Ryan looked through the glass.
“What am I supposed to read?”
Victor sighed.
“Look at him.”
Ryan did.
“Okay.”
“You see four-hundred-thousand-dollar liquidity?”
Ryan frowned.
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
“No, sir. I mean I literally don’t know.”
Victor’s mouth tightened.
Ryan continued carefully.
“He hasn’t given us a financial statement.”
“People with that kind of money do not walk in looking like that.”
Ryan thought of his father.
He kept his face neutral.
“Sometimes they do.”
Victor sat forward.
“Do you want to last here?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop arguing with people who know this business.”
Ryan swallowed.
Victor continued.
“Go tell him politely to return when he has an appointment.”
“What if he really wants the car?”
“He doesn’t.”
“How do you know?”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“That’s enough.”
Ryan nodded.
He left.
Back in the showroom, Nathaniel remained seated.
Ryan approached.
“Sir.”
“No luck?”
Ryan exhaled.
“He said to come back another time.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“When he’s less busy?”
“Yes.”
“Was he busy?”
Ryan hesitated.
Nathaniel smiled faintly.
“You don’t need to answer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Ryan looked toward Chloe and Steve.
“For the way this place made you feel.”
That changed Nathaniel’s expression.
Only slightly.
But Ryan saw it.
Nathaniel opened his canvas messenger bag.
Inside were several folders, an old notebook, a pair of reading glasses, and a sealed cream envelope.
He removed the envelope.
Held it out.
“Would you do something for me?”
Ryan accepted it.
“Sure.”
“Give this to Mr. Sterling.”
“Now?”
“No.”
Nathaniel looked toward Victor’s office.
“When he’s alone.”
Ryan turned the envelope over.
No markings except:
VICTOR STERLING.
“Can I ask what’s inside?”
“You can ask.”
Ryan smiled despite himself.
“What’s inside?”
“An answer.”
“To what?”
Nathaniel stood.
“To whether he was right.”
Ryan frowned.
Nathaniel adjusted his bag.
“What’s your name again?”
“Ryan Parker.”
Nathaniel repeated it.
“Ryan Parker.”
As if committing it to memory.
Then:
“Thank you for speaking to me like a customer.”
Ryan felt embarrassed.
“That should be normal.”
Nathaniel looked at him for a long moment.
“Yes.”
Then he walked toward the doors.
Ben saw him coming.
This time he opened one.
Nathaniel stopped beside him.
“Thank you.”
Ben looked confused.
“For what?”
“Opening the door.”
Nathaniel stepped outside.
He walked two blocks.
Reached the old black Ford.
Unlocked it.
Sat behind the wheel.