Chapter 6 - THE FIRE BEFORE CLAIREThe original fire had occurred four months before Claire arrived.
Until now, everyone believed faulty electrical wiring caused it.
The new investigation found evidence of an accelerant.
Not much.
Enough.
Claire stood inside the ruined processing building with Dominic and Investigator Hannah Cole.
Blackened beams rose above them.
Snow drifted through the missing roof.
Hannah pointed toward an old storage corridor.
“The ignition began here.”
Dominic frowned.
“The electrical panel is thirty feet away.”
“Exactly.”
Claire looked toward the doorway.
“Who had access?”
“Everyone,” Dominic said.
Hannah shook her head.
“Not necessarily.”
She showed them photographs taken immediately after the fire.
A heavy internal safety door had been propped open.
The fire spread faster because of it.
Someone understood the building.
Someone wanted maximum damage.
Dominic immediately suspected Daniel.
But Daniel had been attending a wedding in Denver that night.
Verified.
So the betrayal had started before Victor recruited him.
That meant another person had helped.
Hannah asked for employment records.
Claire returned to work, but the question followed her.
Who wanted Hale Ridge crippled months ago?
The answer arrived through something painfully ordinary.
Payroll.
Claire discovered an employee who technically remained on Hale Ridge’s records despite not working there anymore.
Marcus Vane.
Former operations supervisor.
Dismissed three months before the fire.
Except payroll showed consulting payments continuing afterward.
Dominic stared at the records.
“I never authorized these.”
The payments had been approved electronically through an old administrative credential belonging to Dominic’s deceased father.
Someone had manipulated the accounting system.
They followed the trail.
The money ended at a shell company connected to Victor Sloane.
But Marcus Vane was missing.
Nobody had seen him for months.
Then Eli remembered something.
“Marcus had a hunting cabin near Dry Creek.”
Dominic and the sheriff drove there.
They found the cabin empty.
Inside was a burned fireplace, canned food, ammunition, and a folder containing photographs of Hale Ridge.
Claire’s photograph was among them.
Taken three days earlier.
From outside the ranch fence.
Dominic returned furious.
“You’re leaving.”
Claire stared.
“No.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
“Then you’ve forgotten who you’re speaking to.”
“He’s watching you.”
“So?”
“So I’m not letting you become a target because of my problems.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Your problems became my problems the day someone poured gasoline into my kitchen.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
Her voice shook now.
Not from fear.
From anger.
“I have spent half my life being told what spaces I’m allowed to occupy. Too big for certain dresses. Too ambitious for certain kitchens. Too emotional for executive jobs. Too intimidating for insecure men.”
Dominic said nothing.
Claire’s eyes burned.
“I am not leaving because another man decided I should be scared.”
He stared at her.
“That isn’t weakness.”
“I know.”
“Then stop treating me like I need protecting from my own choices.”
Dominic’s voice softened.
“I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”
The room became silent.
Claire swallowed.
“That’s not a business concern.”
“No.”
He stepped toward her.
“That’s the problem.”
This time, when he kissed her, nothing interrupted.
It was not dramatic.
Not desperate.
It was slow and careful and almost cautious, as if both of them understood that some doors changed everything once opened.
When they separated, Claire whispered, “This is a terrible idea.”
“Yes.”
“You’re my employer.”
“For nine more days.”
“You counted?”
“Every day.”
She laughed against his chest.
For one night, the war outside seemed distant.
It returned the next morning.
Victor filed a lawsuit against Hale Ridge.
He claimed Dominic had violated a freight exclusivity agreement from years earlier.
The requested damages were enormous.
If the court froze Hale Ridge accounts, the business could collapse despite its new profitability.
Dominic’s attorney reviewed the documents.
“The contract appears valid.”
Claire looked at Dominic.
“You signed this?”
“Six years ago.”
“Why?”
“My father was sick. Victor provided emergency capital.”
“And the exclusivity term?”
“Should have expired after three years.”
The attorney pointed toward an amendment.
“It was extended.”
Dominic stared.
“That’s not my signature.”
Forgery.
Again.
And the amendment had been notarized.
By Marcus Vane.
Now they understood.
Marcus was not just an arsonist.
He had helped Victor construct a legal trap years earlier.
Claire asked the obvious question.
“Why wait until now?”
Dominic answered.
“Because Victor expected the fire to bankrupt me.”
When that failed, he cut financing.
When Claire restored cash flow, he attacked the contract.
Every move was planned.
Victor had not been improvising.
He had been dismantling Hale Ridge piece by piece.
But Claire noticed something.
“If Victor prepared this years ago, he expected eventually to need leverage.”
“Yes.”
“So somewhere, there will be records.”
“Of what?”
“Payments. Instructions. Communications. People like Victor don’t trust anybody enough to operate without receipts.”
They needed Marcus Vane.
Three days passed.
Then Eli received a phone call.
He listened for fifteen seconds.
His face changed.
“Who is it?” Claire asked.
Eli held out the phone.
A man’s frightened voice said, “I need Dominic Hale.”
Dominic took it.
“Marcus?”
Silence.
Then:
“Sloane knows you found the cabin.”
Dominic looked at Claire.
“Where are you?”
“I’ll tell you on one condition.”
“What?”
“You protect my daughter.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Marcus continued.
“I have everything.”
“Everything what?”
“Proof.”
A long pause.
May you like
Then Marcus said the words that could save Hale Ridge.
“Victor Sloane paid me to burn the processing plant.”
Related Stories
