Chapter 6 - THE SECRET UNDER THE RESTAURANT
Ronan didn’t move.
Neither did Tessa.
Damian Cross stood between them like he owned the room.
“You should leave,” Ronan said.
Damian smiled.
“You always were terrible at saying hello.”
“This isn’t a conversation.”
“No.”
Damian looked around.
“This is history.”
Ronan stepped closer.
Security immediately appeared.
Damian didn’t even look worried.
“Careful.”
He glanced at Tessa.
“You don’t want innocent people caught in your family’s war.”
Tessa felt anger rising.
“My family?”
Damian looked at her.
“You really don’t know anything, do you?”
Ronan interrupted.
“Enough.”
But Damian continued.
“Eda Boudreaux wasn’t just a cook.”
Tessa froze.
“She was a witness.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
“A witness to what?”
Damian smiled.
“The night Elena Callahan died.”
Ronan’s face darkened.
“Leave.”
Damian turned.
“You spent fourteen years searching for the killer.”
He walked toward the door.
“Maybe you should have searched closer to home.”
Then he stopped.
“Oh, and Ronan?”
Ronan didn’t answer.
Damian looked back.
“Your mother didn’t die because someone wanted her money.”
A pause.
“She died because she found out who was stealing it.”
Then he left.
That night, Ronan took Tessa to an old building near the river.
A forgotten warehouse.
She looked around.
“Why are we here?”
“Because Eda hid something here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because my mother trusted her.”
Inside the warehouse was an old storage room.
Ronan opened a locked cabinet.
Inside were boxes.
Documents.
Photos.
Records.
Tessa stared.
“You’ve been investigating this for years.”
“Yes.”
“And you found nothing?”
“Almost nothing.”
“Why?”
Ronan looked at her.
“Because someone was always one step ahead.”
They searched for hours.
Then Tessa noticed something.
A small wooden box hidden beneath the floorboards.
She pulled it out.
Inside was an old photograph.
Three people.
Elena Callahan.
Eda Boudreaux.
And a younger…
Victor Voss.
Tessa’s blood ran cold.
“Chef Voss?”
Ronan grabbed the photo.
His expression changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“He wasn’t just a chef.”
“Then what was he?”
Ronan looked at the picture.
“He was my mother’s accountant.”
Tessa stepped back.
“But he worked here for years.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he hide that?”
Ronan didn’t answer.
Because suddenly everything connected.
The poisoned dinner.
Victor’s collapse.
The missing recipe.
The old murder.
Then Tessa noticed writing on the back of the photo.
She turned it over.
Three words.
TRUST NO CHEF.
Before they could react…
The warehouse lights shut off.
A loud crash came from the entrance.
Someone locked the door from outside.
Smoke began filling the room.
Tessa coughed.
“Ronan!”
He grabbed her hand.
“Stay close.”
The fire spread quickly.
Someone had started it.
Someone who knew exactly where they were.
And as the flames climbed higher…
Ronan realized the truth.
May you like
The person trying to kill him wasn’t looking for revenge.
They were trying to erase the past forever.
