Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO KNEW DANIEL’S LAST WORDS
Elena did not sleep.
Neither did Adrian.
At six in the morning, they sat across from each other in his private kitchen while Mia ate cereal between them.
The photograph lay facedown on the counter.
“Do you think you ordered Daniel killed?” Elena asked.
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
“You answered quickly.”
“Because I know.”
“Could someone have used your name?”
“Yes.”
“Did that happen?”
“I don’t know.”
Elena pushed the cereal box toward Mia.
“Then that is not enough.”
Adrian understood.
She did not need his certainty.
She needed facts.
“We’ll get them.”
At seven, they left for Indiana.
Marcus drove a second vehicle.
Two security men followed separately.
Adrian insisted Elena and Mia ride with him.
Mia spent forty minutes singing one verse of the same song.
Adrian learned there were worse forms of interrogation.
By noon, they reached a small town outside South Bend.
Peter Nolan lived above an auto-parts store.
He was fifty-two, thin, gray, and frightened before Adrian introduced himself.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Adrian closed the apartment door.
“You contacted my people.”
“I contacted Marcus.”
“Same result.”
Peter looked at Elena.
Then Mia.
His face changed.
“That’s Daniel’s little girl?”
Elena stiffened.
“You knew my husband?”
“Not well.”
Peter sat.
“Enough.”
Mia crawled onto Elena’s lap.
Adrian remained standing.
“Tell us.”
Peter looked at him.
“Warehouse Twelve wasn’t about insurance.”
“What was it about?”
“Records.”
“I know that.”
“No. Not the company books.”
Peter swallowed.
“Payment records.”
“To whom?”
“Judges. Inspectors. Union officers. Cops.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
His father had promised years earlier that such arrangements were finished.
Apparently they had not been.
“Who controlled them?”
“Sam.”
Adrian felt something inside him settle.
Not surprise.
Confirmation.
Peter continued.
“Your father wanted the ledger destroyed.”
“That sounds like motive for the fire.”
“No.”
Peter shook his head.
“He wanted it destroyed after he reviewed it.”
“Why?”
“Because he found Sam had been paying people your father never authorized.”
“Who?”
“Rivals. Private crews. Men who did contract work.”
“What kind of contract work?”
Peter looked at Elena.
She understood.
“Killing people.”
Peter nodded.
Mia played with the zipper of Elena’s jacket, oblivious.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Daniel found the bypass circuit.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He found something else.”
“What?”
“A hidden cable running to the old archive room.”
“What did it do?”
“Powered a remote igniter.”
Elena went pale.
“Someone planned the fire.”
Peter nodded.
“Daniel took photographs.”
“The envelope.”
“Yes.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You saw it?”
“I helped him print them.”
“Why didn’t you come forward?”
Peter laughed bitterly.
“Daniel came forward.”
Silence.
“He filed the report,” Peter continued. “Six days later, he died.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
Peter looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
She whispered, “Did Sam kill him?”
Peter hesitated.
“I don’t know who physically did it.”
“But?”
“I heard Sam on the phone the morning Daniel died.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“What did he say?”
Peter looked at him.
“He said, ‘The electrician needs to disappear before Moretti sees the file.’”
Elena covered her mouth.
Adrian’s hands curled.
“Which Moretti?”
Peter stared.
“You.”
The room became silent.
Adrian understood.
Daniel had trusted him.
Sam had been afraid of that.
“Why would Daniel trust me?”
Peter looked confused.
“You really don’t know?”
“No.”
“Daniel said he met you once.”
Adrian frowned.
“When?”
“Years before. Job site in Brooklyn.”
Memory stirred.
A scaffolding accident.
A young electrician had stopped work because grounding cables were unsafe.
A Moretti foreman wanted him fired.
Adrian, twenty-nine and newly taking over operations, had backed the electrician publicly.
He barely remembered it.
Peter continued.
“Daniel told me you were the only Moretti he’d seen choose safety over money.”
Elena looked at Adrian differently.
Adrian hated how much that mattered.
“He thought if he could get the evidence to you, you would shut Sam down.”
“But he never did.”
“No.”
“Because Sam killed him first.”
Peter nodded.
Mia suddenly asked, “Why is Mommy crying?”
Elena wiped her face.
“I miss Daddy.”
Mia leaned against her.
“I miss him too.”
Peter looked away.
Adrian crouched beside Mia.
“Your daddy was very brave.”
Mia looked at him.
“You knew him?”
“Not enough.”
“He fixed lights.”
“Yes.”
“And he was brave.”
“Yes.”
She nodded like Adrian had finally learned something obvious.
Peter opened an old desk drawer.
“There’s one more thing.”
He pulled out a USB drive.
“I kept a copy.”
Adrian stared.
“Of Daniel’s photos?”
“Everything.”
Elena’s breath caught.
“Why wait three years?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Peter looked ashamed.
“Then last month, Sam found my sister.”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“What happened?”
“He offered money for my location.”
“You think he knows you’re here?”
“I don’t know.”
As if summoned by the question, glass shattered downstairs.
Marcus shouted.
“Down!”
Adrian moved instantly.
He grabbed Mia and pulled Elena behind the kitchen wall.
Another crash.
Then the smell of gasoline.
Peter’s face drained.
“No.”
Smoke began curling beneath the apartment door.
Marcus yelled from the hallway.
“Fire!”
Adrian looked toward the stairwell.
Blocked.
Flames had already started below.
The building was old.
Wood frame.
Fast burn.
Elena coughed.
“Mia.”
“I’ve got her.”
Peter ran toward the back window.
“Fire escape!”
They reached it.
Rust covered the metal ladder.
Marcus went first.
Elena next.
Adrian handed Mia down.
She began crying.
“I don’t like it!”
“I know.”
“Come too!”
“I’m coming.”
He turned for Peter.
The man was still inside.
“Peter!”
“I dropped the drive!”
Adrian swore.
“Leave it!”
Peter crawled through smoke.
Adrian grabbed his jacket and pulled him toward the window.
A section of ceiling collapsed behind them.
Heat exploded through the room.
They climbed out.
Adrian descended last.
By the time his feet hit pavement, flames poured through the upper windows.
Mia ran toward him.
“You came!”
He picked her up.
“I told you I would.”
Marcus approached.
“Vehicle seen leaving the alley.”
“Description?”
“Black Mercedes.”
Peter coughed violently.
Adrian looked at him.
“The drive?”
Peter opened his fist.
Still there.
Despite the smoke.
Despite almost dying.
He had found it.
Adrian took it carefully.
Then his phone rang.
Sam.
Adrian answered.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Finally Sam said, “You should have stayed home.”
Adrian looked at the burning building.
“You just made your last mistake.”
Sam laughed.
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“My last mistake was believing you’d become like your father.”
The line went dead.
Adrian stared at the phone.
Elena approached.
“Do not go after him alone.”
He looked at her.
“I’m not.”
“Promise.”
Mia repeated, “Promise.”
Two pairs of eyes waited.
Adrian had spent his life believing promises were liabilities.
Now he understood some were anchors.
“I promise.”
Then Peter spoke behind them.
“You’re going to need more than that drive.”
Adrian turned.
“Why?”
“Because Sam wasn’t working alone.”
Adrian felt the day darken around him.
“Who?”
May you like
Peter’s answer cut deeper than anything else had.
“Your brother.”
