Chapter 7 - THE THIRTEEN MINUTES
Vincent arrived before sunset.
Nobody had summoned him.
That made Clara wonder who downstairs had already told him what they had found.
Liam remained in the study.
In the wheelchair.
Mara’s rosary wrapped around his hand.
The blinds behind him were fully open.
Vincent noticed all three things.
“You’re downstairs.”
Liam said nothing.
Vincent looked toward Clara.
“Your work?”
“His legs.”
She paused.
“His decisions are still questionable.”
Normally Vincent would have smiled.
He did not.
His eyes landed on the silver watch sitting on the desk beside the ledger.
Then the color in his face changed.
Barely.
But Clara saw it.
Liam saw it too.
“What happened at 8:11?”
Vincent removed his coat slowly.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Wrong answer.”
Leo closed the study doors.
Vincent looked at him.
Something unspoken passed between them.
Clara’s pulse quickened.
Liam pushed the watch across the desk.
“It stopped thirteen minutes before the fire.”
Vincent stared at it.
“You were already hurt.”
Liam’s voice remained controlled.
“I remember the catwalk.”
No answer.
“I remember you.”
Vincent exhaled.
“Then you remember we argued.”
“I remember you grabbing my coat.”
“We were fighting.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Vincent’s eyes flashed.
“You punched me.”
Clara looked at Liam.
He frowned.
“I did?”
“Yes.”
Vincent touched the side of his jaw.
“The swelling lasted a week.”
“That proves nothing.”
“No.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“But maybe stop telling yourself you stood there politely while I became a monster.”
Liam’s grip tightened around the rosary.
“What happened?”
Vincent stared at his cousin for a long moment.
Then sat.
“The fire was supposed to happen.”
Leo looked away.
Clara felt ice enter her chest.
Liam whispered, “What?”
Vincent continued.
“Not with you inside.”
“Explain.”
“The old records were in Dock Nine.”
“The ledgers.”
“Yes.”
“Drugs.”
“Some.”
“Bribery.”
“Yes.”
“Payoffs.”
“Yes.”
Liam’s voice grew quieter with every word.
“You planned to burn them.”
Vincent nodded.
Liam turned toward Leo.
“You knew?”
Leo did not answer immediately.
That was enough.
Liam’s face collapsed in a way Clara had not seen even during pain.
“Leo.”
“I knew records were going to be destroyed.”
“You knew.”
“I did not know Vincent planned a fire while you were there.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
Liam laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You’ve been beside me since we were fifteen.”
“I know.”
“You stood outside my door while I slept because I thought somebody inside the family betrayed me.”
Leo’s face tightened.
“I know.”
“And every night, it was you.”
“No.”
Leo stepped forward.
“I betrayed your trust. I did not betray your life.”
“You don’t get to separate them for me.”
Clara watched Leo absorb that.
He did not defend himself.
Vincent looked at Clara.
“This is why your patient hates weakness.”
“Don’t talk to her.”
Liam’s voice cut across the room.
Vincent turned back.
“Fine.”
He leaned toward Liam.
“You arrived early that night.”
“What?”
“The meeting was nine.”
“I know.”
“You came before eight.”
“So did you.”
“Because I was trying to stop the burn.”
Leo looked at Vincent sharply.
“That is not what you told me.”
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“I changed my mind.”
“Why?”
“Because Mara used to keep her drawings in those ledgers when she was twelve.”
The room went still.
Vincent looked almost embarrassed.
“Stupid reason.”
Liam’s expression shifted.
Mara again.
Always Mara.
Vincent continued.
“I went upstairs. You saw the fuel containers.”
Clara interrupted.
“Don’t describe them.”
Vincent looked at her.
Then nodded.
“You figured out what I was planning.”
Liam’s eyes closed briefly.
A memory returning.
“You told me I had no right.”
“Yes.”
“You said people would starve.”
“Yes.”
“I said I’d replace every dirty paycheck with legal work.”
Vincent laughed bitterly.
“You said that like jobs appear because Liam Mercer orders them into existence.”
Liam’s face tightened.
“Then what?”
“You hit me.”
“And?”
“I grabbed your coat.”
The room became silent.
Vincent looked at his hands.
“You came at me again.”
Clara held her breath.
“I moved.”
Liam stared at him.
“You pushed me.”
“No.”
“You pushed me.”
“I shoved you away.”
“That is the same thing when there’s a railing behind me.”
Vincent stood abruptly.
“I did not mean for you to go over.”
“But I did.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
Vincent said nothing.
Clara looked at the watch.
8:11.
Thirteen minutes.
“What did you do for thirteen minutes?”
Vincent’s face closed.
That was the question.
Not the shove.
The thirteen minutes after.
“I tried to get downstairs.”
“Did you call for help?”
“No.”
“Did you go to him?”
Vincent’s jaw flexed.
“No.”
Liam looked almost peaceful.
That frightened Clara.
“You left me there.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“Did you check?”
No answer.
Liam whispered, “Did you check?”
Vincent looked away.
“No.”
The truth moved through the room like winter air.
Clara had expected rage.
Liam only looked tired.
Vincent spoke quickly.
“The fire was already set to start. I went to stop it.”
“Did you?”
“I tried.”
“The building burned.”
“Yes.”
“So no.”
Vincent looked at Leo.
“Tell him what happened.”
Leo’s face changed.
“No.”
“Tell him.”
“I’m done covering anybody.”
“You were part of it.”
Leo suddenly stepped toward him.
“I agreed to destroy records that could send half our people to prison. I did not agree to leave Liam bleeding on a warehouse floor.”
Vincent’s voice rose.
“I thought he was dead!”
“You hoped he was!”
Silence exploded afterward.
Vincent stared at Leo.
Liam looked between them.
Clara realized there was still something missing.
“Leo.”
He turned toward her.
“What did you find at Dock Nine?”
His face went pale.
Not what did you know.
What did you find.
Leo looked toward Liam.
“I should have given it to you weeks ago.”
He left the room.
Nobody spoke while he was gone.
Two minutes later, Leo returned carrying a small wooden box.
He placed it on the desk.
Inside lay a torn strip of dark cashmere.
Liam’s coat.
Pinned through the fabric was a black silver-backed cufflink.
Vincent’s family crest.
Beside it lay three black rosary beads.
And Liam’s silver watch.
Clara looked at Leo.
“Where?”
“Upper catwalk.”
Liam stared at him.
“You told me the watch was recovered from my body.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
Leo’s eyes filled with shame.
“Because Vincent controlled half the men in this city, and you were unconscious.”
He looked at Vincent.
“If people knew you two fought before the fire, there would have been bodies in the street by morning.”
Liam looked down at the objects.
His mother’s watch.
Mara’s rosary.
Vincent’s cufflink.
His torn coat.
Four pieces of a family that had destroyed itself in thirteen minutes.
Then Leo said one more thing.
“I found all of them together.”
Liam looked up.
Leo’s voice broke.
May you like
“Except you.”
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