Fire and Sweets (Book 3 of Wolves of Milano)

21. Fire

A long morning in the office is rewarded with a lunch date. This time they can eat in public, right here at Rialto. Mattias brought her the contract and payment information for her paintings. It’s the least she can do to treat him to a gourmet lunch. She sends Fernando a message to surprise them with a tasting course of his choice. She knows it will be outstanding no matter what the guy makes. Maybe it will impress His Highness as well. She has no idea what he’s used to, but judging by the hotel he’s staying at, he’s not picky. Or was that just a poor choice from his side? 

“You spoil me with this.” Mattias tells her. “I was content to eat my sweets in peace by the bar.”

“It’s not sweets this time.” Kara winks at him. “You did great with the sales, I’m rewarding you with a full Rialto course.”

“Oh? Maybe I should show up with money more often, then?” He laughs.

“Maybe.” Kara smiles. “We will see how the rest of the sales go, but I’m happy with what you got me so far.”

They stick to the safe topics of the art and exhibition just in case they are overheard. She knows that some of the wait staff today are wolves from her pack, but she chose their table deliberately in the section that is covered by a human waitress. It’s also the furthest from the kitchen and the bar area, so the others have no excuse to just walk by. She knows all the tricks in the book, so they can’t fool her. If she wants privacy, she will have it.

“I’m loving this. How many entries are in this tasting menu?” Mattias inquires after their third entry. 

“Not sure. I don’t know which one Fernando chose for us. It could be five or seven entries.” She shrugs.

“Let's be surprised then.” He smiles at her. Flirting in broad daylight with her pack members close by? The guy has guts! She is ready for a smart retort, but gets cut short by a loud bang and screaming.

Kara jumps up from the table and runs for the kitchen door. She can smell smoke and something else. She is not sure what that other thing is, but it can’t be good. She slams her hand into the fire alarm box and breaks the whole thing. The alarm still goes off and she is glad about it. She leans into the swinging door and yells:

“Everyone out! Danielle! Do a headcount!”

She helps Mattias secure the few guests that were in the restaurant at the moment and they make it out front with the staff. The fire is spreading too fast! Her brain is calculating the damage and all the fire extinguishers, so she knows they have no chance of putting this out. Even if they are trying, they can’t save anything at this rate. She fishes her phone out of her pocket and dials Elio. 

“Elio? Where are you? Someone just blew up Rialto!” She tells him in a panic rush.

“With Vittorio. I don’t understand it. It was never an option I knew about.” Elio answers her.

“Put Vittorio on speaker.” She orders while she looks around herself. She counts the people even though she gave that task to Danielle.

“I’m on. What happened?” Vittorio asks her.

“Get your teams, get your gear, Rialto is going up in flames. I crushed the alarm box, so I don’t know if it sent out the signal or not.” She tells him. 

Kara can hear Vittorio giving out the orders, she can hear the sirens go off and she knows that help is on the way. She is still worried, because they have three people missing. by her count and Danielle’s shouting.

“Walk me through it.” Vittorio asks her. “We’ll be there in ten, but I have to know what’s going on.”

“There was an explosion. I heard the loud bang before I smelled the smoke and something else. I still don’t know what that scent is. It’s driving me crazy.” She explains.

“Then what?” Vittorio prompts her.

“We evacuated the guests and the staff. The fire is spreading too fast!” Kara shouts. She knows it’s pointless to shout, he can understand her perfectly. “We have three people missing. I hope they got out by the back door.”

“Where was the explosion? The kitchen?” Vittorio inquires.

“No. The sound came from elsewhere. There was no smoke in the kitchen when I opened that door to tell them to get out.” She tells him.

“OK. We’re just around the corner. Clear the path, get the people behind the fence or into the park.” Vittorio orders. She can hear the sirens in stereo now. Over the phone and in real time.

“Everyone goes into the park or behind the fence. I don't want anyone getting run over by the fire trucks!” Kara shouts over the wailing of the sirens. She has to grab a couple of people to drag them over the small fence by the parking lot. Grumbling and fighting with her! Stupid morons! Don’t they hear the sirens? Or is the rapid spreading fire so damn fascinating?

“Maybe you should call your mother?” Mattias whispers to her.

“Oh, damn. How do I tell her?” She swallows the lump in her throat.

“Better you than the news.” He tells her.

“You’re right about that.” She nods. Dialing her mothers number is heartbreaking, but she has to. “Mom? Rialto is on fire. It’s bad. Get over here fast.”

“What happened?” Marra asks her. She can hear rustling of a coat and keys in the back.

“An explosion. I have no idea where and how.” She manages to say. “Vittorio is here with every crew he’s got.”

“I’ll be right there.” Her mother says and ends the call.

“Kara!” Vittorio yells for her. He is waving at her too.

“Tell me. How bad is it?” She runs over to him.

“There is no one out back. The dumpsters are totally ruined. That is one place this fire started, but not the only one.” He tells her.

“Damn. It was deliberate. This can’t be an accident.” Kara exclaims.

“Is there any secure place in there? Somewhere people could be safe from fire and can’t hear us calling?” He inquires.

“The freezer and walk in cooler. That doesn’t burn, but with electricity out there’s not much air in there.” She pales visibly. One of the missing is Fernando. Her mother can’t survive a blow like this. If the restaurant is gone, he has to be alive.

“Guys! Break down the doors of the cooler in the kitchen.” Vittorio orders into his communications piece. “There might be people in there. The door won’t open from inside without electricity.”

“Oh, God. I hope Fernando is OK.” Kara whispers. The fire is still raging on, even with all the water and foam the firefighters are pouring on the building. 

“The foam is effective, the water is not.” Mattias comments and earns a sideways look from Vittorio. 

“Use more foam. There was some sort of an acelerant used.” Vittorio sends out a new order. He covers his speaker and whispers: “It’s good to be Chief. No one will ask how I knew. Good observation skills.”

“Vittorio? This is Mattias.” Kara smiles weakly. She is too busy biting her nails and watching the fire to make proper introductions.  

“We got the people out!” The cracked voice tells them over the coms. “The cold from the freezer actually helps with the fire.”

“Oh my God!” Marra shouts. Kara missed when her mother came to the scene, but she can see her now. Running for Fernando. Their Chef is wrapped in a Mylar blanket and shaking from the cold. But, he’s alive.

“I’m fine. I can withstand a little cold, fire would be much worse.” He tells her by the side of the ambulance. Wolf hearing is the best, since Kara doesn’t need to be close to hear them. She nods to Mattias and walks over to her mother and Fernando. 

“Hey, kiddo. How did they know to break down the cooler door?” He asks her.

“Vittorio thinks outside of the box. That was the only place secure and sound proof.” Kara smiles at him. “I’m glad you made it out OK.”

“He still needs to go to the hospital to get checked out.” Marra glares at Fernando.

“Go with him, mom. I can stay with Vittorio. Someone needs to wait for the fire inspector. This was not an accident.” Kara tells her mother.

“We both know who is behind this. I just wish to know how.” Her mother scoffs.

“I’ll get Elio to snoop around.” Kara winks.

She walks back to Vittorio to see that he’s no longer alone. The figure there is familiar. A person she hasn’t seen in a long time, but she’s glad that he’s here. Nobody will point fingers and accuse them of arson, if the Fire Commissioner is on the case. 

“Signore Mutti. So glad to see you. I wish the circumstances were better, though.” Kara smiles at the guy.

“Kara, darling.” The Commissioner sighs. “You and me both.”

“How bad is it?” She inquires.

“Bad. What didn’t burn, got damaged by water and the foam. Clean up will be tough.” He tells her.

“I hope I’m wrong, but this doesn’t look like an accident.” Kara says and looks between Vittorio and Signore Mutti.

“It’s not.” Vittorio shakes his head. “Nothing official yet, but my guys found two different origin points for the fire, and the loud bang you heard, was the generator for the coolers. Someone blew it up. Damage like that doesn’t come from a simple malfunction.”

“Damn. You know who I suspect?” Kara glances at Vittorio.

“Yeah. He’s trying to draw your mother out of hiding.” Vittorio nods. “He doesn’t care that he just cost twenty people their jobs.”

“Knowing Marra, he just pissed her off.” Signore Mutti comments. “She won’t go crawling back to him, she’ll go guns blazing.”

“I hope not. She can’t win a fair fight. We all know that.” Kara swallows a lump. She takes a deep breath to calm down. It’s time to make a plan. “Anyone seen Elio?”

“No. He came here with me, but I haven’t seen him since.” Vittorio tells her. “He’s probably hunting. He knows who was assigned to watch you today.”

“I think that guy will be lucky to survive if he does find him, but we need him alive to testify. We need him to tell us who gave the order for this.” The Commissioner inserts. 

“I hope I can get through to Elio, before he does something stupid. I know he was out of the loop on this one. The surprise when I called him was not an act.” Kara nods to them. She dials Elio, but it goes straight to voicemail. Does she dare to leave a message? Better not. You never know who can hack in the phones to hear it. She wouldn’t pass it against her Uncle to have someone like that on the payroll.

“Keep trying. keep me in the loop, if you can.” Vittorio tells her. She knows he has a lot more to do here once the fire is out. They will watch the site all night to protect the other buildings close by. And the Commissioner will begin his investigation as well. That part is vital for the insurance company, so it’s good that the Commissioner is not related to them in any way. She only worries how her mother is going to get through this blow. Rialto was her baby, her pride and joy. The second home for most of the family.