Chapter 6 - THE FIRE ON BELMONT AVENUEClaire called her sister four times.
No answer.
By the fifth attempt, Adrian’s convoy was traveling north through Chicago fast enough to make traffic laws irrelevant.
Claire sat rigidly beside him.
“Emma always answers.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Does she live with you?”
“Since college.”
“What does she do?”
“Elementary school teacher.”
Claire called again.
Nothing.
Adrian watched her thumb shake.
“Claire.”
“She always answers.”
He placed a hand over her phone.
“Listen to me.”
Her eyes flashed.
“Don’t tell me to calm down.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
She stopped.
“I was going to tell you that Victor already has two cars ahead of us.”
Claire swallowed.
Adrian continued.
“If Emma is there, they’ll reach her before we do.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s safe.”
“No.”
The honesty surprised her.
Adrian did not offer comforting lies.
Maybe that was why Evelyn trusted him even when she feared what truth might do to him.
The phone rang.
Claire nearly dropped it.
Emma.
She answered.
“Emma!”
Static.
Then coughing.
“Claire?”
Claire went white.
“What’s happening?”
“There’s smoke.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“Put her on speaker.”
Claire did.
Emma coughed again.
“The hallway is on fire.”
Adrian’s entire body changed.
Command replaced emotion.
“Emma, this is Adrian Vale. Where are you?”
A pause.
“Why is Adrian Vale on my sister’s phone?”
“Long story. Where are you?”
“Bathroom.”
“What floor?”
“Four.”
“Window?”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
“I can’t. The fire escape—”
An explosion sounded through the phone.
Claire screamed Emma’s name.
The call dropped.
Adrian called Victor.
“Fire. Fourth floor. Claire’s building.”
“We’re ninety seconds away.”
“Get her out.”
Flames were already climbing the rear wall when Adrian arrived.
Residents filled the street.
Fire engines screamed toward the block.
Claire jumped out before the SUV fully stopped.
Adrian caught her around the waist.
“Let go!”
“You cannot go inside.”
“My sister is in there!”
“And running into a burning building will give me two people to rescue.”
She fought him.
Then the fourth-floor window shattered.
Emma appeared.
Smoke curled behind her.
Claire stopped struggling.
“Emma!”
Emma climbed halfway onto the sill.
Adrian looked at Victor.
“Fire escape?”
“Collapsed.”
“Stairs?”
“Blocked.”
Firefighters were deploying ladders.
Too slow.
A construction crew had left scaffolding on the adjacent building.
Adrian looked once.
Calculated.
Then removed his coat.
Claire grabbed him.
“What are you doing?”
“Something stupid.”
“No.”
He ran.
Claire watched in horror as Adrian climbed the scaffolding.
Second level.
Third.
A firefighter shouted at him.
Adrian ignored him.
He reached the neighboring roof, crossed a narrow gap, then stepped onto a maintenance ledge connecting the buildings.
Claire could barely breathe.
“Adrian!”
He looked down once.
“Helpful!”
Then kept moving.
Emma was weakening.
Adrian reached her window.
“Can you climb?”
She coughed.
“I think.”
He extended his hand.
The bathroom door behind her burst inward.
Flames rolled through.
Emma screamed.
Adrian grabbed her wrist and pulled.
For one terrifying second, she slipped.
Her body dropped outside the window.
Claire screamed.
Adrian caught her with both hands.
The ledge beneath him cracked.
Firefighters raised a ladder.
Adrian held Emma until the ladder reached them.
When he finally returned to the street, his hands were burned and his shirt was black with soot.
Emma was taken by paramedics.
Claire stood beside the ambulance, crying.
Adrian approached.
She turned.
Then slapped him.
Again.
Victor looked away.
Adrian touched his cheek.
“Apparently your family communicates physically.”
Claire grabbed his shirt and hugged him.
He froze.
Completely.
Then slowly put one arm around her.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Adrian stared over her shoulder at the burning building.
“No one does this for a Christmas card.”
Claire pulled away.
His expression was hard again.
“This wasn’t about destroying evidence.”
“What do you mean?”
“They wanted you dead.”
Claire’s face changed.
“Why?”
“Because Black said you already had the address.”
“I didn’t even know what he meant.”
“But they did.”
The Bible survived.
Barely.
A firefighter found it inside a metal lockbox beneath Claire’s bed.
The apartment itself was destroyed.
Claire sat in the back of an ambulance while Emma received oxygen nearby.
Adrian opened the Bible.
Inside was a cream envelope.
Evelyn’s handwriting.
For Claire, if Adrian finally learns to listen.
Adrian stared at it.
“She enjoyed insulting me from beyond the grave.”
Claire smiled weakly.
“She planned ahead.”
Claire opened the envelope.
Inside was a Christmas card.
Snow-covered cabin.
Handwritten message.
Claire read aloud.
“Dear Claire. If the worst happens, tell Adrian that sometimes dead men choose quiet places. He will understand the name Red Cedar.”
Adrian went still.
“What?”
Claire handed him the card.
“Red Cedar.”
Marcus, standing nearby under guard, whispered, “Wisconsin.”
Adrian looked at him.
“My father had a hunting property near Red Cedar Lake.”
“Had?”
“You sold it twelve years ago.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“I moved it into a holding company.”
“Why?”
“Aunt Evelyn asked me to.”
“When?”
“Ten years ago.”
Adrian stared.
“She knew.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“She told me never to tell you.”
“Why?”
“She said one day you might need a place your enemies believed no longer belonged to you.”
Claire exhaled.
“Evelyn knew Victor was alive longer than ten months.”
Marcus looked sick.
“Yes.”
Adrian stared at the burning apartment.
Every revelation made his mother harder to understand.
She had hidden his father.
Protected secrets.
Manipulated Marcus.
Used Claire.
Built the Circle.
Tried to destroy it.
Loved Adrian.
Lied to Adrian.
He felt as though he was meeting Evelyn for the first time at her funeral.
Victor approached.
“We found the ignition source.”
“Tell me.”
“Accelerant in the stairwell.”
“Cameras?”
“Disabled remotely.”
“Anyone suspicious?”
Victor hesitated.
“One man entered twenty minutes before the fire.”
“Image?”
Victor showed him a still frame.
Claire saw Adrian’s face change.
The man wore a baseball cap and glasses.
But Adrian recognized him.
“Who is that?”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
Marcus saw the image and turned pale.
“No.”
Claire asked again.
“Who?”
Adrian’s voice was barely audible.
“My father.”
They left for Wisconsin before sunrise.
Emma stayed at a secure Vale property with Margaret.
Marcus came because Adrian refused to let him out of sight.
Claire came because Evelyn had left the message to her.
Victor drove.
Snow began falling as they crossed the state line.
Red Cedar Lake was isolated.
Dense forest.
Frozen shoreline.
The property sat almost two miles from the nearest road.
From a distance, the cabin looked abandoned.
No visible lights.
No vehicles.
But smoke rose from the chimney.
Adrian stood outside for nearly a minute.
Claire stayed beside him.
“You don’t have to go in alone.”
He looked at her.
“Yes, I do.”
She shook her head.
“No. You really don’t.”
Something in his expression softened.
Then the cabin door opened.
A man stepped outside.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Walking with a cane.
Adrian stopped breathing.
Victor reached for his weapon.
Marcus whispered, “Uncle Victor.”
The man looked directly at Adrian.
For seventeen years Adrian had imagined what he would say if he could speak to his father one more time.
He had imagined apologies.
Questions.
Anger.
Love.
Nothing prepared him for Victor Vale’s first words.
“You shouldn’t have brought Claire.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
May you like
Victor Vale raised a pistol.
And aimed it directly at her.
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