22. Fire investigation
2222 Words
The next morning brings along a realization that she’s free. She has no job to go to. What will she do with herself and all this time? What was her mother doing the last few days in hiding? Besides packing Kara’s stuff? Maybe she can read a book? There are a few she bought and never started. Or she could go see Mattias? Options upon options… Maybe she can sleep in?
All is quiet in the house. Teo must still be asleep, but where is her mother? She found her passed out on the sofa last night, covered her with a blanket and tiptoed up the stairs. Her mother must be devastated. And the best thing Kara can do, is help the Commissioner, answer all the questions and cooperate. Can she log in the system from her home computer? Someone needs to cancel all the reservations and catering. Could they possibly run the catering from their home kitchen? It’s big enough, but is it allowed? She has to call the health inspector and ask. Maybe they can save one part of the business and a few jobs?
Laying in bed won’t solve anything. She’ll only end up with more questions. Padding downstairs in her pajamas to get the breakfast going is the next step. Coffee to wake her up and some sugar to stimulate her brain.
“Guess you had the same idea as I did.” She chuckles as she finds her mother sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a box of chocolate chip cookies.
“Yeah. Fernando is fine. He didn’t get frostbite, he didn’t inhale too much smoke.” Marra tells her. “He’ll come by later to make a plan. I know we’ll have to let a lot of people go. My heart is breaking, but there is nothing I can do. I don’t have the money to keep paying them to do nothing.”
“I was thinking about that. Could we run the catering part from here? Do you think we could make this kitchen up to code?” Kara asks her mother. “We could save a few jobs.”
“Good idea.” Marra nods. “How much of the catering stuff is in the van? Do we have the trays and dishes?”
“Maybe half?” Kara shrugs. “I hope the guys weren’t too fast with putting things back in storage this time. I usually have to bug them a few days to sort the van out.”
“Well.. let’s hope for small blessings.” Marra laughs. “Someone needs to go by the restaurant and see if we can salvage anything.”
“I can do that. I have to go see the Commissioner anyway. He’s running this investigation himself.” Kara answers.
“Domenico Mutti? Great! Then maybe we won’t have to wait a year for the insurance money.” Marra exclaims. “He gets things done fast.”
“I’ll deal with that end then. Can you and Fernando look into saving the catering?” Kara inquires.
“Sure. It will give me something to do. Teo is busy with his new teacher and all your things are sorted and packed. I need something to distract me, so I don’t think about what if’s and what could have been.” Her mother nods.
“Well, I’m pretty sure it was Uncle Vito. How to prove it? I have no idea.” Kara scoffs.
“It will be hard. He’s a firefighter. I’m sure he knows how to set a fire without being found out. And we don’t have cameras out back.” Marra shrugs. “I could murder him in his sleep! Too bad Ellena can’t do it. The bastard is not even sleeping in the same room anymore.”
“Wow! Mom!” Kara glances over in surprise. “Where did that come from?”
“What? As if you haven’t thought about it?” Her mother shakes her head and sighs. “Too bad that would ruin my reputation and all the credibility in the pack. I can’t risk getting banned. I have to hold it together for Teo.”
“We will find a way.” Kara smiles.
“Wait till I master my powers? I can take him out.” Teo laughs from the door.
“How long have you been eavesdropping?” Their mother glares at him.
“Since early morning. You both think too loud. It takes effort to keep my walls up.” Teo answers.
“Well, you can’t use magic in an Alpha fight. No powers allowed. It has to be won by sheer strength and skills in close combat.” Kara tells him.
“The rules suck!” He exclaims and plops down next to her. “What’s for breakfast? Cookies?”
“Nah. We’ll make some real food.” Their mother laughs.
After breakfast, she practically flees the house. Veles scares her too much, but she understands that Teo needs help. They don’t know any witch to teach him control, so the god of magic is the best teacher you could ask for. At least that’s what Vittorio swears. Vannessa is still his student, as well as an apprentice. Kara is pretty happy with her level of control, but hearing thoughts of everyone around you can be disorientating. Teo needs to learn how to control that, so he can go back to school.
She stops at the ruins of the restaurant and gazes at the ash and soot covered walls. It pains her to admit, she will miss it. Right now it doesn’t look like it could be saved. The firefighters have done what they could to save the surrounding buildings and to prevent the fire from spreading to the park. The place that gave so much joy just looks sad now.
“Hey, Kara.” Evan greets her. “The Commissioner will be right with you. I’m sorry I can't let you go in.”
“That’s fine. I’m not sure I want to.” She tells him. “I feel sorry for the building. Is there anything left unburned?”
“The office survived. Everything is black from the smoke, but I think the computer can be saved.” Evan smiles. “I know, it’s not much.”
“It’s something. I’m more interested in the storage room and all our catering things.” She explains to Evan.
“If the Commissioner says it’s OK, I can go look with you.” He gives her hope and he doesn’t even know it.
“If what is OK?” The Commissioner asks. He has a smile on his face, so the day must be good. She only hopes she’s not the one to ruin it.
“Morning, Signore Mutti.” Kara smiles at him. “I was wondering if any of our catering equipment survived? It has storage of its own.”
“Do you have to go inside the building to look for it?” He asks her. “The roof is not structurally sound enough for me to let you in there.”
“No. That storage is out back. It’s part of the building, but with an outside door.” Kara explains.
“In that case, Evan can go with you. Get her a helmet!” Signore Mutti orders. “I’ll take one of the men and see what I can get out of the office for you. I think the computer is the priority, but maybe some files?”
“The fire cabinet is steel, maybe the papers survived? It’s worth a try.” Kara suggests it to him.
“Meet you back here in half an hour. That’s all the time I can give you.” Signore Mutti winks at her. Is this a ‘save what you can thing’ before the insurance agent comes on the scene? She is grateful that he understands there are items people need to even file an insurance claim. Like the file cabinet and all the important papers.
She has no time to think about that now. She can only be grateful for the chance. So she follows Evan to the fire truck to get a helmet for safety regulations, before she even gets close to the building.
“Where do we go?” Evan nudges her out of her thoughts.
“Follow me. The storage is just off of the kitchen.” She nods and leads the way around the building. The back side looks even worse. The generator is just a heap of molten metal and parts. The wall is scorched and there is even a hole next to the door. She shakes her head and walks right past it.
At the very end of the building, she points to a metal door and produces the keys from her pocket. It takes both of them to open the door, because it got bent from the heat of the fire. Evan shines his lamp inside the dark place and whistles.
“Wow! Not even a speck of dirt came inside of this place! What is this? An old bunker?” Evan exclaims.
“I have no idea. I know it has solid walls, like the office. Most of the restaurant was constructed with drywall and wood. This is one of the old load bearing parts for the whole roof.” Kara explains.
“I see. That explains why the place went up in flames so fast. We still need to determine what kind of acelerant was used.” Evan nods to her. “Can we get the things out? It looks like a fortune in equipment.”
“That’s most of our catering stuff. Where can we put all this? I don’t think Fernando can get here in half an hour.” Kara wonders.
“Call him anyway. Maybe the insurance guy will be late?” Evan winks at her.
“OK. Start pulling things out. Everything is on rollers. Look for the stoppers if things don’t move right away.” She tells him while dialing Fernando. If they can save the catering part of the business, they have a chance to rebuild. It might take a long while, but it’s worth a try.
“Hey, kiddo.” Fernando answers. When did he start calling her that? Vittorio was the only one to get away with it.
“How fast can you get here with the van? All our catering stuff magically survived.” She asks. “The Commissioner gave me half an hour, but the insurance guy might be late. I hope.”
“I’ll hurry. We emptied the van before to see what was left. This is great news.” Fernando laughs and she can hear her mother cheering in the background. They could all use some cheer right about now.
They got the things out and loaded into the van before the insurance guy sauntered on the scene like he owns the place. The arrogance of the guy was like his super weapon. Lucky for her, she has friends that look out for her or the guy would have her drowned in legal talk.
“Slow down!” Signore Mutti interrupts the guy. “One: Kara is not signing anything, before my investigation is over. Two: She doesn’t own the restaurant, she’s only representing her mother. Three: You do not step foot in there before I say so.”
“Who the hell are you? The insurance sent me here to conduct an independent search and fire assessment. You can’t stop me.” The guy puffs up like a turkey.
“Sure I can.” Signore Mutti smiles coldly. “I am Domenico Mutti, Fire Commissioner and arson investigator for the city of Milano. If you have any problems with me, you can take it up with my boss.”
“Who is your boss? I’ll file a complaint. I don’t like it that you see fit to obstruct my investigation.” The insurance guy growls. He reminds Kara of a chihuahua barking at a doberman. Right now, he’s barking up at a bear. The guy just doesn’t know it.
“Hm?” Signore Mutti smirks. “That would be me. Here’s my card. Now go stand by your car and wait for me to clear the building. I don’t want your boss to sue me if something falls on your pretty head.”
“But…” The guy stammers.
“No buts! Wait! You can call your boss for instructions and see what he tells you.” The Commissioner turns his back on the guy and walks away. Casual, confident. He set the boundaries, beware the one who breaks them.
“Don’t breathe, don’t move. He’s pissed.” Evan whispers to her. It was quiet enough that nobody else heard him. So they wait silently for the Commissioner to fasten his helmet back on and disappear out of sight.
“I think I’ll go home. He’ll call me if he needs me.” Kara says to Evan. She inches quietly towards her van and slips inside. Fernando took her mother’s car home with the stuff from the office. They have a solid base for the catering part, they just need to get the home kitchen cleared.
- Writer
