Chapter 6 - Ashes Before Midnight
By midnight, smoke from Hope House was visible above the south end of town.
Detective Ruiz left two officers at the Caldwell mansion and drove toward the fire. Pike insisted on going with her, claiming he needed to protect confidential files.
Ruiz refused.
"You are part of the investigation now."
Pike's face tightened.
"Investigation into what?"
"We'll start with neglect. Maybe fraud. We'll see what survives the fire."
Pike looked at Ethan.
That look said the fire had not surprised him.
Then officers escorted him to another room.
A doctor arrived for Noah and found early hypothermia, dehydration, and a fever. He did not need a hospital, but he needed warmth, fluids, and rest.
"He also needs food," the doctor said.
Noah opened one eye.
"I have bread."
Maria gently took the dirty piece from his hand.
"Tonight you are having soup."
"Can Ethan and Lily have some?"
"They can have as much as they want."
Noah considered this extraordinary information.
"As much?"
Maria turned away so he would not see her cry.
In the kitchen, Lily stared at the table while Thomas's daughter Sophie pushed a plate of warm rolls toward her.
"You can take two," Sophie whispered.
Lily took one.
Then, when she thought no one was watching, she slipped the second into her sweater pocket.
Margaret saw.
She said nothing.
Instead, she filled a small paper bag with rolls, fruit, and cookies and placed it beside Lily's chair.
"For later," she said.
Lily's shoulders loosened by one inch.
Ethan could not eat much. His stomach hurt from hunger, but fear sat heavier.
He found Margaret alone near the darkened Christmas tree.
"You said my mom wrote you."
"I wrote her."
"No. She wrote you. For years."
Margaret looked at him.
Ethan continued.
"She kept copies. She said somebody was stopping them."
"Where are the copies?"
"I don't know."
"Did she ever mention Victor Hale?"
Ethan thought of a night six months earlier when his mother had argued with a man outside their apartment building.
He had watched through a cracked curtain.
Gray suit. Silver tie. Expensive watch.
The man had said, You should have taken the settlement when it was offered.
Sarah had answered, Those children are not for sale.
Ethan's skin went cold.
"I saw him."
"Victor?"
"Maybe."
Thomas entered holding a tablet.
"Mom, you need to see this."
Security footage from the mansion gate showed a dark sedan stopping outside two nights earlier.
A man stepped out, looked directly at the stone lions, then at the house.
He was on-screen for only four seconds.
Margaret whispered, "Victor."
Ethan stared.
May you like
It was the man from outside their apartment.
And he had been watching the mansion before the children ever arrived.
