Chapter 5 - THE ORSINI CONNECTION
Nell stepped away from him.
“No.”
Carmine didn’t answer.
“No, you don’t get to stand there and look surprised.”
“Nell—”
“Your father was there.”
“I can see that.”
“Behind my bakery.”
“I know.”
“Before it burned?”
“We don’t know when the picture was taken.”
She shoved the photograph against his chest.
“You really want to play that game?”
Carmine’s temper flickered.
“I’m trying to keep facts separate from fear.”
“My father is missing.”
“I know.”
“My life was destroyed.”
“I know.”
“And now your father is standing in the same alley with the man who wanted our building.”
“I said I know.”
His voice cracked like a whip.
Nell went silent.
Carmine took a breath.
“I don’t defend dead men because they’re dead.”
That surprised her.
“If my father helped Calder, I’ll find out.”
“And then what?”
Carmine looked at the picture.
“Then I live with it.”
Benny’s phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
“I got a hit on the kidnapper.”
“Name?”
“Darren Pike. Former private security. Worked several jobs for Calder companies.”
Nell’s jaw tightened.
“Address?”
“Last known is useless.”
Carmine pointed to the photograph.
“What about the warehouse?”
Benny nodded.
“Your father’s private files.”
Carmine looked at Nell.
“We go now.”
The old warehouse smelled of dust, oil, and river water.
Most of the windows had been boarded up.
Benny found the office upstairs.
The safe was hidden behind a steel cabinet.
Carmine knew the combination.
His father had used the same six numbers for thirty years.
Inside were folders.
Contracts.
Photos.
Cash.
And a small cassette recorder.
Nell stared.
“That’s it?”
Carmine found a folder marked CALDER.
Inside was a property map.
Magazine Street.
Half the block had been circled.
Fontaine Bakery sat in the middle.
A handwritten note appeared beside it.
V.C. pushing too hard. Fontaine won’t sell. Keep him away from this family.
Carmine read it twice.
Nell read over his shoulder.
“He was protecting us?”
“Maybe.”
Benny opened another envelope.
“Carmine.”
Inside was a copy of the original fire scene report.
Not the public version.
The full version.
Rear exit secured externally with hardened steel chain.
Evidence suggests deliberate confinement.
Probable arson.
Nell’s eyes filled.
“My father was telling the truth.”
Carmine kept reading.
The final page was missing.
“Who signed this?”
“Walter Doyle,” Benny said.
Nell wiped her eyes.
“Then why did the official report say accident?”
Carmine reached for the cassette recorder.
A tape was already inside.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then his father’s voice.
Older. Rough.
“If you’re hearing this, Calder finally got stupid enough to come after my family.”
Carmine froze.
The tape continued.
“Vincent paid Doyle to bury the Fontaine report. I found out too late.”
Nell covered her mouth.
“I tried to make Doyle testify. He wanted more money. Then he disappeared.”
Carmine looked at Benny.
His father’s voice lowered.
“But Calder wasn’t acting alone.”
Static cut through the tape.
Then:
“Someone inside my house gave him the Fontaine schedule. Someone I trusted.”
Nell’s eyes widened.
The tape clicked.
A loud bang sounded downstairs.
Benny reached for his weapon.
Another crash.
May you like
Then the lights went out.
Carmine whispered, “We’re not alone.”
