”

“So does silence.”

Vale asked to speak privately. Daniel refused. If the conversation concerned the pier, the workers could hear it.

Vale admitted that Marcel’s former associates had invested in a company that provided staffing for the concession. Marcel had spent years trying to separate his remaining legitimate businesses from criminal networks, but people still traded on his name. Vale had assembled the dossier to identify those relationships. He wanted Daniel’s cooperation because the Brooks name might draw attention to the history.

“You were going to use me as a symbol,” Daniel said.

“Yes,” Vale answered. “I was.”

“That’s not a small thing to admit.”

“I should have admitted it yesterday.”

Daniel told him the workers had their own testimony and didn’t need a famous surname to make it real. Vale listened, then offered to pay for legal representation and transport to the hearing.

“No conditions?” June asked.

“None.”

“Then put it in writing and send it to the labor center, not to us.”

Vale smiled faintly. “Your father raised stubborn children.”

“He raised careful ones,” June said.

Marcel arrived after sunset, without guards. Daniel asked him a question that had troubled him since their first meeting.

“Why was your hand injured?”

Marcel flexed his fingers. “I tried to stop a man from taking a worker’s phone at the pier. He pushed me against a steel door. I’m old enough that small injuries have become expensive.”

“Why were you there?”