Chapter 2 - The Man Reading My Son a Bedtime Story
I stood in Luca Romano’s library holding Noah so tightly he finally complained.
“Mommy, you’re squishing me.”
I loosened my arms.
“Sorry.”
Luca spoke to one of his men.
“Daniel.”
A tall man stepped forward.
“Boss.”
“Security footage. Employee level, private elevator, service corridors. Last forty minutes.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody leaves.”
The man disappeared.
I stared at Luca.
“You can’t lock hundreds of people inside a hotel.”
“I just did.”
“There’s a charity gala downstairs.”
“I’m aware.”
“People will notice.”
“They’ll be told there’s a technical problem.”
I shook my head.
“I need to take Noah home.”
“No.”
My fear turned immediately to anger.
“Excuse me?”
“If someone deliberately brought your son to this floor, walking through the lobby right now would be reckless.”
“You don’t get to decide where my son goes.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“But whoever brought him here already made that decision once.”
That silenced me.
Noah pulled my sleeve.
“Mommy?”
I looked down.
“I’m okay.”
He pointed at Luca.
“Mr. Luca gave me hot chocolate.”
“I noticed.”
“And marshmallows.”
“Of course he did.”
Luca almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Daniel returned carrying a tablet.
“Boss.”
He stopped when he saw Noah.
Luca nodded toward the adjoining room.
“Rachel, take him in there for a moment.”
“No.”
“You don’t want him hearing this.”
“I’m not leaving him.”
Luca considered that.
Then he pointed toward a sofa on the far side of the library.
“Fine.”
I put headphones on Noah and started a cartoon on my phone.
Daniel placed the tablet on a desk.
Security footage showed the employee lounge.
Time stamp: 7:42 p.m.
Noah was alone.
Coloring.
At 7:45, the hallway lights flickered.
Then the camera froze.
Static.
When the picture returned four minutes later, the lounge door was open.
Noah was gone.
I whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Daniel switched cameras.
Service corridor.
Noah appeared walking beside a man.
Only the man’s shoulder and back were visible.
Black suit.
Red tie.
“He’s holding Noah’s hand.”
My voice cracked.
Luca didn’t answer.
The next camera showed the private elevator opening.
The man stopped outside camera range.
Noah entered alone.
The doors closed.
I turned toward Luca.
“You have to call the police.”
Daniel and another guard exchanged a glance.
I noticed.
“What?”
Luca answered.
“You can call them.”
“I will.”
“But first I want to know why somebody wanted your son inside my home.”
“Maybe they were trying to kidnap him.”
“Then they would have taken him away from the hotel.”
He replayed the footage.
“They didn’t.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying this wasn’t about Noah.”
His eyes stayed on me.
“It was about putting Noah near me.”
I felt sick.
“To do what?”
“That is what I intend to find out.”
Noah suddenly pulled off his headphones.
“The red man gave me something.”
Every adult turned.
“What?” I asked.
He dug into the pocket of his little blue sweater.
“I forgot.”
He held out a folded piece of paper.
Luca didn’t move.
Daniel did.
“Don’t touch it.”
I stared at him.
“It’s paper.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel put on gloves and carefully unfolded it.
There were six words printed in black ink.
LIAM CARTER SHOULD HAVE STAYED DEAD.
I stopped breathing.
“No.”
Luca’s face went completely still.
“You know that name.”
“My husband.”
“You said ‘should have stayed dead.’”
“He is dead.”
Luca looked at Daniel.
“Run Liam Carter.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Firefighter?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Boston Fire Department. He died last January.”
“Where?”
“A warehouse fire in South Boston.”
Luca stared at me.
“What warehouse?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“Why?”
“What warehouse, Rachel?”
His tone made me snap.
“Why do you care?”
For the first time, something like recognition appeared in his expression.
He turned toward Daniel.
“January seventeenth.”
Daniel’s face changed.
I noticed immediately.
“What happened January seventeenth?”
Luca said nothing.
I stepped between him and the desk.
“What happened?”
He removed his reading glasses.
“There was a fire at Pier Nineteen.”
My heart pounded.
“Yes.”
Liam had mentioned Pier Nineteen once.
I remembered because he joked that the name sounded like a nightclub.
“That’s where Liam died.”
Luca walked toward the window.
“Pier Nineteen belonged to one of my shipping companies.”
I stared at his back.
“You owned the building that killed my husband?”
“Yes.”
Anger rushed through me.
“You knew?”
“I knew firefighters died.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
“You remember that?”
“I remember every person who dies on property connected to my name.”
I laughed bitterly.
“How noble.”
He turned.
“There was nothing noble about that fire.”
Something in his voice changed the room.
I asked, “What does that mean?”
Daniel quietly said, “Boss.”
Luca ignored him.
“The official report said electrical failure.”
“That’s what I was told.”
“It was wrong.”
My mouth went dry.
“How do you know?”
“Because the fire was set deliberately.”
Noah was watching us now.
I knelt beside him.
“Buddy, headphones.”
“But—”
“Please.”
He put them back on.
Then I faced Luca.
“My husband died because somebody burned down your warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told anyone?”
“I spent months trying to prove who did it.”
“Police?”
“The police had their report.”
“You expect me to believe you investigated it yourself?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything.”
He looked at the note.
“But somebody tonight expected me to recognize Liam Carter’s name.”
I whispered, “Why?”
May you like
Luca’s answer was immediate.
“Because your husband saw something before he died.”
