Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT THE KITCHEN CAUGHT FIRE
The fire began at 2:13 a.m.
Clara woke to the smell of smoke.
For a moment, she thought she was dreaming.
Then the alarm sounded.
She jumped out of bed.
Opened the door.
Smoke rolled along the ceiling.
Someone shouted from downstairs.
“Fire!”
Clara ran toward the servants' staircase.
The kitchen was burning.
Flames climbed the curtains near the pantry.
The room where she'd found the hidden note.
She stopped.
The ledger.
Damian had secured the original with his attorney earlier that evening.
But someone had apparently come looking for it.
***
Clara reached the rear corridor.
Gerard was helping two kitchen assistants outside.
Arthur stood near the service entrance.
“Clara!”
She ran toward him.
Then heard a cry.
A young dishwasher named Lily was trapped behind the kitchen doors.
Clara turned.
Arthur grabbed her arm.
“Don't!”
“She needs help!”
Before he could stop her, Clara pulled open the door.
Heat struck her face.
She crouched low.
Called Lily's name.
A weak voice answered.
“Here!”
Clara found her near the pantry.
The girl was coughing.
Terrified.
Clara wrapped a damp towel around Lily's face.
Then guided her toward the exit.
The smoke thickened.
Clara stumbled.
For one terrifying second, she couldn't see.
Then strong hands caught her.
Damian.
He had entered from the rear corridor with a firefighter who had just arrived.
“Move!” he shouted.
They got Lily outside.
Clara collapsed onto the wet grass.
She coughed until her chest hurt.
Damian knelt beside her.
“Look at me.”
She tried.
“Clara.”
His voice broke.
“Stay with me.”
***
At the hospital, doctors treated Clara for smoke inhalation.
Lily was expected to recover.
Damian sat beside Clara's bed.
His suit smelled of smoke.
His hands were scraped.
She looked at him.
“You shouldn't have gone inside.”
He laughed without humor.
“Neither should you.”
She smiled weakly.
“Fair.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Damian took a breath.
“I thought I'd lost you.”
Clara looked at him.
Something changed between them.
Not because he'd rescued her.
Because she'd heard the fear in his voice.
The same fear she'd carried for her mother.
***
Investigators determined the fire had been deliberately set.
Security footage showed a masked person entering through the service gate.
The person knew the estate.
Knew the kitchen.
Knew where the pantry was.
Damian watched the footage.
Then looked at his security chief.
“Find out who opened that gate.”
The answer came the next morning.
A temporary access code.
Issued by Victoria Kensington.
Damian stared at the report.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Bring her to me.”
