Chapter 6 - The Truth About My Husband’s Last Fire
Smoke began entering the stairwell.
For one horrible second, all I could think about was Liam.
Warehouse.
Fire.
No escape.
Now Noah was coughing against my shoulder.
“Luca!”
“This way.”
We descended another floor.
Daniel kicked open a maintenance door.
Hotel employees were already evacuating guests through emergency corridors.
Apparently Luca’s people had restored part of the system.
A guard rushed toward us.
“Fire is contained on thirty-one. Sprinklers activated.”
“Matteo?” Luca asked.
“Security saw three armed men heading toward the service garage.”
Daniel swore.
“He’s escaping.”
I grabbed Luca.
“Let him.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“My son is here. Hundreds of people are downstairs. Let him run.”
“He won’t stop.”
“No. But tonight we protect the living.”
For several seconds Luca stared at me.
Then he touched his radio.
“All teams. Evacuation priority. Do not pursue into public areas.”
Daniel looked surprised.
Luca said, “You heard me.”
“Yes, boss.”
We reached a secure conference room on the twenty-eighth floor.
Police sirens wailed outside.
Noah sat wrapped in a hotel blanket drinking water.
I knelt in front of him.
“You okay?”
He nodded.
“Mr. Luca said bears aren’t afraid.”
Luca stood nearby.
“Mr. Luca exaggerates.”
Noah looked serious.
“Are you afraid?”
Luca glanced at me.
“Yes.”
Noah seemed amazed.
“Of what?”
“Right now?”
Luca crouched.
“Of something happening to you or your mom.”
The honesty surprised me.
Noah hugged his dinosaur.
“My daddy wasn’t afraid of fires.”
I swallowed.
“He was.”
Noah looked at me.
“What?”
I touched his cheek.
“Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared.”
Luca quietly added, “It means you still do the right thing.”
A police tactical commander entered.
“Mr. Romano.”
Luca stood.
“Captain.”
“We need everyone downstairs.”
Daniel leaned toward him.
“Boston PD has Bell in custody.”
I turned sharply.
“Captain Bell?”
“He walked into headquarters fifteen minutes ago.”
“What?”
“He says he wants federal protection.”
An hour later, Noah and I sat inside a secure hotel office while Bell appeared on a video connection.
He looked older than I remembered.
Tired.
Ashamed.
“Rachel.”
“Why?”
His eyes closed.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
I leaned toward the screen.
“You don’t get to start with that. Why did you hide evidence in Liam’s ring?”
“Because Liam asked me to.”
I stopped.
Bell continued.
“He found the storage device before the fire spread. He knew people inside the department had been paid.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
The word hit me.
“You were taking money?”
“At first, I thought I was protecting unauthorized shipments from inspections. I didn’t know what they contained.”
“And when you found out?”
“I tried to get out.”
“Liam discovered everything.”
Bell nodded.
“I told him to leave the warehouse.”
“But he didn’t.”
“He said there were workers inside.”
Of course he did.
That was Liam.
Bell’s voice cracked.
“He went back.”
I looked away.
“Did Matteo Romano start the fire?”
“Yes.”
Luca stood behind me.
Bell saw him.
His expression hardened.
“Your brother had been building his own network for years. He faked his death because Luca was getting too close.”
Luca asked, “Who identified the body?”
“A medical examiner Matteo owned.”
“And Pier Nineteen?”
“Matteo used Luca’s companies without his knowledge.”
Luca gave no reaction.
I asked the question I had feared all night.
“Could Liam have survived?”
Bell’s eyes softened.
“No, Rachel.”
I closed mine.
“He died getting two warehouse workers out through the east exit.”
My throat tightened.
“He wasn’t alone?”
“No.”
Bell leaned toward the camera.
“I reached him before the roof collapsed.”
I could barely speak.
“Was he conscious?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Bell hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“He gave me his wedding ring.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth.
“He said, ‘Rachel wears this when I’m on night shifts. She’ll keep it safe without knowing she’s keeping it safe.’”
A tear rolled down my cheek.
“What else?”
Bell looked broken.
“He told me to tell Noah his dad came home.”
I stared at him.
“He didn’t come home.”
“He meant someday Noah would understand why he stayed.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Luca’s phone buzzed.
Daniel looked at the message first.
“Federal tactical teams found Matteo’s vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Seaport.”
“Matteo?”
“Gone.”
I stood.
“So this isn’t over.”
Luca looked toward Noah through the glass wall.
“No.”
May you like
Then he looked back at me.
“But you’re not facing it alone.”
