Chapter 19 - The Night the Shop Alarm Screamed
At 2:13 in the morning, Jenna woke to her phone screaming.
Not ringing.
Screaming.
The security app from her shop displayed one word.
FIRE.
Vincent woke beside her.
“What?”
“My shop.”
He reached for his phone.
Jenna was already out of bed.
They did not drive there.
That was the first argument Vincent won.
Firefighters were on scene.
Police were on scene.
Running into a burning building would not save fabric, machines, records, or pride.
So they stood across the street in the rain while smoke poured from the rear window of the shop Jenna had built with a community loan and stubbornness.
Lily stayed home with Mrs. Alvarez.
Jenna watched firefighters break the side door.
Her face remained dry for almost twenty minutes.
Then the front window cracked.
The painted letters bearing her name disappeared behind smoke.
She folded.
Vincent caught her.
Not dramatically.
Not like a man saving someone.
He simply held her while she cried.
“My grandmother’s machine,” she said.
He knew which one.
An old industrial Singer Jenna’s mother had inherited from her own mother.
It had survived three apartments, two moves, a flooded basement, and Lily spilling juice near the pedal.
“I’m sorry.”
Jenna pressed both hands against her face.
“Don’t buy me another one.”
Vincent almost laughed because even now she knew him.
“I won’t.”
“Not tonight.”
“I won’t.”
The fire was contained before it reached neighboring businesses.
An investigator emerged after dawn.
“Rear storage area was the origin.”
Jenna looked at him.
“Electrical?”
“We don’t know yet.”
By noon, they knew.
Accelerant traces were found near a window.
The fire was intentional.
Security footage showed a masked figure entering through the alley.
The person did not steal money.
Did not touch the front room.
Went directly to a cabinet containing duplicate records Jenna had stored for the Marino investigations.
But those records were not there.
Elena had insisted they be moved two weeks earlier.
Jenna stared at the burned cabinet.
“So whoever did this didn’t know.”
Vincent stood beside her.
“Or they wanted us to think the records mattered.”
Detective Morse agreed.
“This may be intimidation.”
Jenna laughed without humor.
“Apparently everyone thinks I respond well to that.”
The fire changed public sympathy.
News cameras that had once shouted questions about Jenna’s marriage now filmed neighbors bringing boxes and coffee.
Former customers started a fundraiser before Jenna could stop them.
She posted one statement.
I am insured. My employees will be paid. If you want to help, support the other small businesses on this block.
The statement went viral.
Vincent showed it to her.
“You realize telling people not to give you money makes them want to give you more.”
“That seems like a design flaw in people.”
The most painful discovery came that afternoon.
The grandmother’s sewing machine was damaged but not destroyed.
Its metal body remained intact.
The wooden table around it had burned.
Jenna touched the blackened wheel.
A firefighter said restoration might be possible.
She cried again.
That evening, Marco arrived at the house.
He was no longer head of security.
He came as himself.
“I know how Raymond handles pressure,” he said.
Vincent’s expression hardened.
“You already gave your statement.”
“This isn’t about clearing me.”
Marco placed a map on the kitchen table.
“He uses escalation ladders. Warning. Financial pressure. Reputation. Property.”
Jenna looked at the map.
“What comes after property?”
Marco hesitated.
“People.”
The kitchen went silent.
Lily was upstairs.
Mrs. Alvarez sat with her.
Vincent leaned forward.
“Are you saying Raymond will hurt Jenna?”
“I’m saying if he’s following the old pattern, the shop fire wasn’t the last step.”
“Why would he keep escalating when he’s already exposed?”
“Because Raymond doesn’t think like someone trying to win in court.”
Marco looked at Vincent.
“He thinks like someone trying to regain leverage.”
“What leverage?”
“You.”
Jenna frowned.
Marco pointed to her.
“He doesn’t need to hurt Jenna.”
Then he pointed toward Vincent.
“He needs you to believe he will.”
Vincent looked at the scorched photograph Detective Morse had brought from the shop.
He understood.
Raymond wanted the old man back.
The one who would trade anything for control.
That night, a package arrived at Elena’s office.
Inside was a phone.
It rang once.
Elena answered on speaker.
Raymond Voss said, “Vincent, I’m ready to make a deal.”
Vincent looked at Jenna.
Then answered.
“No.”
Raymond laughed.
“You don’t even know what I want.”
“I know enough.”
“You’re going to lose your companies.”
“Maybe.”
“Your reputation.”
“Probably.”
“Your wife’s business is ash.”
Jenna’s jaw tightened.
Vincent remained calm.
Raymond paused.
May you like
Then said the sentence designed to break him.
“Next time, I won’t choose an empty building.”
