Chapter 4 - THE FIRE IN THE OFFICE
By the time James and Grace reached Whitmore House, fire trucks blocked half the street.
Red emergency lights flashed against the falling snow.
Grace stood behind the police barricade holding Chloe beneath James's coat.
She had not wanted to bring her daughter.
There had been no alternative.
James had called his driver, and Grace had planned to leave Chloe with the driver in the heated SUV.
Chloe refused.
"My mom is scared."
"I'm not scared," Grace said.
"You do the eyebrow thing when you're scared."
James looked at Grace.
"What eyebrow thing?"
"Don't encourage her."
Now Chloe stood between them while firefighters carried smoking boxes through the restaurant entrance.
The fire had been contained quickly.
Only the administrative office was damaged.
That was the good news.
The bad news was that the server storing employee scheduling data had been inside that office.
James spoke with the fire marshal for ten minutes before returning.
"Accelerant."
Grace looked toward the building.
"So somebody started it."
"Yes."
"Daniel?"
"We don't know."
"You saw him."
"I saw a photograph."
Grace crossed her arms.
"You're defending him?"
"I'm refusing to accuse someone of arson without evidence."
Grace stared at James.
That answer irritated her because it was reasonable.
Chloe pulled Grace's sleeve.
"Is Daddy inside?"
Grace froze.
James looked down.
Chloe had heard them.
Grace crouched.
"No, sweetheart."
"You said Daddy's name."
Grace glanced at James.
He quietly stepped away.
Grace appreciated that.
"Your dad might have been here earlier."
Chloe's eyes widened.
"Is he coming back?"
"I don't know."
"Did Santa bring him?"
Grace's heart cracked.
"No."
"Can we see him?"
Grace hugged her daughter.
"I don't know."
Across the street, James pretended not to hear.
He remembered being seven years old and asking similar questions about his own father.
His mother had answered differently every time.
He's working.
He's traveling.
He's trying.
Eventually James stopped asking.
He hoped Chloe did not have to learn that lesson.
A firefighter approached James.
"We found this behind a radiator."
He handed him a black leather notebook.
The edges were burned.
Grace saw it from fifteen feet away.
She stood.
"That's Daniel's."
The notebook was sealed inside an evidence bag.
James looked at the fire marshal.
"You need this?"
"Absolutely."
Grace stepped closer.
"Can I see one page?"
The marshal shook his head.
"Not yet."
Grace looked frustrated.
"Please. If it's what I think—"
"Ma'am."
James touched Grace's arm.
She pulled away immediately.
He lowered his hand.
"Sorry."
She exhaled.
"No. I'm sorry."
Chloe watched them carefully.
Children always noticed more than adults wished.
James asked the marshal, "When can legal obtain a copy?"
"Once it's logged."
Grace looked at the blackened book.
Daniel had been there.
No question.
But why leave the ledger behind?
Had he dropped it?
Hidden it?
Or wanted someone to find it?
At one thirty in the morning, James arranged a hotel room for Grace and Chloe.
Grace refused.
"Absolutely not."
"Your building manager threatened you."
"He threatened eviction."
"He's connected to Leonard."
"Indirectly."
"That distinction isn't comforting."
"I'm not moving into one of your hotels."
"You're not moving in. You're sleeping there."
"I have an apartment."
"You have a six-year-old."
Grace stepped closer.
"Do not use my daughter to win arguments."
James's expression changed.
"That's not what I'm doing."
"It sounded like it."
"Then I said it badly."
Grace stared at him.
He did not become defensive.
That disarmed her.
James lowered his voice.
"You're right."
Grace blinked.
Powerful men rarely apologized to women who cleaned their floors.
"I'll have security watch your building from the street," he continued. "No contact. No interference."
"I don't want security."
"Grace."
"No."
"Someone connected to your ex-husband may have committed arson tonight."
"My neighbors don't need black SUVs parked outside."
James almost smiled.
"You think all my security vehicles are black SUVs?"
"Aren't they?"
"Mostly."
Grace folded her arms.
"One car. Across the street."
"Fine."
"No men standing in the lobby."
"Fine."
"No one follows Chloe."
"Obviously."
"And you're not paying my rent."
James rubbed his temple.
"I never said—"
"You thought it."
He looked at her.
"You're exhausting."
"So I've been told."
That time, he did smile.
Grace hated how much warmer his face looked when he did.
By two fifteen, James's driver took Grace and Chloe home.
James remained.
His legal team arrived before dawn.
Evelyn Ross entered the damaged office wearing jeans, boots, and an expression promising violence toward anyone who had ruined her Christmas.
"You owe me."
"Put it on my tab."
She examined the blackened server.
"Backups?"
"Cloud."
"Then why burn this office?"
James looked toward the desk.
"Maybe they didn't know about the backup."
"Or the fire was meant to destroy something else."
They searched.
Invoices.
Old personnel folders.
Shredded papers.
One cabinet had been forced open.
Empty.
Evelyn pointed.
"What was there?"
James checked the inventory.
"Vendor audit files."
"Northstar?"
"Among others."
Evelyn swore.
At seven thirty, the fire marshal allowed James's attorney to photograph selected pages from Daniel's ledger.
The first entries looked meaningless.
Dates.
Employee initials.
Property codes.
Amounts.
Then James noticed recurring abbreviations.
LP.
VC.
DM.
Evelyn leaned over his shoulder.
"Leonard Price. Victor Crane. Daniel Miller?"
"Maybe."
James turned the page.
One line had been underlined three times.
G.M. DOES NOT KNOW.
He went still.
Evelyn saw it.
"Grace Miller?"
"Possibly."
Beneath that:
IF THEY TOUCH HER OR C, EVERYTHING GOES TO W.
Evelyn frowned.
"Who's C?"
"Chloe."
"And W?"
James looked around the burned office.
"Whitmore."
The room became silent.
Daniel had not simply been stealing.
He had been protecting Grace.
Or trying to.
James photographed the page.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"James Whitmore."
A man's voice whispered.
"You found the book."
James looked at Evelyn.
"Daniel?"
Silence.
"Where are you?"
"Doesn't matter."
"You were inside my restaurant."
"I needed you to see it."
"You set the fire?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
Another pause.
"Leonard knows Grace talked to you."
"Grace didn't tell me anything."
"He won't believe that."
James's hand tightened around the phone.
"What does he want?"
"The ledger."
"The police have it."
"Then you're all in trouble."
"Why?"
"Because Leonard isn't the one you should be afraid of."
James looked at the burned cabinet.
"Who is?"
Daniel breathed slowly.
"The person who owns Northstar."
James frowned.
"Public records list a holding company."
"Exactly."
"Who controls it?"
Daniel did not answer.
Instead he said, "Get Grace and Chloe out of their apartment."
James stood.
"Why?"
"Because Victor has keys."
The call ended.
James immediately dialed security.
No answer from the guard across Grace's street.
He called again.
Nothing.
James was already moving.
"Evelyn, call police."
"What happened?"
"Now."
Twenty-two minutes away, Grace stood in her kitchen making oatmeal with the last packet from the cupboard.
Chloe sat at the table coloring.
A soft click came from the front door.
Grace looked up.
The deadbolt turned.
Slowly.
From the outside.
Grace's blood went cold.
She grabbed Chloe.
"Bedroom."
"Mom—"
"Now."
Someone pushed against the apartment door.
Grace ran toward it and threw her weight against the frame.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
The knob turned.
Grace reached for her phone.
Then a man's voice came through the wood.
"Grace."
She stopped.
Not Victor.
Not Leonard.
She knew that voice.
She had once fallen asleep listening to it.
She had once married it.
She had once spent eleven months believing she might never hear it again.
"Daniel?"
The pressure against the door stopped.
"Open up."
Grace's eyes filled.
Chloe heard him from the hallway.
"Daddy?"
Grace turned.
Chloe ran past her.
Grace caught her before she reached the door.
"Wait."
"That's Daddy!"
Daniel spoke again.
"Grace, please. You need to leave."
She pressed her forehead against the door.
"Where have you been?"
"No time."
"You disappeared!"
"I know."
"You abandoned your daughter."
"I know."
"Then tell me why I should open this door."
Daniel went silent.
When he finally answered, his voice broke.
"Because the men I stole from are coming."
Grace froze.
"And this time, Grace..."
A sound echoed downstairs.
Heavy footsteps.
Several men entering the building.
May you like
Daniel whispered through the door.
"...they know exactly where you live."
