Chapter 5 - THE FIRE THAT WAS MEANT TO ERASE EVERYTHING|
The flames reached the kitchen ceiling before I fully understood what was happening.
One moment, I was standing beside Frank in the old storeroom.
The next, thick black smoke was pouring beneath the door.
"Everybody out!" Dante shouted.
Luca grabbed the metal box.
I wrapped my arm around Frank's waist.
"Come with me, Mr. Frank."
He stared toward the kitchen.
"The photographs!"
"Sir, we have to leave."
"Your mother's photographs are in there!"
Luca caught his father's shoulders.
"Dad, look at me."
Frank began coughing.
"We can't lose her again."
My heart broke at those words.
Luca pulled him close.
"We're not losing you to save photographs."
Dante led us toward the rear exit.
But the hallway was already filling with smoke.
Someone had wedged a heavy metal cart against the back door.
Dante shoved it aside.
The door opened only a few inches before striking something outside.
"They blocked it," he said.
I looked toward the old pantry.
Frank had once told me about a delivery entrance leading into the alley behind the building.
"There's another door," I cried.
"Past the pantry."
Frank nodded frantically.
"Elena used it when the bread truck came."
We hurried through the storeroom.
Luca kept one arm around his father.
Dante moved ahead to check the passage.
The smoke burned my throat.
Somewhere behind us, glass shattered.
I heard the crackle of wood collapsing.
Then I saw the narrow delivery door.
Its handle was rusted, but the lock turned when Dante forced it.
Cold Chicago air rushed inside.
We stumbled into the alley.
Frank collapsed onto his knees.
I dropped beside him.
"Mr. Frank!"
He was coughing so hard he could barely breathe.
Luca tore off his coat and wrapped it around his father's shoulders.
"Stay with me, Dad."
Dante was already calling 911.
Within minutes, sirens filled the street.
Firefighters arrived and rushed into the building.
An ambulance crew examined Frank while Luca stood beside him, refusing to move.
I watched flames flicker behind the restaurant windows.
The old red sign cracked in the heat.
Part of the kitchen roof collapsed.
And suddenly I understood why the attackers had chosen this building.
They weren't simply trying to destroy records.
They were trying to destroy the place that had kept the Moretti family together.
An emergency medical technician assured us that Frank's breathing had stabilized after treatment.
He would still need further evaluation.
Luca insisted on taking him to the hospital.
But before the ambulance departed, Frank caught my hand.
"Claire."
"I'm here."
His eyes were wet.
"Did we save the box?"
I looked toward Luca.
He lifted the soot-covered metal container.
"We saved it, Dad."
Frank closed his eyes.
"Thank God."
When the ambulance pulled away, a woman in a dark coat approached us.
She had short brown hair and the calm, observant expression of someone accustomed to hearing lies.
"Detective Elena Brooks," she introduced herself.
"Chicago Police Department."
Luca nodded.
"Detective."
"I understand someone deliberately set this fire."
Dante explained what he had heard in the alley.
The detective wrote something in a small notebook.
"Did you recognize the men?"
"No."
"Did you see a vehicle?"
"A gray van."
"License plate?"
"Partially."
She looked toward me.
"And you, ma'am?"
"Claire Bennett."
"What did you see?"
I told her about the gasoline smell.
The shouting.
The blocked exit.
Everything.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she asked a question that made my stomach tighten.
"Do you work for the Moretti family?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Five years."
"Do you have access to the restaurant?"
I shook my head.
"This was my first visit."
She studied me for a moment.
Then her radio crackled.
A uniformed officer approached from the sidewalk.
"Detective, we found something near the rear entrance."
He held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a small plastic identification badge.
My photograph stared back at me.
CLAIRE BENNETT.
MORETTI HOUSEHOLD STAFF.
My blood turned cold.
"That's mine."
Detective Brooks looked at me.
"Can you explain how it got there?"
I reached instinctively toward my apron.
The badge was gone.
"I wore it yesterday."
"Where did you leave it?"
"At the mansion."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
She held the evidence bag higher.
"Then how did it end up beside a door someone tried to block during an arson?"
I couldn't speak.
Luca stepped beside me.
"Someone planted it."
The detective looked at him.
"That's a possibility we're investigating."
"Claire was with us when the fire started."
"I understand."
"She could have died in there."
Brooks remained calm.
"That doesn't tell me how the badge arrived."
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
For five years, that small badge had allowed me to enter the Moretti mansion.
Now it was being used to make me look like a criminal.
"Detective," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady.
"I didn't set that fire."
"I haven't accused you of doing so."
She looked at my hands.
"But I do need to ask you some more questions."
Luca turned toward Dante.
"Get the mansion's security recordings."
Dante nodded.
"Immediately."
Then my phone began ringing.
Vivienne Moretti's name appeared on the screen.
I stared at it.
She had never called my personal number before.
I answered reluctantly.
"Mrs. Moretti?"
Her voice was almost cheerful.
"Oh, Claire."
I could hear music in the background.
"You really should have stayed out of family business."
My knees nearly gave way.
"What have you done?"
She laughed softly.
"Nothing you can prove."
Then her voice dropped.
"Tell Luca that his father's little restaurant was only the beginning."
The call ended.
I looked up at Luca.
He had heard enough to understand.
"Was that Vivienne?"
I nodded.
Before I could explain, Detective Brooks received another message over her radio.
Her expression changed.
She looked directly at me.
"Miss Bennett, one more thing."
My heart pounded.
"We've received an anonymous report about a suspicious bank account opened using your identity."
I stared at her.
"What bank account?"
She paused.
"An account that received two hundred and fifty thousand dollars yesterday."
May you like
Then she delivered the words that changed everything.
"The transfer came from a company connected to the purchase of Rosa's Table."
Related Stories
