Chapter 10 - When the Lights Went Out|
For one terrible second, Emma was back on West Madison Street.
She could smell the burning wreckage.
She could hear glass breaking.
She could remember the weight of Dominic's unconscious body as she pulled him away from the flames.
Then the hotel's emergency lights switched on.
The dining room filled with frightened voices.
Someone knocked over a chair.
A woman screamed for her husband.
And hundreds of guests began moving toward the exits at once.
Emma's training took over.
"Please walk toward the illuminated exit signs," she called.
"Don't push."
She guided Ruth Delgado toward the nearest safe route.
Dominic stepped beside them.
"Stay with her," he told a hotel security employee.
Then he turned toward Emma.
"Where are the staff exits?"
"Behind the service corridor."
"Let's go."
Emma shook her head.
"There are employees still in the kitchen."
"Then we'll alert security."
He looked toward the smoke beginning to emerge from a rear doorway.
"We're not running into that."
Emma nodded.
For once, Dominic's instinct was not to become a hero.
It was to make sure trained emergency responders could do their jobs.
Together, they helped direct several confused guests toward the hotel staff supervising the evacuation.
Ruth's hands shook as she walked.
"My mother died in a fire."
Emma squeezed her arm.
"You're getting out tonight."
An employee opened the nearest emergency exit.
Cool November air rushed inside.
Emma guided Ruth through the doorway.
Then she stopped.
"Where's Owen Bell?"
Dominic looked back.
The gray-haired inspector was nowhere in sight.
Emma immediately called Agent Ruiz.
The agent answered over the sound of sirens.
"We're outside."
"Owen Bell is missing."
"We're looking for him."
"Ruth said he was supposed to talk to investigators."
"I know."
Ruiz's voice sharpened.
"Emma, stay outside."
Emma obeyed.
She had learned that bravery didn't always mean running toward danger.
Sometimes it meant resisting the urge to do something reckless.
Firefighters arrived within minutes.
Hotel employees continued evacuating guests.
The source of the smoke was eventually traced to a small fire in a secured maintenance area.
Investigators later found indications that the power disruption and fire had been deliberately caused.
What should have been a glamorous evening had become a potential crime scene.
Outside, Enzo Salvatore stood beside a limousine.
He appeared remarkably calm.
Dominic watched him from across the street.
His uncle met his gaze.
Then Enzo smiled.
Dominic felt a familiar surge of rage.
He could imagine crossing the street and grabbing the older man by his expensive collar.
But he looked at Emma standing beside Ruth.
And he stayed where he was.
Several minutes later, Agent Ruiz approached.
"We found Owen Bell."
Emma exhaled.
"Is he safe?"
"He's alive."
"Where was he?"
"Someone attacked him near the parking garage."
Dominic's expression darkened.
Ruiz continued.
"He has injuries, but he's receiving medical attention."
"Did they get what he was carrying?" Emma asked.
Ruiz glanced at her.
"How did you know he was carrying something?"
"Ruth said he wanted to speak to investigators."
Emma looked toward the ambulance.
"If he came here knowing Enzo would be present, maybe he brought proof."
Ruiz considered that.
"We'll ask him when he's medically able to speak."
Dominic rubbed a hand over his face.
"What about Enzo?"
"We don't have sufficient grounds to arrest him tonight."
"He arranged this."
"Maybe."
Ruiz looked directly at him.
"But suspicion isn't enough."
Dominic nodded reluctantly.
He was used to a world where suspicion could get someone killed.
Now he was being forced to understand the difference between power and lawful accountability.
An hour later, Emma and Dominic sat in a quiet lobby at another hotel while Lydia reviewed what had happened.
Lily was still safe.
Mrs. Peterson was safe.
Ruth had given investigators permission to examine her mother's old complaint.
For the moment, everyone Emma cared about had survived.
But something about the attack bothered her.
"How did they know Owen Bell would be there?" she asked.
Dominic looked up.
"He was on the guest list."
"Yes, but hundreds of people were."
Lydia nodded thoughtfully.
"The attacker may have known Bell's plans."
Emma turned toward Dominic.
"Who knew federal investigators were interested in him?"
"His attorney, perhaps."
"Who else?"
Dominic thought about the security briefing he'd received before arriving at the gala.
Dario Quinn had warned him that Owen Bell might be present.
Dario also knew about Emma's employment at the hotel.
He knew her original apartment address.
He had supervised some of the security arrangements before Emma moved into independent protection.
Dominic slowly stood.
"There's someone I need to call."
Emma watched his expression.
"Who?"
"My security chief."
"Why?"
Dominic didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he called Dario.
The phone rang.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Dominic checked the secure company vehicle system.
Dario's assigned car had left the hotel before the fire alarm.
Its last reported location was near the Chicago River.
Dominic looked at Ruiz.
"Can you examine my security team's movements tonight?"
"Why?"
"Because I think I trusted the wrong person."
The agent immediately requested the relevant records through appropriate investigative channels.
Within hours, hotel surveillance and witness statements revealed that a man resembling Dario had entered the restricted maintenance corridor shortly before the emergency.
That did not establish his role in the fire.
But the next discovery was far more troubling.
Dario had recently contacted a company associated with Enzo Salvatore.
He had also accessed Emma's old security file repeatedly without an apparent legitimate reason.
When investigators searched a vehicle connected to one of Enzo's associates, they found several photographs.
One showed Emma outside Rosie's Diner.
Another showed Lily walking beside Mrs. Peterson.
And the third showed Dominic standing next to his brother Nicholas at a family celebration years earlier.
On its back was a handwritten message.
Finish what we started in 2019.
Emma stared at the photograph when Ruiz showed her a copy.
She finally understood something that had seemed impossible.
The danger hadn't begun when she rescued Dominic.
It had begun seven years earlier, when Nicholas disappeared.
Dominic looked at the photograph of his brother.
Then he whispered, "They never stopped looking for what he hid."
Ruiz nodded.
"And now they know you found it."
Emma looked toward the safe apartment where her daughter was sleeping.
Her fear hadn't vanished.
But something stronger was growing beside it.
Determination.
"They can keep looking," she said.
"Because the evidence isn't theirs anymore."
May you like
She looked at Agent Ruiz.
"It's in the hands of people who intend to use it."
