Chapter 9 - The Fireproof Drawer
The fire never reached the main house.
That was the good news.
The bad news was more specific.
It destroyed exactly one room.
Alejandro’s private archive.
Nothing beside it burned.
No random electrical failure.
No spreading flames.
Someone had targeted evidence.
Vincenzo did not run.
He remained in the breakfast room under guard, almost amused.
That made Alejandro uneasy.
A guilty man with an escape plan ran.
A guilty man with a better plan stayed.
Fire crews cleared the west wing before noon.
Most paper was destroyed.
But an old steel drawer had survived.
Inside was a sealed evidence packet from Luca’s crash.
Alejandro had never opened it.
He hated himself for that.
Four years earlier, investigators had told him there was nothing useful inside.
He had been too broken to argue.
Now Tomas cut the seal.
A watch clasp.
A burned wallet.
Dental photographs.
A lab report.
Alejandro frowned.
“This isn’t the report I saw.”
Tomas looked closer.
The official report in Moretti files claimed DNA confirmed Luca.
This original document said DNA testing had been inconclusive because of damage.
Identification had relied on dental comparison and personal property.
Elena whispered, “Could they have been wrong?”
Alejandro’s heart kicked hard.
“No.”
But his voice lacked conviction.
Tomas called the medical examiner’s office.
The dentist whose comparison had identified Luca died two years ago.
His assistant was still alive.
She remembered the case because something had bothered her.
The dental chart provided for comparison did not come from Luca’s longtime dentist.
It came from a private file courier.
Signed for by Vincenzo Hale.
Alejandro returned to the breakfast room.
Vincenzo’s chair was empty.
The guard beside it was unconscious.
A rear window stood open.
Gabriel cursed.
Tomas checked the perimeter.
No vehicle had left.
Again.
Vincenzo knew the property too well.
Emma sat at the kitchen island coloring while Elena packed a small emergency bag.
Alejandro entered.
“You’re leaving.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
He corrected himself.
“I mean, I don’t think it’s safe.”
“It isn’t safe here.”
“It won’t be safe outside either.”
“At least outside I know I’m hiding.”
Emma looked up.
“I don’t wanna hide anymore.”
Both adults fell silent.
She held up a picture.
Three stick figures.
Elena.
Emma.
Alejandro.
A fourth figure floated above them with wings.
“Daddy,” Emma said.
Alejandro swallowed.
Then Emma drew another person far away.
“Bad picture man.”
“Vincenzo?”
She nodded.
“How do you know him?”
Emma shrugged.
“He came to school.”
Elena dropped the bag.
“What?”
Emma kept coloring.
“He said he was Grandpa’s friend.”
“When?” Elena asked.
“A long time.”
“Did he talk to you?”
“He asked if Mama still had Daddy’s watch.”
The kitchen went silent.
Vincenzo had known about the watch.
Which meant he knew what Luca had hidden inside it.
Alejandro’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Vincenzo’s voice came through.
“You finally opened the drawer.”
Alejandro looked toward Tomas.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
“What do you want?”
“The watch.”
“You’re too late.”
A pause.
Then Vincenzo laughed.
“No, Alejandro.”
“You are.”
A photograph arrived on Alejandro’s phone.
Taken seconds earlier.
It showed Emma sitting at the kitchen island.
May you like
From outside the window.
