Chapter 7 - Smoke at the Mechanic's Shop
By the time Malcolm reached the garage, firefighters had contained the blaze. Marcus stood across the street wrapped in a blanket, watching smoke rise through the roof he had repaired with his father twenty years earlier.
"Were you inside?" Malcolm asked.
"No. My daughter called me home for dinner."
"Thank God."
Marcus looked at him. "My pictures were in there."
"You gave the investigator copies."
"The originals had more."
Malcolm wanted to promise he would rebuild the shop that night. Instead he asked Marcus what he needed immediately: a place to sleep, a ride, help contacting his insurer. Marcus said he needed his employees paid until they could work again.
Malcolm arranged emergency wages through a documented company assistance program, with Dana overseeing the paperwork so nobody could later claim he was buying testimony.
Investigators examined the fire. Its cause was not yet known. Marcus said a dark sedan had driven past twice; he could not identify the driver.
At Renee's house, Isaiah saw footage of the fire on a news report. He recognized Marcus from an old photograph of his mother standing beside her car.
"That's Mama's friend."
Renee turned off the television. "He got out safely."
"Did Celeste do that too?"
"We don't know who caused it," she said. "It's okay to ask questions. We shouldn't guess."
Isaiah nodded, then whispered, "I don't want anybody else to get hurt because of me."
Renee sat beside him. "You did not cause any of this. Adults are responsible for their own choices."
The next day Malcolm met with his company's board. He disclosed the suspected financial misconduct and stepped away from decisions where his personal interests could interfere. An independent committee was appointed to review the housing fund.
Julian's attorney sent a letter denying wrongdoing. Celeste's attorney demanded access to the mansion and claimed Malcolm had unfairly restricted her property rights. Dana handled both.
"I thought being powerful meant I could protect my family," Malcolm told Renee that evening.
"Power doesn't tell you what's happening when you refuse to look," she said.
He accepted that without argument.
Odessa brought out a battered tin from her handbag. "I found this when I packed my things. Mrs. Simone gave it to me before she died. Told me to open it if anybody ever tried to erase her from that house."
Inside were Christmas ornaments Isaiah had made as a toddler, a cassette tape, and a handwritten list of housing-fund beneficiaries.
Malcolm recognized names from the neighborhoods where his company had promised affordable homes. Several families had never received the assistance recorded in the books.
"They stole from people who needed roofs," he said.
Odessa nodded. "And then they made your son feel like he didn't deserve one."
The cassette was labeled CHRISTMAS SONGS FOR ISAIAH. Malcolm found an old player at a thrift store. Simone's voice filled Renee's living room, laughing as she missed the opening note of "Silent Night."
Isaiah sat absolutely still.
"That's her?"
"That's your mama."
He held the player against his chest until the tape clicked off.
Later, Dana called with the results of an audit. Money had moved from the housing fund to shell companies and then into the private trust Celeste claimed she managed for Isaiah. But the final transfer had not gone to Celeste.
It had gone to an account under Loretta Brooks's name, opened two years after Loretta died.
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"Someone used my mother's identity," Malcolm said.
"That's what the records suggest," Dana replied. "And the account is still active."
