Chapter 12 - The Door That Never OpenedThe ruins of Fontaine Bakery stood beneath a gray sky.
Nell stopped at the sidewalk.
She could barely breathe.
“It's exactly the same.”
Carmine looked around.
“No.”
She frowned.
“The windows.”
“The windows were boarded after the fire.”
“This one wasn't.”
Nell stared at a side window.
It was broken from the inside.
Carmine entered.
Benny checked the perimeter.
Nell walked slowly through the ashes.
She remembered the smell.
Burned sugar.
Butter.
Smoke.
Her father's voice.
Her own scream.
Then she stopped.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“I remember the night.”
Carmine looked at her.
“You said you couldn't.”
“I couldn't.”
She touched the wall.
“But now I can.”
Images flooded her mind.
Daniel.
Victor.
Her father.
The rear door.
A man in a gray coat.
And someone else.
A woman.
Nell whispered:
“There were two women.”
“Who?”
“One looked like my mother.”
“But wasn't.”
“Margaret.”
Carmine nodded.
“What else?”
Nell closed her eyes.
“My father gave someone the key.”
“To the bakery?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
She opened her eyes.
“You.”
Carmine froze.
“When?”
“That night.”
“I wasn't here.”
“I know.”
Nell pointed to the floor.
“There was another entrance.”
They searched.
Beneath broken tiles, they found a narrow stairwell.
It led to a hidden room under the bakery.
Inside was a chair.
A camera.
And a recording.
Nell played it.
Emmett appeared.
Alive.
Terrified.
“This room was built for emergencies.”
He looked into the camera.
“If they catch me, they will tell Eleanor I betrayed her.”
He swallowed.
“I did not.”
He turned.
“Carmine's father asked me to hide the record here.”
Carmine stared.
“Which record?”
Emmett lifted a small book.
“The names of the people who ordered the fire.”
He placed it on a table.
“Victor did not order it.”
“Daniel did not.”
“Silas did not.”
He paused.
“The order came from inside Bellweather.”
He turned another page.
A single name.
ADRIAN BELL.
Nell's eyes widened.
Then Emmett said something that changed everything.
“But Adrian Bell did not act alone.”
He looked toward the door.
“The second signature belongs to…”
The recording cut out.
Nell slammed her hand against the machine.
“No!”
Carmine checked the file.
Corrupted.
“Can you recover it?”
“Maybe.”
Benny stared at the doorway.
“Someone's coming.”
Heavy footsteps.
Carmine turned.
The silver cane appeared first.
Then Silas.
He stood in the doorway.
“You finally heard the tape.”
Carmine raised his weapon.
“Where is my mother?”
Silas smiled.
“She isn't where you think.”
“Tell me.”
“She came to me voluntarily.”
Carmine's face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because she knows the truth about your father.”
“And you killed him.”
“No.”
Silas shook his head.
“Your father asked me to.”
Carmine went still.
“That is a lie.”
Silas took another step.
“Your father knew Bell would come for you.”
“So he asked you to fake his death?”
“Yes.”
“Then the crash…”
“Was staged.”
Nell stared.
“Why?”
Silas looked at her.
“To make Bell believe the Orsini family had been weakened.”
Carmine lowered his weapon slightly.
“You expect me to believe this?”
“You don't have to.”
Silas tossed a photograph onto the floor.
Carmine picked it up.
His father stood beside Silas.
Alive.
Taken twenty-eight years ago.
On the back:
FINAL PLAN: PROTECT CARMINE. DESTROY BELLWEATHER.
Carmine stared.
Then he saw the second figure in the background.
His mother.
And beside her was Judge Adrian Bell.
Silas whispered:
“Your family was inside the network long before Fontaine Bakery.”
Nell's voice shook.
“Then why did my father die?”
Silas looked at her.
“Because he refused to finish the plan.”
“Why?”
“Because he fell in love with your mother.”
Carmine frowned.
Silas continued.
“And she knew too much.”
A gunshot exploded from outside.
Silas dropped.
But this time he had not been shot.
He had ducked.
A sniper round shattered the wall.
Silas grabbed Nell.
“Down!”
Carmine fired toward the window.
Benny shouted:
“Sniper!”
Silas pulled Carmine toward the hidden stairwell.
“Now you understand.”
Carmine shouted back:
“Understand what?”
May you like
Silas looked at him.
“Your father never died.”
