Chapter 7 - Emily Vale
Emily Vale died six years earlier.
Twenty-two.
Culinary student.
Working nights at a restaurant called Ember House.
The building belonged to Mercer Hospitality.
An electrical fire broke out in the basement.
Three people died.
Official cause:
Faulty wiring.
Grant remembered the settlement.
Barely.
Victor handled it.
Thomas never forgot.
For months before the fire, Ember House’s owner complained about electrical issues.
Repair requests were deferred.
Why?
The restaurant was already financially failing.
Mercer Hospitality planned redevelopment.
Thomas believed the company knowingly postponed repairs.
Grant’s face tightened.
“I never saw those reports.”
“That’s convenient.”
“I didn’t.”
Thomas shoved copies across the table.
Emails.
Maintenance warnings.
Insurance correspondence.
Grant’s name appeared on one approval chain.
REDEVELOPMENT HOLD — NONESSENTIAL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE FROZEN.
His signature.
Grant stared.
“I signed hundreds of these.”
Thomas exploded for the first time.
“My daughter burned inside one of them.”
Silence.
Grant’s face went pale.
The sentence stripped every defense away.
He had not ordered anyone to ignore dangerous wiring.
But he had created a culture where numbers reached him and people did not.
Thomas said:
“Luke came here because he found Emily’s file.”
Grant looked at the floor.
“Did you try to poison me?”
“No.”
“Did you want me dead?”
Thomas thought.
“At one point?”
He looked directly at Grant.
“Yes.”
Molly stiffened.
Thomas continued:
“But if I wanted you dead, I would not have stopped you from eating.”
Truth.
Then Grant asked about Avery.
Thomas knew the name.
Avery Shaw.
Emily’s boyfriend.
Survived the fire.
Disappeared afterward.
Why?
Thomas thought grief.
Luke thought otherwise.
Avery had worked part-time in Mercer Hospitality’s property office.
He knew maintenance records.
He testified during insurance proceedings.
Then recanted key statements.
Received $250,000 from an undisclosed source.
Grant’s stomach tightened.
Victor?
Maybe.
Then police ran Avery’s records.
Current identity:
Aaron Shaw.
Occupation:
Private chef consultant.
Location:
Chicago.
Phone registered three blocks from Vale & Ash.
Then Molly looked toward the service corridor.
“Chef…”
“What?”
“The new dishwasher.”
Thomas frowned.
“What about him?”
“He said his name was Aaron.”
Everyone ran toward the kitchen.
The dishwasher station was empty.
Locker open.
Inside:
Cigar cutter.
A keycard to Mercer Hospitality headquarters.
And a photograph of Emily Vale.
May you like
On the back:
I’m sorry I left you in there.
