Chapter 4: The Woman Who Survived the Fire
The building where Eleanor Price lived stood between a shuttered pharmacy and a narrow restaurant on a Midtown side street. Its brick facade was stained by decades of rain, and half the windows were dark.
Adrian's sedan stopped across the street.
“Stay in the car,” he ordered.
I stared at the building.
“No.””
He turned toward me.
“Wren, Vincent's men could be inside.””
“Eleanor might be dying inside.””
“That's exactly why you're staying here.””
His voice carried the same authority I'd heard in the alley, but I wasn't the frightened girl who had hidden beneath her hair that night.
I reached for the door handle.
“If you leave me here, I'll find another way in.””
Adrian closed his eyes briefly, as though asking the universe for patience.
“You really don't know how to obey an order, do you?””
“I spent ten years obeying hunger, cold, and people telling me to move along. I'm done obeying.””
For a moment, he simply looked at me.
Then he handed me a small communication device.
“Keep this in your ear. Stay behind me. If I tell you to run, you run.””
“And if I tell you to stop being dramatic?””
His mouth twitched despite the tension.
“Then I'll consider it.””
We crossed the street with four men following us. Adrian's driver remained beside the sedan, watching the surrounding traffic.
The lobby smelled of wet carpet and old cooking oil. A flickering fluorescent light illuminated a row of mailboxes. One hung open, its contents scattered across the floor.
Adrian crouched beside it.
“Someone came through here in a hurry.””
I noticed a small streak of blood near the elevator.
“That's Eleanor's,” I whispered.
He looked at me.
“How do you know?””
“I don't. But I don't think we have time to find out.””
We took the stairs.
On the fourth floor, a door stood half-open. The lock had been smashed, and a wooden picture frame lay broken in the hallway.
Adrian raised his hand, signaling his men to spread out.
Then we heard a faint scraping sound from inside.
“Eleanor?”” I called.
Adrian caught my arm.
“Wait.””
A shadow moved behind the door.
He entered first, weapon raised.
“Don't move!””
A woman screamed.
“Please! Don't shoot!””
We found Eleanor crouched behind an overturned dining table. She was in her sixties, with silver-streaked hair and a deep cut across her forehead. One hand clutched a kitchen knife. The other pressed against her ribs.
When she saw me, the knife slipped from her fingers.
Her face crumpled.
“Oh, my God.””
I took one step forward.
“Do you know me?””
She began crying so hard that she couldn't answer.
Adrian lowered his weapon and signaled for a medic.
“Eleanor, we're getting you out of here. Can you walk?””
She shook her head.
“Vincent took it.””
“Took what?”” I asked.
Her gaze fixed on my face.
“The photograph. The one your mother kept hidden.””
A terrible emptiness opened inside me.
“What photograph?””
Eleanor tried to rise, but her injured leg gave way. Adrian caught her before she struck the floor.
“Easy,” he said.
“Tell us what happened.””
“He came with two men. He wanted to know what I'd told you.”” She swallowed painfully.
“I refused. He struck me, then searched the apartment. When he found the photograph, he said the past belonged to him.””
“Did he say where he was going?”” Adrian asked.
Eleanor shook her head.
“But he left something.””
She pointed toward the kitchen.
A small brass object lay beneath a broken chair.
I crossed the room and picked it up.
It was a key.
Not an ordinary house key. Its handle was shaped like a crescent moon, and tiny initials had been engraved along its edge.
I rubbed my thumb across the letters.
I.W.
Something inside my head shifted.
A little girl stood in a sunlit room, turning the key between her fingers.
A woman's voice whispered, If anyone asks, you've never seen this.
I gasped.
Adrian came beside me.
“What is it?””
“The key.””
“Is this the one you remember?””
“I think so.””
Eleanor shook her head.
“No. That's a copy.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“Your mother made two. She gave the original to you before the fire and left the other with me in case anything happened.””
My fingers tightened around the metal.
“Why would she need two?””
“Because she knew someone inside the family was planning to betray her.””
Adrian crouched beside Eleanor.
“Who?””
She looked at him with exhausted eyes.
“Your father.””
The room fell silent.
Adrian's expression changed so sharply that I instinctively stepped away from him.
“My father died three years ago.””
“I know.””
“He was in the hospital when he died. Vincent was with him.””
“Then Vincent lied to you.””
Adrian stood slowly.
“Be careful what you say next.””
Eleanor flinched, but she didn't look away.
“Your father arranged the fire. Vincent carried out his orders. They wanted the Whitmore fortune and the documents hidden in the estate. Your father believed the records could expose the Kane family's illegal dealings.””
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Why would he kill Isabella's parents to obtain documents?””
“Because they refused to hand them over.””
Eleanor turned toward me.
“Your mother discovered what they were planning. She tried to escape with you, but the fire started before she could get everyone out.””
My throat closed.
“Did she die?””
Eleanor's eyes filled again.
“I never saw her body.””
I backed away from her.
“No.””
“Isabella—”
“Don't call me that!””
The words burst from me.
Eleanor fell silent.
I pressed both hands against my head.
“I can't keep hearing that name and watching everyone look at me like I'm supposed to become a little girl I don't remember!””
My voice cracked.
“I was alone. I slept in doorways. I begged for food.
Where were all of you? If you knew I was alive, why didn't anyone come looking?””
Eleanor bowed her head.
“I tried.””
“You didn't try hard enough!””
The accusation tore through the room.
I hated myself the instant I said it, but I couldn't take it back.
Eleanor began to cry silently.
“I searched hospitals and shelters for years. I hired people to look for you until Vincent discovered what I was doing. He threatened my daughter. I stopped because I thought he would kill her.””
She looked up at me.
“I chose to protect one child by abandoning another. I've regretted it every day since.””
I wanted to hate her.
It would have been easier.
Instead, I saw the fear in her face, the blood on her forehead, and the hands that trembled as she reached toward me.
I couldn't forgive her.
But I couldn't turn away, either.
Adrian's men helped Eleanor onto a stretcher.
Before the medics carried her out, she caught my hand.
“Your mother left you something besides the key.””
“What?””
“A message.””
Eleanor looked at Adrian, then back at me.
“She told me that if you ever returned, I should tell you the truth about the night of the fire. Not what your father claimed. Not what Vincent told the newspapers.””
Her fingers tightened around mine.
“The truth is that your mother knew she was going to die, and she still chose to save you.””
My eyes burned.
“What did she say?””
Eleanor's voice became barely audible.
“She said, 'Tell my daughter that the fire was never meant to kill her. It was meant to erase what she knew.''”
A chill passed through me.
Before I could ask another question, Adrian's communication device crackled.
“Sir, we have a problem.””
His driver sounded breathless.
“Two vehicles just pulled up. Armed men. They're surrounding the building.””
Adrian looked toward the window.
“Vincent?””
“We don't know. But one of them is carrying the Kane family signet.””
Adrian's face hardened.
“Get Eleanor downstairs through the rear exit. Now.””
He turned to me.
“Stay with her.””
I stared at the brass key in my palm.
“No.””
“Wren—”
“They came for me. If we run every time Vincent sends someone, he'll keep hunting us forever.””
Adrian stepped close enough that only I could hear him.
“This isn't about bravery. It's about keeping you alive.””
“Then stop treating me like something you have to hide.””
For a long moment, we faced each other.
Then he nodded once.
“Fine. But you follow my lead.””
A loud crash echoed from the stairwell.
One of Adrian's men shouted.
The apartment door flew inward.
And a familiar voice called from the hallway.
“Bring me the girl.””
Vincent Kane had arrived.
Adrian drew his weapon.
I closed my fingers around the false key, feeling the sharp edges bite into my palm.
May you like
Ten years ago, someone had tried to erase me.
Tonight, they would have to face the woman who survived.
