Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF A FAMILY SECRET
"Simon locked his own father inside?"
Jolene could barely speak.
Rosa Kessler sat frozen in her armchair, clutching her rosary.
"Yes."
"Did he know Paul was there?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"I've asked myself that question every day for sixteen years."
Dominic crouched beside her.
"Tell us exactly what happened."
Rosa stared at the crucifix.
"Salvatore told Simon the last workers had cleared the loading dock. He ordered him to secure the west gate before the water reached the freight."
"Why?"
"Because whatever was on that truck was worth more to your father than the building."
Dominic's face darkened.
"And the workers?"
"Paul and Martin had gone back for another man who'd fallen near the loading ramp. They were trying to help him."
"What happened to the third man?" Jolene asked.
"He escaped through the upper loading entrance before the gate closed."
Jolene leaned forward.
"Who was he?"
Rosa shook her head.
"I never learned his name."
That bothered Jolene.
Three men on the dock.
Two dead.
One survivor nobody seemed able to identify.
"And Henry?" she asked.
"He tried to stop Simon. But the gate had already locked."
Rosa wiped her cheeks.
"Henry forced the emergency release. He pulled me out through the maintenance opening. The water was too strong for him to reach Paul and Martin."
Jolene stared at the brass key in her hand.
Her father had spent his life fixing broken things.
But he hadn't been able to fix that night.
Suddenly, she understood why he'd kept working at Riverstone long after the market stopped being profitable.
Perhaps leaving would've felt like abandoning the people he'd failed to save.
"Why did everyone lie?" she asked.
Rosa looked toward Dominic.
"Salvatore promised to take care of our families. He paid funeral expenses, supported Simon's younger sister, and kept the market open."
"That wasn't kindness," Dominic said.
"No," Rosa replied. "It was control."
She looked ashamed.
"I told the investigators the lock malfunctioned. I thought I was protecting my son."
"And Simon?"
"He knew what he'd done. Salvatore gave him a job afterward. Told him loyalty was the only way to repay his mistake."
Dominic closed his eyes.
Seventeen years of service.
The trusted employee.
The man who had helped him inherit an empire.
Now everything looked different.
But one question remained.
"Why change the lock now?" Jolene asked.
Rosa shook her head.
"Simon told me he needed to keep someone out."
"Who?"
"He wouldn't say."
Outside, Marco approached from the driveway.
He'd been checking the property while they talked.
His expression was grim.
"Dom, Simon's vehicle is gone."
Dominic stood.
"Have someone locate him. Quietly. I want him alive and able to answer questions."
Marco nodded.
Jolene looked up sharply.
"No intimidation."
Dominic met her eyes.
"No intimidation."
He meant it.
She could tell.
And that frightened her in a different way.
She was beginning to trust him.
Two weeks passed.
The river grew cooler.
Festival decorations appeared in shop windows, and the market vendors worked longer hours to prepare.
But Riverstone itself was struggling.
Electrical inspections had uncovered damaged wiring near the warehouse corridor.
Someone had cut through protective conduit behind the green door.
The market association couldn't afford the repairs.
Dominic offered to cover them.
Jolene insisted the money go through a transparent emergency repair fund, with invoices available to every vendor.
He agreed.
Then she surprised him again.
She refused to let his company choose the contractor.
"You're paying," she told him. "That doesn't mean you get to make every decision."
Dominic looked at the three repair estimates she'd spread across her table.
"Do you negotiate everything?"
"Only things that matter."
"That sounds exhausting."
"It is. You should try it."
He smiled.
A real smile.
She stared for a second before looking away.
He noticed.
Naturally, he said nothing.
One afternoon, Jolene was working on a necklace when Dominic arrived carrying two paper bags.
"Food."
She looked up.
"Are you delivering lunch now?"
"Only to difficult jewelry vendors."
He placed a bag beside her tools.
Inside was a chicken sandwich and a small container of fruit.
"You remembered I don't eat lunch when I'm busy."
"You mentioned it."
"People usually don't listen."
"That seems like their mistake."
For a moment, the market's troubles faded.
They ate beneath the string lights that would soon illuminate the festival.
Jolene told him about Caleb's engineering classes.
Dominic told her about Marco teaching him to change a tire when they were teenagers.
"Your father didn't teach you?"
"My father believed that if you could pay someone to do a job, you shouldn't waste time learning."
Jolene shook her head.
"My dad believed the opposite."
"I know."
She looked at him.
"How?"
"Because his daughter can repair a watch, organize a market, challenge a security chief, and make me take thirty-two dollars in change."
She laughed.
Dominic watched her with an expression she couldn't quite read.
Then she grew serious.
"Do you think people can become different from their parents?"
He didn't answer immediately.
"I think they can make different choices."
"Even after they've spent years doing things they regret?"
"Especially then."
Jolene looked down at her father's pocket watch.
She'd begun carrying it in her apron.
The hands remained frozen at 11:14.
"Then why haven't you left your father's business?"
Dominic took a breath.
"Because leaving wouldn't undo the harm. And because there are people working for me who depend on getting paid."
"You could change what the business does."
"I've been trying."
"Then try harder."
Instead of becoming angry, he nodded.
"Fair."
That evening, the damaged wiring was scheduled for replacement.
Lupe was packing candles when the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
A sharp cracking sound came from the service corridor.
Then smoke curled beneath the green door.
"Fire!" somebody shouted.
The market erupted into motion.
People grabbed their children.
Vendors abandoned their cash boxes.
Jolene ran toward the corridor.
A little girl in a yellow raincoat was standing beside the door, crying.
Her silver moon bracelet flashed beneath the lights.
It was the same child Jolene had given the bracelet to weeks earlier.
"My mom!" the girl sobbed. "She's in there!"
Jolene crouched.
"What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Tessa."
"Okay, Tessa. Stay right here with Lupe."
She handed the child to Lupe and called to Marco.
"Someone's inside!"
Marco moved toward the door with a fire extinguisher.
Dominic arrived seconds later.
"Jolene, get back."
She ignored him.
"The emergency release is missing. The door could trap somebody."
Dominic looked at the smoke.
"Marco, the lock."
Marco forced the padlock open.
The door swung outward.
A woman stumbled into the courtyard, coughing.
Tessa ran toward her.
"Mom!"
Jolene helped the woman sit, checked her breathing, and kept her away from the smoke while the fire department arrived.
The blaze was contained before it reached the stalls.
But the damage was serious.
The electrical contractor examined the panel after firefighters cleared the building.
"This wasn't an accident."
Dominic stood beside Jolene.
"What happened?"
"Someone bridged the breaker with a piece of wire. The protective system couldn't shut down properly."
He held up a scorched section of cable.
"Whoever did this wanted overheating."
Jolene's mouth went dry.
Had the girl and her mother remained inside another few minutes, the ending could've been very different.
Dominic looked toward the warehouse.
Someone was repeating the mistakes of the past.
Deliberately.
Later that night, Marco brought Dominic a folder of business records.
"Found something in the property accounts."
Jolene sat nearby, bandaging a small burn on her wrist.
Dominic opened the folder.
His expression changed immediately.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Riverstone was pledged as collateral against an old freight loan."
"So?"
"That debt was purchased three months ago."
"By who?"
Dominic turned the page.
A name appeared beneath the creditor information.
Moreau Commercial Holdings.
Jolene had never heard of it.
But she recognized the change in Dominic's eyes.
"Who's Moreau?"
"A man named Stefan Moreau."
"Is he dangerous?"
"Yes."
"More dangerous than you?"
Dominic looked at the blackened warehouse door.
"He's willing to burn people alive to get what he wants."
Marco handed him another page.
It was a preliminary redevelopment application.
Jolene read the property description.
Riverstone Cold Storage.
Surrounding market courtyard.
Proposed demolition after lease termination.
She looked up.
"The festival is next month."
Dominic examined the projected schedule.
"The lender is claiming the fire damage creates an immediate default."
Jolene felt sick.
"Can they do that?"
"They can try."
She looked around the courtyard at the damaged stalls, the frightened vendors, and the little girl clutching her mother's hand.
May you like
Then Dominic spoke the words she'd been dreading.
"Jolene, if Moreau wins the property dispute, Riverstone Night Market won't exist by Christmas."
