Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO RUN
Nora wanted to go home.
She wanted to lock the apartment door.
Pull Ethan into the kitchen.
Tell him everything.
But Arthur asked her to sit.
“Please.”
She looked at him.
“Why didn't you tell me sooner?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Because I didn't know how.”
“You've known for twenty-seven years.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody told my mother?”
Arthur looked down.
“I tried.”
Nora stared.
“What happened?”
Arthur explained that after the fire, he had been a young criminal with no credibility.
He'd reported what he knew to a detective.
The detective had dismissed him.
Later, Arthur discovered that the officer had accepted payments from Bellucci.
“I should have kept trying,” Arthur said.
Nora's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
She looked away.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then Nora asked:
“Why did you become like them?”
Arthur flinched.
“Like who?”
“The men who frightened Grandma.”
The question struck harder than any accusation he'd faced.
Arthur stared at her.
“I thought power would keep me safe.”
“Did it?”
He looked around the enormous kitchen.
The expensive appliances.
The armed guards outside.
The silent mansion.
“No.”
Nora nodded slowly.
“Then maybe it's time to stop pretending it did.”
Arthur looked at her.
No one had spoken to him like that in decades.
And he didn't know whether to feel insulted or grateful.
That night, Nora returned home and told Ethan what she'd learned.
He stared at her.
“Rocco's father killed Grandma?”
“Arthur says he ordered the fire.”
Ethan stood.
“Then I'm going to the police.”
Nora nodded.
“We both are.”
The next morning, they contacted an attorney and arranged to provide information to investigators.
Arthur offered to cooperate.
May you like
For the first time in his adult life, he was preparing to tell the truth about the past.
Even if it destroyed the life he'd built.
