Pruitt nodded. "Of course, sir."
Frank picked up the envelope of cash and handed it to the cashier for verification and documentation. He made clear that the deposit was optional, that the dealership could refuse a particular payment method lawfully and politely, and that no customer should be accused of stealing merely because they offered cash. The cashier counted the money with Frank present, then gave him a receipt.
As the crowd began to disperse, Chad stood near the sales tower, looking at the space where his promotion banner had been switched off. He had made more money than anyone else on the team, driven the company sedan, and told strangers that the dealership belonged to people like him. Now a woman he had mocked for making coffee was speaking with the owner about managing the floor.
"What am I supposed to do now?" he asked Frank, his voice stripped of its earlier laughter.
"For today, you're supposed to go home and think," Frank answered. "There may eventually be an opportunity to do work here that doesn't involve supervising or belittling people, even washing trucks for the same hourly wage you mocked. But that will depend on the investigation, your conduct, and whether you can accept honest work without treating it as punishment."
Chad glanced toward the windows and the city bus stopping across the street. For the first time that day he seemed to understand that the bus stop existed for real people, not as a punch line. He looked down at the keys he no longer held and said nothing. Frank did not take pleasure in his silence; he simply allowed it to be the beginning of whatever he chose to learn.
Kayla stood near the reception counter with her old staff badge still clipped to her shirt. She glanced toward Frank and then toward her phone, suddenly worried about whether she should call Mrs. Alvarez or wait until she could tell Lily in person. Frank noticed that she was still holding the twenty-dollar bill she had offered him outside. He asked her to keep it as a reminder, not of a favor owed but of a choice she had made when she did not know a reward could follow.
"One day," he said, "you'll meet someone who needs help and has no reason to expect it. If you can spare it then, give it to them. That's all I ask."
Gus approached as Kayla excused herself to call her daughter. He watched her disappear toward the staff room, then turned to his friend. "Took you long enough to find someone worth putting in that office," he murmured.
Frank smiled faintly. "Money has a way of taking the long route to the right person, Gus. I just wish it hadn't gone through so many wrong hands first."