Chapter 12 - The Fire That Bought Silence
Andrew hadn't heard his mother, Grace, mention the warehouse fire since childhood. It happened when he was eleven. A subcontractor's office burned after hours, killing an accountant named Peter Walsh and destroying a room full of records.
“Dad told me an electrical short caused it.”
“The police did too,” Grace said. “But Peter called me that afternoon. He said he'd found two sets of books, and one showed payments tied to restricted technology.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“I did. I told Victor first.” She stopped, gathering herself. “He said Peter was unstable. Two days later the building burned, and Victor told me if I ever repeated the accusation he'd make sure you believed I was the one hurting the family.”
Andrew stared out over the city lights. “You could have taken me.”
“I should have tried harder,” she said. “I'm sorry.”
It wasn't a perfect answer. It was the first one she'd given that didn't hide behind silence.
Grace had kept a copy of Peter's notebook inside a sealed box at her house. Andrew asked her to take it to federal investigators rather than mail it to him. She agreed, but before she could leave, someone began pounding on her front door.
Andrew heard a man's voice demand that she open it.
“Mom?”
“I have the chain on.”
“Don't go near the door. Call the police.”
The connection broke.
He stood so quickly his chair toppled. Daniel, who'd been reviewing case notes nearby, looked up.
“What's wrong?”
“My mother.”
For ten awful minutes Grace didn't answer. Then an officer called from Maine. Grace was safe, the intruder had fled, and Peter Walsh's notebook was still in its box. Cameras from a neighbor's porch had captured the man's face.
The photograph showed Owen Pierce.
“He was just at the airport,” Andrew said. “How did he get to Maine so fast?”
Daniel examined the time stamps. “He didn't. Someone wanted us to think he was still headed overseas.”
A second message reached Andrew moments later. It came from an encrypted account and contained a video of Grace's front door being forced.
May you like
Beneath it were six words:
NEXT TIME, THE DOOR STAYS OPEN.
