Chapter 6 - THE MISSED CALLRocco’s house sat on the north side of Bellmere behind iron gates and old maple trees.
Maeve had passed it hundreds of times.
She had never been inside.
By ten that night, she wished she still hadn’t.
Because Dominic’s question would not leave her alone.
Why didn’t you answer?
Rocco made coffee.
Nora sat at the kitchen table staring at nothing.
Maeve stood by the window.
“Tell me.”
Rocco didn’t pretend not to understand.
“I was asleep.”
Maeve turned around.
“That’s it?”
“My phone was downstairs.”
“My dad called because somebody wanted him dead, and your phone was downstairs?”
Rocco’s eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Three.”
Maeve stared.
“He called you three times?”
“Yes.”
“And you missed all of them?”
“Yes.”
Maeve’s voice broke.
“What time did you call back?”
“Six fifteen the next morning.”
“What time did he die?”
Rocco didn’t answer.
Nora whispered, “Around midnight.”
Maeve closed her eyes.
The room suddenly felt too small.
“You knew.”
Rocco said, “I knew he was scared.”
“You knew before he died?”
“He called me earlier that week.”
Nora looked up sharply.
“You never told me that.”
Rocco exhaled.
“Patrick didn’t want you involved.”
Nora stood.
“He was my husband.”
“He was trying to protect you.”
“And look how well that worked.”
Rocco absorbed the hit without reacting.
Maeve asked, “What did he find?”
Rocco walked to a cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside sat an old metal box.
He placed it on the table.
Nora stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Something I should’ve given you years ago.”
Maeve’s anger became fear.
Rocco unlocked the box.
Inside were several old photographs, newspaper clippings, and a small digital voice recorder.
Nora covered her mouth.
“That’s Patrick’s.”
Maeve picked it up.
She remembered it.
Her father used to record engine noises with it when diagnosing cars.
“Where did you get this?”
“His garage.”
“The police searched the garage.”
“I found it later. Behind a loose wall panel.”
Maeve stared at him.
“And you kept it?”
“Yes.”
“For eight years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rocco looked ashamed.
“Because the first recording scared me.”
Maeve pressed play.
Static filled the kitchen.
Then her father’s voice came through.
Older than she remembered.
But unmistakable.
“If anybody finds this… especially Rocco…”
Maeve stopped breathing.
“I found out where Dominic’s money comes from.”
Nora sat down hard.
Patrick continued.
“He’s buying properties through fake companies. Forcing owners into debt. Burning some out. Paying inspectors. Paying cops.”
Maeve looked at Officer Cole’s card on the counter.
The recording hissed.
Then Patrick’s voice lowered.
“I copied everything.”
Rocco leaned forward.
Patrick continued.
“If something happens to me, the files are not in the garage.”
Maeve tightened her grip on the recorder.
“They’re where Nora keeps what matters most.”
The recording clicked off.
Silence.
Nora stared at the table.
Maeve looked at her mother.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Rocco said, “Think.”
Nora shook her head.
“Photos? Jewelry? Documents?”
Maeve’s eyes moved toward the window.
Then she remembered.
The bakery.
Behind the front counter hung an old wooden recipe box.
Nora had kept it there forever.
Inside were handwritten cards from Maeve’s grandmother.
Birthday notes.
Her parents’ wedding photograph.
Maeve whispered, “The recipe box.”
Rocco’s face changed.
Nora stood.
“No.”
Maeve was already moving.
“We have to go back.”
“It’s almost midnight.”
“If the files are there—”
A loud electronic chime cut through the room.
Rocco looked at the security monitor beside the refrigerator.
One of the cameras had triggered at the bakery.
Maeve ran toward the screen.
A figure in a dark hood was standing outside the rear entrance.
May you like
Then the bakery’s back door opened.
From the inside.
