Chapter 4 - THE WAREHOUSE THAT NEVER STOPPED BURNING
Three years earlier, Elias Varela had died in a warehouse fire on Harbor Row.
The official investigation had concluded that an electrical fault caused the blaze.
Mateo had never accepted the explanation.
But he had also never been able to look closely at the evidence.
He remembered the phone call.
Elias's voice.
Urgent.
"Mateo, something's wrong with the freight records."
Mateo had been in a meeting.
He told his brother they would discuss it later.
Elias insisted.
"Not later. Tonight."
Mateo became irritated.
"Elias, I'm busy."
His brother went quiet.
Then said:
"You're always busy."
Those were the last words Mateo ever heard him speak.
Two hours later, the warehouse burned.
Mateo arrived before the firefighters finished containing the blaze.
He saw the roof collapse.
He heard someone shout Elias's name.
He ran toward the building.
Security restrained him.
He fought them.
Screamed.
Begged.
But Elias never came out.
After the funeral, Mateo changed.
He stopped sleeping.
Stopped laughing.
Stopped visiting friends.
He buried himself in work.
And trusted Silas Greco to handle everything else.
Now, sitting in Dr. Shah's office, Mateo finally spoke about that night.
"I should have listened."
Dr. Shah waited.
"He called me. I told him I was busy."
Mateo's hands shook.
"If I'd listened, he might still be alive."
Dr. Shah leaned forward.
"Mateo, you don't know that."
Mateo stared.
"You know you wish you'd answered differently. But wishing doesn't make you responsible for everything that followed."
Mateo looked away.
"I hear the sirens every night."
Dr. Shah nodded.
"Have you told anyone?"
"No."
"Why?"
Mateo laughed bitterly.
"Because men like me aren't supposed to fall apart."
Dr. Shah studied him.
"Men like you are still human."
Mateo closed his eyes.
For the first time in years, he allowed himself to say the truth.
"I'm exhausted."
May you like
The doctor nodded.
"Then we'll start there."
