Chapter 6 - THE FIRE IN THE GARAGE
We had thirty seconds.
Maybe less.
Sophia grabbed Noah from his bedroom.
He woke crying.
"Mommy?"
"It's okay, baby."
It wasn't.
I looked through the penthouse window.
A black SUV had stopped across the street.
Two men stepped out.
"Do you know them?"
Sophia shook her head.
"No."
I called Caroline.
"Send police to Sophia's building."
"Why?"
"Now."
Then I called Daniel.
He answered immediately.
"Where are you?"
"With Sophia."
"Get out."
"Who are those men?"
"My father's."
Sophia froze.
"Why?"
Daniel breathed hard.
"Because Emily found the company."
I looked toward the elevator.
"Why does that matter?"
"Because the company isn't just fake contracts."
"What else?"
"I can't explain."
"Try."
A fire alarm suddenly screamed.
Noah started crying.
Smoke appeared beneath the apartment door.
Sophia screamed.
"They set the building on fire?"
Daniel swore.
"Stairs. Don't use the elevator."
We ran.
Smoke filled the hallway.
I carried Noah while Sophia held my jacket over his face.
Down one floor.
Then another.
On the twenty-sixth floor, a man appeared in the stairwell below.
Black jacket.
He looked up.
Then started climbing toward us.
"Back!"
We ran upward.
Twenty-seven.
Twenty-eight.
Noah coughed against my shoulder.
My lungs burned.
A maintenance door stood open.
We slipped through.
Roof access.
Cold wind hit my face.
Sophia locked the door behind us.
The man slammed into it from below.
Once.
Twice.
The metal frame shook.
I looked over the roof.
Thirty-one floors down.
No escape.
Then a helicopter appeared over the neighboring building.
Not police.
News.
The fire had already attracted cameras.
Good.
Witnesses.
I pulled out my phone and started recording.
The door burst open.
The man stepped onto the roof.
He froze when he saw my camera.
"Smile," I said.
Sirens screamed below.
He turned and ran.
Police reached us six minutes later.
The fire had started in the parking garage.
Someone had ignited Sophia's car.
A warning.
Or attempted murder.
Daniel arrived after the firefighters.
Sophia slapped him.
Hard.
He accepted it.
Then he looked at me.
"You need to understand something."
"I understand plenty."
"No."
His face was pale.
"My father isn't protecting the company."
"What is he protecting?"
Daniel looked around.
Then spoke quietly.
"Carter Development built an apartment complex eight years ago."
"Before we met."
"Yes."
"There was a structural failure during construction."
My stomach tightened.
"Someone died?"
"Three people."
Sophia stared.
"What?"
Daniel nodded.
"My father bribed an inspector. The report disappeared."
"And Hayes Strategic?"
"Used to move the bribe money."
I felt sick.
Richard had put the company in my name.
Meaning if the truth surfaced, the paper trail pointed at me.
"They built a criminal network under my identity."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
Anger overwhelmed everything else.
"You knew?"
His silence lasted too long.
"Daniel."
"I found out two years ago."
I stepped back.
"And you said nothing."
"I was afraid."
"You let me keep paying your debt while your father built a prison cell with my name on it."
"I was trying to fix it."
"By moving your mistress into my house?"
His face twisted.
"I didn't know what else to do."
I laughed.
"That is the weakest sentence you've ever said."
Then a detective approached.
"Mrs. Carter?"
"Yes."
"We need you to come with us."
Daniel immediately stepped forward.
"Why?"
The detective looked at me.
"We found financial documents in the burned vehicle."
My stomach tightened.
"What documents?"
"Records related to Hayes Strategic Advisory."
He paused.
"Mrs. Carter, your signature appears on payments connected to the construction deaths."
Daniel went pale.
I stared at him.
May you like
Then the detective said the words Richard Carter had apparently planned years ago.
"You are now a person of interest."
