Chapter 8 - FIRE DOESN'T ERASE EVERYTHING
The flames were visible three blocks away.
Sadie jumped from the SUV before it completely stopped.
"Mom!"
Roman caught her around the waist.
"Sadie!"
"My mother is in there!"
Firefighters surrounded the house.
Smoke poured from the windows.
A paramedic ran toward them.
"Are you family?"
"I'm her daughter."
"She's alive."
Sadie's knees nearly gave out.
"Where?"
The paramedic pointed toward an ambulance.
Helen sat inside wrapped in a blanket.
Sadie ran to her.
"Mom."
Helen grabbed her.
"They came for it."
Sadie pulled back.
"For what?"
"The box."
"What box?"
Helen coughed.
"Your father left something."
Roman approached.
"Where?"
"Under the floor."
Helen pointed toward the burning house.
"Bedroom."
Sadie turned.
Roman caught her arm.
"Absolutely not."
"I'm not going in."
Roman looked relieved for half a second.
Sadie continued.
"But someone needs to know."
She found the fire chief.
Twenty minutes later, a firefighter emerged carrying a scorched metal box.
Helen began crying.
"That's it."
The lock had melted.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
Ledgers.
And a cassette tape.
Roman picked up one photograph.
Thomas Vale.
Daniel Mercer.
Arthur Grant.
All three standing together outside Vale Meridian's first office.
Sadie opened the ledger.
Payments.
Dates.
Account numbers.
Millions disappearing across decades.
Then Roman found an envelope.
His name was written on it.
ROMAN VALE.
He opened it.
Inside was a letter from his father.
Roman read silently.
His expression changed.
Sadie touched his arm.
"What?"
Roman handed her the letter.
Thomas had known.
Not everything.
But enough.
Daniel Mercer had discovered Arthur Grant was siphoning company money.
Before Daniel could expose him, Daniel died.
Thomas suspected Grant.
But he lacked proof.
So he hid Daniel's evidence.
And created a trust for Daniel's unborn child.
Sadie.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
If anything happens to me before Roman is ready, protect Daniel's daughter from the men who killed her father.
Sadie's hands shook.
Roman looked at Helen.
"How did my father die?"
Helen went pale.
Roman already knew.
Officially, Thomas Vale had died from a heart attack.
Suddenly, that explanation felt very convenient.
Roman's phone rang.
Evelyn.
He answered.
Then his face hardened.
"Grant disappeared."
Sadie looked up.
"When?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
Helen whispered, "He's running."
Roman shook his head.
"No."
Sadie understood.
Grant had spent decades protecting his secret.
Men like that didn't run while evidence still existed.
They destroyed it.
Sadie looked at the burning house.
Then at the ledger in her hands.
"He knows we have the box."
Roman nodded.
"Which means he's coming for us."
Helen suddenly grabbed Sadie's wrist.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Daniel wasn't the only person who knew."
Sadie stared at her mother.
"Who else?"
Helen looked directly at Roman.
"Your mother."
Roman went completely still.
"My mother died when I was nine."
Helen shook her head.
"No."
Roman's face emptied.
"What did you say?"
Helen's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Your mother didn't die."
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"Thomas sent her away."
"Because she was the witness Grant was most afraid of."
