Chapter 5 - They Burned Her Flower Shop to Silence the Only Witness—But the Injured Woman Escaping the Flames Carried Evidence Rick Had Forgotten
By midnight, Nicholas Bellamy's mansion no longer felt like a refuge.
Federal agents occupied the northern corridor.
The hidden archive had been sealed.
Moren sat in the kitchen staring at a cup of tea she had forgotten to drink.
And Megan Walsh stood beside the library window, watching headlights appear and disappear beyond the gates.
Somewhere outside, Olivia Price was missing.
Three other women had been transported toward Massachusetts.
Rick Delaney was driving vehicles connected to the operation.
Silas Voss was still at large.
And someone who knew the mansion's hidden architecture had been entering rooms that Nicholas himself believed no longer existed.
Megan had started the day wondering whether she could trust a dangerous stranger.
Now she wondered how many dangerous strangers were pretending to belong in his house.
Nicholas entered the library carrying two sandwiches.
He placed one on the table beside her.
"You haven't eaten since breakfast."
"I'm not hungry."
"I know."
She looked at him.
"Then why bring food?"
"Because I've discovered people sometimes need things they don't want."
Megan smiled faintly.
"That sounds suspiciously like a lecture."
"It probably is."
He sat on the opposite end of the sofa.
He did not ask her to join him.
After a minute, she picked up the sandwich.
She had forgotten how exhausting fear could be.
For four years, she had lived with constant tension.
She knew the particular fatigue that followed waiting for someone else's temper.
But this was different.
Now there were real people in danger.
And for the first time, Megan possessed information that might help them.
"What's happening with the three women?" she asked.
"Agent Ortiz has teams checking the destination listed in the warehouse records."
"And Olivia?"
"They're looking for her separately."
"Do you think she's coming here?"
"I think whoever controls the operation wants us to believe she is."
Megan considered that.
"A distraction?"
"Possibly."
"Or a threat."
"Yes."
She studied Nicholas.
He looked more tired than he had at dinner the previous night.
His mother's recording had stripped something away from him.
Not his control.
The certainty beneath it.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
He looked surprised.
Then he gave a humorless laugh.
"That's a generous question."
"It wasn't generosity."
"What was it?"
"Curiosity."
He looked toward the fireplace.
"I've spent fifteen years making sure nobody could use my father's reputation against me. I built legitimate businesses, paid off obligations, forced violent people away from certain operations."
He paused.
"And apparently I left enough of the old structure standing for someone to keep using it."
"Maybe you didn't know everything."
"I didn't."
"That doesn't mean you knew nothing."
Nicholas looked at her.
She held his gaze.
"I'm not saying you're innocent. I'm saying there might be a difference between what you inherited and what you chose."
He considered her words.
"My mother said almost the same thing."
Megan looked down at her sandwich.
"She sounds like someone I would have liked."
"You would have."
For a moment, the room was quiet.
Then her telephone rang.
Tessa.
Megan answered immediately.
"Are you okay?"
"That's what I was calling to ask you," Tessa said.
Her voice sounded strained.
"What's wrong?"
"There's been a man sitting in a car outside the shop for almost an hour."
Megan stood.
"What kind of car?"
"Black SUV. No front plate."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes. I stayed late to finish the arrangements for tomorrow's wedding."
"Lock the doors."
"Already did."
Megan looked at Nicholas.
He had risen.
"Tell her to move away from the windows," he said.
Tessa heard him.
"Who's that?"
"A man helping me."
"Is he the reason there's a surveillance team outside my business?"
Megan blinked.
"What surveillance team?"
"Two people in an ordinary sedan across the street. They showed badges earlier and said they were watching the property."
Nicholas reached for his telephone.
"That's Ortiz's protective detail. Ask her whether the vehicle outside is one of theirs."
Megan repeated the question.
Tessa approached the window carefully.
Then gasped.
"Tessa?"
"Oh God."
"What?"
"The SUV just moved."
"Where?"
"It's turning into the alley."
Nicholas was already speaking to Daniel.
"Contact Ortiz. Her people need to check the rear entrance now."
Megan heard a sudden crash through the telephone.
Glass shattered.
Tessa screamed.
"Tessa!"
A loud hiss followed.
Then the crackling sound of something catching fire.
Megan knew that sound.
Dry paper.
Cardboard.
Packaging stacked in a narrow workroom.
The flower shop contained enough flammable materials to turn a small blaze into a disaster.
"Tessa, get out!"
"I'm trying!"
Another crash.
Then coughing.
"The back door—"
Tessa coughed again.
"It's blocked!"
Megan felt her own body go cold.
Nicholas took the telephone gently from her shaking hand and placed it on speaker.
"Tessa, this is Nicholas Bellamy. Can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Don't go toward the back door. Move to the front if possible. Stay low."
"I can't see."
"Is the front entrance clear?"
"I don't know."
A sharp alarm began sounding.
Nicholas looked at Daniel.
"Emergency services?"
"Dispatched. Federal detail is moving toward her."
Megan leaned toward the telephone.
"Tessa, the floral refrigerator!"
"What?"
"The walk-in cooler near the preparation room. There's a side access panel from the front display area. Remember when the contractor replaced the fan?"
Tessa coughed.
"Yes."
"The service opening leads toward the loading passage. You can get through if the smoke hasn't reached it."
Megan remembered the shop's unusual layout.
Tessa had rearranged the workroom eighteen months earlier.
Megan designed a better storage configuration.
Rick had told her she was wasting time.
Now that design might save Tessa's life.
"Can you reach it?" Megan asked.
"I think so."
The line crackled.
A loud bang followed.
Then a man's voice shouted in the background.
"Ma'am! Police! Where are you?"
Tessa called out.
The telephone fell.
Megan heard boots moving.
A cough.
Then shouting.
The call ended.
Megan stared at the screen.
"No."
Nicholas caught her elbow as she swayed.
"She's not confirmed injured."
"They set the shop on fire."
"We don't know that yet."
"Rick knew she was there!"
Nicholas did not contradict her.
Megan pulled away.
"I have to go."
"Then we'll coordinate with the investigators and get you to the hospital safely."
She looked at him.
"You're not going to tell me to stay?"
"No."
He reached for his coat.
"But I'm coming, if you want me there."
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
The drive to Providence felt endless.
Megan sat in the back of a dark sedan beside Moren.
Nicholas rode in front.
An investigator traveled in another car.
Outside, streetlights swept across wet pavement.
Megan kept seeing Tessa standing in the flower shop.
Laughing at customers.
Arguing with delivery drivers.
Insisting that peonies were worth their ridiculous price.
Tessa had taught her that work could be more than survival.
She had never raised her voice when Megan made mistakes.
She had never blamed her for Rick's sudden appearances.
Once, after noticing bruises on Megan's wrist, Tessa had quietly left a card for a local domestic violence support organization beside her lunch.
Megan pretended not to see it.
Tessa never mentioned it.
Three weeks later, Megan used the telephone number.
That decision had helped her leave.
Now Tessa might die because she had been kind.
"She didn't deserve this," Megan whispered.
Moren took her hand.
"No."
"If she hadn't helped me—"
"Someone else's decision to commit violence is not Tessa's responsibility or yours."
Megan looked at the older woman.
Moren's eyes held an unmistakable understanding.
"You've said that before," Megan whispered.
"To myself," Moren replied. "For twenty-three years."
At the hospital, Agent Ortiz met them near the emergency entrance.
Tessa had been rescued.
She suffered smoke inhalation, a cut on her forehead, and a fractured wrist caused by falling debris.
Her condition was stable.
Megan nearly collapsed with relief.
"Can I see her?"
"In a few minutes," Ortiz said. "She's receiving treatment."
"Was it arson?"
"The fire department found evidence of an accelerant. We're treating it as a deliberate attack."
Megan closed her eyes.
Nicholas's expression darkened.
"Any suspects?"
"One person was seen fleeing the alley. The surveillance team pursued but lost him in traffic."
"Rick?"
"We can't confirm that."
Megan looked toward Ortiz.
"Can you arrest him?"
"We've issued a warrant relating to the suspected trafficking operation. We're also investigating his role in the attack."
"Then find him."
Ortiz's expression softened.
"We're trying."
Megan stepped away.
She needed air.
She walked toward a vending machine at the far end of the corridor.
Nicholas followed at a respectful distance.
After several moments, he spoke.
"I can arrange another safe place for Tessa after she's discharged."
Megan looked at the floor.
"She'll hate that."
"Why?"
"Because she'll insist she can take care of herself."
"Then I'll ask her."
Megan smiled weakly.
"You really don't know her."
"Apparently not."
"She'll probably demand to know whether you can carry flower buckets."
Nicholas considered that.
"Can I?"
"Can you?"
"I own several shipping companies. I assume moving containers is somewhere in the family tradition."
Megan laughed unexpectedly.
Then she began crying.
The laughter collapsed into sobs.
She covered her face.
Nicholas did not touch her.
He simply stood nearby until she could breathe again.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"For what?"
"Falling apart."
"You've had a difficult night."
"I hate this."
"I know."
"I hate being frightened all the time."
Nicholas's voice softened.
"Then we'll work toward making the fear less necessary."
She looked up.
"You can't promise that."
"No."
He met her eyes.
"But I can promise not to lie about what I can control."
Later, when Megan entered Tessa's hospital room, she found her friend sitting upright with an oxygen tube beneath her nose.
Her hair was tangled.
A bandage crossed her forehead.
One arm rested in a splint.
But her expression was unmistakably Tessa.
"Well," she croaked, "I've had better Tuesdays."
Megan crossed the room and hugged her.
Gently.
Carefully.
Tessa held her with her uninjured arm.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Tessa whispered, "You scared the hell out of me, kid."
Megan pulled back.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't start."
"I should've told you—"
"Tell me something useful instead. Did they catch that miserable excuse for a boyfriend?"
"Not yet."
Tessa made a face.
"Then I guess I'm saving my good insults."
Megan laughed through her tears.
Tessa studied her.
"Who's the handsome undertaker standing outside?"
Megan glanced toward the doorway.
Nicholas stood in the corridor speaking with Ortiz.
"His name is Nicholas."
"I assumed he had one."
"He owns the house where Rick took me."
Tessa's expression changed.
"The house?"
Megan nodded.
Tessa looked at Nicholas again.
"That man?"
"Yes."
"He doesn't look like someone who hosts pleasant business meetings."
"He doesn't."
"Does he treat you properly?"
Megan hesitated.
"Yes."
"Then he's already ahead of Rick."
Megan sat beside the bed.
"Tessa, there's something I need to ask."
Her friend immediately became serious.
"Anything."
"Do you remember Olivia?"
"The quiet girl who worked weekends?"
"Yes."
"What about her?"
"She disappeared."
Tessa nodded slowly.
"I know."
Megan froze.
"What?"
Tessa looked toward the door.
Then lowered her voice.
"Olivia didn't just stop coming to work."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because she asked me not to."
Megan stared.
"She came to the shop one night after closing. You'd already gone home."
"When?"
"About three weeks ago."
Megan's heart hammered.
That was when she left Rick.
Tessa continued.
"She was frightened. Said she'd been running from people who wanted to make her pay a debt that wasn't hers."
Megan felt sick.
"What did she want?"
"A place to hide."
"Did you help?"
"I gave her cash and the number of a women's shelter outside Providence."
"Did she go there?"
"I don't know."
Tessa looked down.
"She also left something."
Megan leaned forward.
"What?"
"A small envelope."
"Where?"
"In the shop."
Megan's heart sank.
The fire.
Tessa saw her expression.
"Not in the main workroom."
"Where?"
"In the old metal supply cabinet."
Megan remembered the cabinet.
It stood beside the rear service corridor.
It was fire-resistant.
"Do you think it survived?"
"Maybe."
"What was inside?"
"I never opened it. Olivia made me promise to give it to someone she trusted if she didn't come back."
"Who?"
Tessa studied Megan's face.
"You."
Megan covered her mouth.
"Why me?"
"She said you'd understand what it meant to live with someone who made the truth sound like a lie."
The words struck Megan hard.
Olivia had recognized something in her.
She had understood Rick.
Maybe she had been waiting for Megan to escape.
Tessa touched her hand.
"There's more."
Megan looked up.
"Olivia came back yesterday afternoon."
"Yesterday?"
"She was frightened. She asked whether you were safe."
"What did you tell her?"
"That I hadn't heard from you."
Tessa swallowed.
"She said if anything happened to her, I should tell you to remember the winter wedding."
Megan frowned.
"What winter wedding?"
Tessa shook her head.
"I don't know. She wouldn't explain."
Megan searched her memory.
The flower shop had handled dozens of weddings.
Spring ceremonies.
Summer receptions.
Autumn arrangements.
Only one major winter wedding stood out.
It had taken place in February.
A private event at a Newport estate.
The bride had ordered two hundred white roses.
The groom never appeared in person.
All correspondence passed through an assistant.
And Rick had been unusually interested in the delivery schedule.
Megan slowly sat back.
"I remember."
Tessa looked alarmed.
"What?"
"The wedding at Harbor Point."
Tessa nodded.
"That's the one."
Megan remembered carrying flowers into an enormous old mansion overlooking the water.
There had been no wedding guests when she arrived.
Only security men.
She asked where to place the arrangements.
A woman in a dark coat directed her toward a room filled with suitcases.
On the wall hung a decorative black lighthouse emblem.
Megan had thought it was strange.
But she was paid to deliver flowers, not question the customer's taste.
"That wasn't a wedding," she whispered.
Tessa stared.
"What?"
Megan's memory sharpened.
There had been women in the house.
At least six.
They wore ordinary dresses.
Some sat silently in chairs.
One had asked Megan where the front entrance was.
A guard immediately approached.
Megan remembered thinking the bride had unusually nervous relatives.
Now she understood.
"The flowers were a cover."
Tessa looked horrified.
"For what?"
"I think they were moving women through the estate."
Megan stood.
She needed to tell Ortiz.
But before she reached the door, Tessa caught her sleeve.
"Megan."
She turned.
Tessa's expression had changed.
"I almost forgot."
"What?"
"Someone called the shop yesterday before Olivia arrived."
"Who?"
"A man. He asked whether I still employed you."
"What did you say?"
"That you hadn't worked there since leaving town."
Megan shook her head.
"I didn't leave town."
"I know. That's what he said."
Tessa continued.
"He asked whether you still had the old wedding records."
Megan felt cold.
"Did you recognize his voice?"
"No."
"Anything unusual?"
"He sounded educated. Older. Like someone accustomed to being obeyed."
"Did he leave a name?"
Tessa nodded.
"Julian."
Megan repeated it.
"Julian?"
"Julian Bellamy."
The room seemed to shift.
Megan had heard Nicholas mention an uncle who oversaw family property interests.
Julian Bellamy was Vincent Bellamy's younger brother.
He was also the man who supervised major renovations at the Newport mansion.
The man who would have known the hidden archive existed.
Megan turned toward the doorway.
Nicholas stood there.
He had heard the last name.
His face was completely still.
"My uncle contacted you?"
Tessa looked between them.
"Apparently."
Nicholas took out his telephone.
"Daniel, find Julian. Quietly."
Megan stared at him.
"Is he dangerous?"
Nicholas considered the question.
"I thought he was the one member of my family who never participated in my father's worst business."
"And now?"
"Now I'm reconsidering everything."
Agent Ortiz returned twenty minutes later with photographs from the burned shop.
Firefighters had recovered the metal supply cabinet.
Its exterior was scorched, but the compartment remained intact.
Inside was a small envelope.
The seal had melted.
The contents survived.
Ortiz opened it while Megan and Tessa watched.
There was a photograph.
A handwritten list.
And a memory card wrapped in tissue.
The photograph showed six women standing beside white wedding arrangements.
Megan recognized the room immediately.
The Harbor Point estate.
One of the women was Olivia.
Another was the woman rescued from the warehouse that morning.
But the face that shocked her most belonged to someone she had seen in a framed photograph at Nicholas's mansion.
A younger woman stood near the back.
She wore a dark uniform.
Her expression was terrified.
Megan looked at Moren, who had entered the room.
The older woman's face drained of color.
"That's impossible," Moren whispered.
Nicholas stepped closer.
"What?"
Moren pointed toward the photograph.
"That's my sister."
Megan looked at her.
"But you said your sister disappeared twenty-three years ago."
Moren nodded slowly.
"She did."
The photograph had been taken that February.
Only eight months earlier.
For twenty-three years, Moren had believed her younger sister was dead.
Now there was proof she had survived.
And someone had kept her hidden all that time.
Ortiz examined the handwritten list.
It contained six names.
Beside each name was a number.
Beside the sixth was a note written in different ink.
LIDIA MOREN — ORIGINAL WITNESS.
Nicholas stared at the page.
Moren began to tremble.
Then Ortiz turned over the photograph.
There was a message on the back.
One sentence.
IF THEY FIND OUT LIDIA IS ALIVE, THEY WILL KILL EVERY WOMAN WHO KNOWS WHERE SHE IS.
Megan looked toward Nicholas.
His expression was darker than she had ever seen.
The network was not merely transporting women for money.
It was keeping witnesses alive under coercion.
And Moren's sister knew something powerful enough to frighten the people controlling it.
Before anyone could speak, Ortiz's telephone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Then looked at Nicholas.
"Your uncle Julian has been located."
"Where?"
"At Harbor Point."
Nicholas's jaw tightened.
"Is he alone?"
Ortiz shook her head.
"No."
A long silence followed.
Then she added, "He's with Silas Voss."
Megan felt the last pieces begin to connect.
But Ortiz had not finished.
"They're preparing to leave the country tomorrow morning."
"And the women?" Nicholas asked.
Ortiz looked at the photograph.
"We believe they're taking at least three people with them."
Moren gripped the edge of Tessa's hospital bed.
"My sister?"
"Possibly."
Megan stared at the scorched envelope.
Rick had thought he was selling one frightened woman to erase a debt.
May you like
Instead, he had brought a witness into the home of a man whose own family was hiding the crime.
And the small act of refusing to surrender her had exposed twenty-three years of buried secrets.
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