Chapter 6 - The Workbench in the Garage
The house stood at the end of a quiet street outside Joliet.
It looked smaller than Chloe remembered.
The porch had been repainted.
The maple tree was gone.
A plastic basketball hoop leaned over the driveway where her father used to wash his truck.
The current owner, a retired teacher named Mrs. Alvarez, listened while Chloe explained.
Not everything.
Enough.
A deceased father.
An old workbench.
Something that might have been left behind.
Mrs. Alvarez looked toward the garage.
“My husband kept that bench. Said it was built better than anything you could buy.”
Chloe’s eyes burned.
“Yes,” she said. “It was.”
They entered together.
Dominic waited outside until Mrs. Alvarez invited him in.
The bench stood beneath a dusty window.
Chloe recognized the shallow burn mark near one corner.
Her father had set down a soldering iron there and spent a week blaming the cat.
She ran her hand along the wood.
For a second, she was eight again.
Safe because she had not yet learned how quickly safe could end.
A loose panel sat behind the lower drawer.
She remembered watching her father slide birthday money into that space.
Her fingers found the edge.
The panel shifted.
Inside was a metal biscuit tin.
Mrs. Alvarez brought a chair.
Chloe sat before opening it.
There were photographs.
A folded letter.
A maintenance notebook.
And a small digital voice recorder wrapped in an old cloth.
She did not switch it on.
Nora’s instructions had been clear.
Handle as little as necessary.
Document where it was found.
Let qualified people preserve it.
Still, seeing her father’s handwriting nearly undid her.
Tuesday. East exit chain still in place. Reported again.
Thursday. Alarm panel disconnected.
Friday. E.V. says delay inspection until after refinancing.
E.V.
Elias Voss.
The letter was addressed to Marianne.
If they tell you I was careless, please don’t believe them.
Chloe pressed her hand over her mouth.
Dominic stood several feet away.
She could feel him waiting.
Not reaching.
Not deciding whether she needed comfort.
Simply there.
“Thank you,” she whispered to Mrs. Alvarez.
The older woman squeezed her shoulder.
“I’m glad he left you something.”
Outside, the sky had turned the color of wet concrete.
Val approached from the car.
“We should go.”
Something in her voice made Dominic turn.
A dark sedan had slowed at the corner.
Then another appeared behind it.
Mrs. Alvarez stepped backward into the house.
Val spoke into her radio.
Dominic moved beside Chloe.
“Keep walking.”
The first car accelerated.
A man shouted.
A sharp crack split the air.
For one terrible second, Chloe did not understand the sound.
Then Frank pushed her behind the open car door.
Glass burst somewhere behind them.
Dominic crouched beside her.
“Stay down.”
She clutched the tin against her chest.
Val was already calling emergency services.
Another vehicle turned onto the street.
Sirens began in the distance.
The men had expected an easy interception.
They had found an occupied neighborhood, witnesses, cameras, and security that had already requested assistance.
The sedan reversed violently.
A parked car scraped.
Someone shouted again.
Then the attackers were gone.
The entire thing lasted less than a minute.
Chloe would remember it for years.
Frank sat against the front wheel, blood darkening his sleeve.
“I’m fine,” he said.
“People who are fine don’t say it like that,” Chloe answered, her voice shaking.
He gave her a strained smile.
“Then I’m mildly inconvenienced.”
She almost cried.
Dominic knelt beside him while Val applied pressure to the wound.
His face had become something hard and distant.
Chloe recognized it.
The expression men wore before calling anger a plan.
“Dominic.”
He did not look up.
“Dominic.”
This time, he met her eyes.
For a moment, the street seemed to narrow around them.
She thought of the men who had died in the warehouse.
Of her brother mistaking revenge for truth.
Of every family teaching its children that violence was the only language powerful men understood.
“Stay here,” she said.
His jaw tightened.
“With us.”
A long second passed.
Then he nodded.
He stayed with Frank until the ambulance arrived.
He gave his statement.
He did not send cars chasing after the attackers.
At the hospital, after Frank’s injury was confirmed as serious but treatable, Chloe found Dominic alone beside a vending machine.
“I wanted to go after them,” he admitted.
“I know.”
“I knew exactly who to call.”
“I know.”
He looked at her.
“You shouldn’t have to be the reason I stop.”
“No,” she said. “I shouldn’t.”
He lowered his head.
Then he took out his phone and called his attorney.
“There are more things I need to disclose,” he said.
May you like
Chloe stood beside him.
This time, she knew the difficult choice was his.
