Chapter 5 - THE FIRE THAT WAS MEANT TO KILL ME
I had spent three years believing a drunk husband ruined my life.
Now Jack Moretti was telling me someone had planned the crash.
I stepped away from the desk.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Jack opened an encrypted file on his laptop.
“Three years ago, one of my warehouses burned down. Marco Voss was believed to be inside.”
I remembered hearing about the explosion.
Half the city had talked about it.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Your car crashed seven blocks from that warehouse on the same night.”
My breath caught.
Jack brought up a photograph.
A silver sedan lay beside a concrete barrier, its front end crushed.
My car.
Even after three years, I recognized the shattered windshield.
“Why do you have that?”
“Because someone removed an encrypted recording device from the warehouse before the fire. We never recovered it.”
I stared at the image.
Then remembered something I'd forced myself to forget.
That night, Ethan had stopped outside a closed gas station.
A frightened man approached our car and shoved a black bag through the passenger window.
He'd said only one sentence.
“Keep this away from Voss.”
Minutes later, Ethan drove straight into the barrier.
I covered my mouth.
“The bag.”
Jack stepped closer.
“What bag?”
“There was a black bag in our car. Ethan said it belonged to a friend.”
“Did you open it?”
“No. But after the crash, the police told me nothing had been recovered.”
Jack's eyes sharpened.
“Someone recovered it.”
Rocco returned with another update.
“Ethan used a stolen vehicle. We've identified the garage. Two guards outside, possible additional men inside.”
“Get a rescue team in position,” Jack ordered.
Then he turned to me.
“I want you somewhere safe.”
“No.”
“Lily—”
“That's my child.”
“I know.”
“Then stop trying to send me away.”
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Finally, Jack nodded.
“You'll stay with Rocco. You don't go near the building unless we know it's secure.”
I agreed.
Not because I trusted the situation.
Because I needed Noah alive.
Twenty minutes later, we approached the garage in two unmarked vehicles.
The river shimmered beneath the city lights.
A freight train rumbled in the distance.
Then Rocco's radio crackled.
“Two guards detained. Building clear on the first floor.”
I opened my door.
Jack caught my hand.
“Lily. Wait.”
A gunshot echoed from inside.
I stopped breathing.
Another shot.
Then silence.
Rocco disappeared through the entrance.
Seconds later, he returned carrying Noah's red jacket.
There was blood on the sleeve.
May you like
And inside the pocket was a handwritten note.
YOUR SON ISN'T THE CHILD WE CAME FOR.
