Chapter 11 - Smoke Over Northline —
We saw the smoke on television.
Black against a pale winter sky.
Northline’s old warehouse burned behind a line of emergency vehicles while a reporter stood shivering at the curb.
Mom reached for the remote.
I caught her wrist.
“Don’t.”
“Emily—”
“I already saw.”
The reporter said firefighters were searching for a missing employee.
Ben.
He had gone there to help identify archived dispatch files after receiving what looked like a message from company counsel.
The message was fake.
Lorenzo arrived before the flames reached the upper windows. News footage showed him trying to move toward the entrance until a firefighter pushed him back.
He didn’t get to be the hero who ran inside.
He stood behind the line like everyone else.
I was glad.
Then I felt guilty for being glad.
Mom called Andrea.
No answer.
She called again.
Finally, Andrea picked up.
“I’m at the hospital.”
Mom went rigid.
“Ben?”
“He’s alive.”
Mom covered her face.
A firefighter had found him near a rear loading door. Smoke had overwhelmed him before he could get outside.
He had burns on one hand and needed help breathing.
But he was alive.
The original documents he had already provided were safe.
So were the electronic records copied earlier.
The fire had destroyed boxes.
It hadn’t destroyed the case.
At the hospital, Ben’s daughter sat in a plastic chair with a backpack between her feet.
Her name was Sofia. She was fourteen.
I sat beside her.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Then she whispered, “He should’ve stayed out of it.”
I looked at my shoes.
I had no answer that wouldn’t hurt someone.
After a minute, she added, “I know that’s awful.”
“No,” I said. “It’s scared.”
She started crying.
I passed her the tissues Mom had stuffed into my coat pocket.
Across the waiting room, Lorenzo spoke to Ruiz.
His voice rose once.
Then stopped.
Ruiz said something I couldn’t hear.
He nodded.
Later, she walked over to Mom.
“We located Victor’s car.”
“Was he in it?”
“No.”
She hesitated.
“There was another phone inside. We’re still working through it.”
Mom stood.
“What?”
Ruiz glanced at me, then back at her.
“Victor wasn’t acting alone. Someone has been giving him access to your employment records.”
Mom’s mouth opened.
May you like
Then she said a name.
“Marilyn.”
