Chapter 9 - What Survived the Fire
The person on the greenhouse roof escaped.
By the time security surrounded the building, the figure had crossed onto an adjoining service awning and disappeared into the darkness beyond the equipment sheds.
But this time he left something behind.
A glove.
Inside was a partial fingerprint.
By morning Dmitri had a name.
Caleb Rourke.
Former Helian contractor.
Officially dead for five years.
Unofficially very much alive.
“He specializes in surveillance,” Dmitri explained.
They were back at the burned hunting lodge because Vera had insisted the fire might contain more clues.
“Rourke worked with Adrian Helian in Prague.”
Nikolai surveyed the blackened room.
“So Adrian is here.”
“Likely.”
Vera stood near the ruined fireplace.
“Why burn this building?”
“To demonstrate access,” Dmitri said.
“Too theatrical.”
Both men looked at her.
Vera continued.
“You could leave a threatening photograph anywhere. Burning a property attracts investigators.”
“What are you thinking?” Nikolai asked.
“That they wanted us to look here.”
Nikolai’s eyes narrowed.
“For what?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
They searched again.
Not like security officers.
Like a groundskeeper.
Vera ignored desks and safes.
Instead she studied what fire had changed.
Wood burned.
Paint blistered.
Metal expanded.
Water from firefighting collected wherever the floor sloped.
Near the rear wall she noticed rust marks beneath a cabinet.
“Move this.”
Two guards pulled the ruined cabinet aside.
Behind it was a narrow steel panel.
Dmitri frowned.
“Safe?”
Nikolai shook his head.
“Old service vault.”
Inside they found paper.
Remarkably intact.
Protected by fireproof lining.
Shipping records.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Nikolai read the first page.
His expression changed.
“These aren’t mine.”
“Helian?” Vera asked.
“Yes.”
“Why would their records be inside your property?”
Dmitri took another sheet.
“They stored them here.”
“Before the fire?”
“Possibly years ago.”
Nikolai understood first.
“This property belonged to someone else before I bought it.”
“Who?” Vera asked.
“Graham Vale.”
Dmitri swore.
Vera looked between them.
“Who is that?”
“Helian’s former accountant.”
“Former?”
“Disappeared twelve years ago.”
They kept searching.
At the bottom of the vault lay a small audio recorder.
The battery had died long ago.
The storage survived.
The recording began with static.
Then a man’s voice.
“If you’re hearing this, Adrian finally decided I knew too much.”
Vera looked at Nikolai.
The voice continued.
“I kept copies. Not because I’m brave. Because people like Adrian only understand insurance.”
He listed transactions.
Names.
Officials.
Companies.
Then one name stopped Nikolai cold.
Anton Voss.
Vera’s chest tightened.
The recording continued.
“Adrian ordered the Voss boy taken. His uncle objected. Adrian did it anyway. He said fear was more valuable than money.”
Nikolai went pale.
Dmitri closed his eyes.
For years Nikolai had not known who ordered his brother’s kidnapping.
Now the dead accountant gave him the answer.
Adrian Helian.
“Turn it off,” Vera whispered.
Nikolai did not.
The recording continued.
“If Nikolai Voss ever finds this, tell him his brother was not killed because negotiations failed. Adrian never intended to release him.”
Nikolai’s face became stone.
“He wanted to create an enemy he could study.”
The recording clicked off.
Nobody spoke.
Vera moved closer to Nikolai.
He seemed not to notice.
“Now we know,” Dmitri said.
Nikolai stared at the recorder.
“We know.”
Vera recognized the danger in his voice.
Not immediate violence.
Something colder.
A decision forming.
“Nikolai.”
He looked at her.
“Don’t become what Adrian expects.”
His expression hardened.
“He killed my brother.”
“And now he’s threatening me because he believes he can make you react.”
“Vera—”
“That recording tells us exactly what he does. He creates pain and waits for people to become predictable.”
She touched his sleeve.
A small gesture.
But Nikolai looked down at her hand as though it carried enormous weight.
“Don’t give him another predictable reaction.”
For several seconds neither moved.
Then Dmitri’s phone rang.
His face changed as he listened.
“What?”
He held the phone away.
“We found Peter.”
“Alive?” Vera asked.
“Yes.”
Relief came too quickly.
Then Dmitri added, “But there’s a problem.”
Nikolai’s expression sharpened.
“What problem?”
“Peter says he knows who opened the greenhouse cabinet.”
“Who?”
Dmitri looked toward Vera.
“He says it was someone Vera trusts.”
The cold returned.
“Who?”
“He refuses to say over the phone.”
Nikolai walked toward the exit.
Vera followed.
Outside, before they reached the vehicle, her satellite phone vibrated.
Another unknown message.
One sentence.
PETER WILL BE DEAD BEFORE HE TELLS YOU.
Vera showed Nikolai.
His eyes lifted toward the road.
May you like
For the first time, the enemy was no longer simply watching.
They were racing them toward the truth.
