Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN THEY ERASED FROM THE FIRE
“One more person?”
I looked at Lily's frightened face.
“Who was she?”
Lily tightened her grip on the brass key.
“I don't know her real name.”
Ethan scanned the grounds while I sat beside her in my truck.
“What did you call her?”
“Miss June.”
“Did she work at the warehouse?”
Lily shook her head.
“She stayed in the upstairs office. Uncle Anthony brought her food.”
I remembered the photograph of my father and Anthony standing over electrical drawings.
Perhaps they hadn't been planning a renovation.
Perhaps they'd been protecting someone.
“Was Miss June hurt?” I asked.
“She had a bruise on her cheek.”
“Did she have family?”
Lily nodded.
“A little boy.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Was he there?”
“No. She showed me his picture.”
“What was his name?”
Lily hesitated.
“Ben.”
Ethan crouched beside us.
“Lily, did you ever hear Miss June's last name?”
“No. Grandpa said names were dangerous.”
I took a slow breath.
“Sweetheart, I need to ask you something difficult.”
She nodded.
“When you said Anthony started the fire, what exactly did you see?”
“He pulled a red handle on the wall.”
“A fire alarm?”
“I don't know. It had a glass cover.”
“And then?”
“The lights went off. The siren started. Mr. Sparks carried me down the stairs.”
I exchanged a glance with Ethan.
A manual fire alarm could trigger emergency systems.
Lily had been eight.
She'd seen Anthony pull a handle before the fire spread.
That didn't mean he'd started the fire.
“Lily, that handle might have been an alarm.”
She stared at me.
“Then Uncle Anthony wasn't bad?”
“Nothing you've told me proves he was.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Grandpa said I wasn't supposed to talk about it.”
“Did he tell you Anthony started the fire?”
She nodded.
“And I believed him.”
I squeezed her hand.
“You were a child. You trusted your grandfather.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“I still love Grandpa.”
“I know.”
That was the terrible part.
Caleb Mercer might have lied to Dominic, manipulated doctors, and kept a child hidden for four years.
But Lily remembered him as the man who taught her to ride a bicycle.
The one who made pancakes shaped like hearts.
The grandfather who sat beside her bed when nightmares came.
Whatever Caleb had done, she still loved him.
And I wasn't going to punish her for that.
I called Dominic from the truck.
He answered immediately.
“Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
I heard him exhale.
“Thank God.”
“But there's something you need to hear.”
I explained what Lily remembered.
The woman called June.
The little boy named Ben.
The red handle.
The key.
Dominic was silent for several seconds.
Then he said, “Four-one-one-seven-two.”
“You recognize it?”
“No. But Anthony used five-digit codes for his private storage lockers.”
“Where?”
“At the old Moretti Transport office downtown.”
“Does the company still operate?”
“Yes. Under new management.”
“Whose?”
A pause.
“Caleb Mercer's.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
Dominic continued.
“Penny, bring Lily to the hospital.”
“She needs somewhere safe.”
“I've asked Rosa to arrange a private family room near my ward. Hospital security knows she's coming.”
“Caleb might have contacts there.”
“I've requested police protection.”
That surprised me.
“Actual police?”
“Yes.”
“Dominic, you're aware of your reputation?”
“I am.”
“Then you understand why that's complicated.”
He sounded exhausted.
“I understand that an innocent child matters more than protecting my reputation.”
For the first time, I believed him.
At the hospital, Lily hesitated outside Dominic's room.
“He's going to be mad,” she whispered.
“Why?”
“Because Grandpa said Mr. Moretti hated Uncle Anthony.”
I knelt beside her.
“Dominic loved his brother. He just didn't know how to show it.”
Lily looked uncertain.
“Grown-ups are weird.”
I almost smiled.
“You have no idea.”
Dominic was sitting upright when we entered.
His face was pale.
A hospital bracelet circled his wrist.
For a moment, he simply stared at Lily.
Then his eyes filled with tears.
“Little bird?”
Lily froze.
That old nickname seemed to reach somewhere deep inside her.
“Uncle Dom?”
He held out his arms.
She ran toward him.
Dominic embraced her carefully, mindful of the wires attached to his chest.
I looked away.
Some moments didn't belong to strangers.
When Lily finally stepped back, Dominic examined her face.
“You got tall.”
“You got gray hair.”
He laughed.
A real laugh.
It lasted only a second.
Then Lily touched his cheek.
“Grandpa said you forgot me.”
Dominic's smile disappeared.
“I never forgot you.”
“Then why didn't you come?”
His voice broke.
“Because I thought you were gone.”
She looked at him.
“Like Uncle Anthony?”
Dominic nodded.
Lily hugged him again.
And something inside that room changed.
For four years, grief had been used to keep them apart.
Now they were finally allowed to share it.
Later, after a hospital social worker arranged food and a comfortable place for Lily to rest, Dominic asked Ethan to investigate the storage locker.
I stopped him.
“Caleb still controls the property. Walking in could destroy whatever is there.”
Dominic frowned.
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Get the police involved before anyone touches it. And find out whether the key actually belongs to a storage locker.”
He studied me.
“You don't trust my people.”
“Your people stood outside your bedroom while you convulsed.”
He didn't argue.
Dr. Bennett entered carrying a folder.
“Dominic, your preliminary tests raise serious concerns.”
We turned toward him.
The doctor sat down.
“The neurologist believes you've experienced genuine seizures. The flashing light may have been a trigger, but it doesn't explain everything.”
“What does?”
“We're reviewing possible medication effects and your earlier medical history.”
Dominic frowned.
“Caleb managed my medication.”
“Yes. And the hospital pharmacy found discrepancies between the pills in your organizer and your prescribed regimen.”
I felt my throat tighten.
“Someone changed his medication?”
“We can't determine that yet,” Dr. Bennett said. “But we're preserving the pills for analysis, and you won't be taking anything from that organizer.”
Dominic stared at the folder.
For four years, he'd been told he was unpredictable.
Too unstable to make decisions.
Too sick to trust his own memory.
Now the people treating him were questioning whether his treatment had been part of the problem.
“What else?” he asked.
Dr. Bennett hesitated.
“There's a neurological consultation from four years ago that wasn't included in your current records.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Whose consultation?”
“Dr. Arthur Vale.”
The physician who died in the warehouse fire.
Dr. Bennett opened the folder.
“Dr. Vale recommended an independent medical evaluation after your first two episodes.”
“Why didn't I receive one?”
“His referral was canceled.”
“By whom?”
Dr. Bennett looked down.
“The cancellation was submitted through your authorized representative.”
“Caleb.”
“Yes.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
I thought that was the worst of it.
Until the doctor turned another page.
“There's also an attached photograph taken during your original hospital admission.”
He handed it to Dominic.
I watched Dominic's expression change.
The picture showed him unconscious in a hospital bed.
A young woman stood beside him.
She had long dark hair, a bruised cheek, and one hand resting protectively on her abdomen.
Dominic stared at her.
Then he whispered, “Julia.”
I looked at him.
“Who is Julia?”
He didn't answer immediately.
His hand began shaking.
Finally, he said, “Julia Bennett. She was my fiancée.”
I looked toward Dr. Bennett.
“Your daughter?”
The doctor nodded slowly.
Dominic's voice cracked.
“She disappeared four years ago.”
Lily suddenly appeared in the doorway.
She'd heard enough to recognize the photograph.
She pointed at the woman.
“That's Miss June.”
Dominic rose halfway out of bed.
But Lily wasn't looking at him.
She was looking at Dr. Bennett.
May you like
And what she said next made the elderly physician stagger backward.
“She told me her little boy's name was Benjamin Moretti.”
