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Conor hadn’t chimed in once during their discussion, so she assumed he didn’t care for sports any more than she did. Something he confirmed when he changed the subject and started talking about the latest book he was reading.
Harper had just wiped the grease off her fingers after devouring the greatest onion rings she’d ever eaten—God, she really had been starving—when Luca’s phone rang.
Glancing at the screen, he said, “It’s Aldo.” He answered immediately, all of them anxious to know what had started the fire.
“Hey, man. What did the inspector find?” Luca listened for a moment, his brows furrowing. “How the hell did that get there?”
Harper exchanged a glance with Conor, who was clearly as confused as she was.
“Of course I didn’t put it there. It’s a construction site. Jesus, I don’t use space heaters anywhere.”
Space heater?
“A squatter?” Luca said, clearly repeating something Aldo had said. “I guess it’s possible. Today was our first break in the weather. It’s been downright cold the last few nights, but there was no indication that someone had broken in when I was working this morning. Was there any sign of forced entry?”
Luca listened for a moment, then sighed. “Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah, thanks for letting me know.” He ended the call. “I guess you guys heard.”
“The fire was caused by a space heater,” Conor clarified.
“And you didn’t put it there,” Harper added.
“I didn’t. Apparently, it was found in the cellar beneath the kitchen. I’ve only been down there once—when we did the initial walk-through on the building a couple of months ago.”
“I haven’t been down there either,” Conor confessed.
Harper considered the cellar. It had been pretty bare bones, the pizza parlor that had owned the building prior to them using it the same way she intended to.
As storage.
It was one of the places they hadn’t intended to do any renovations.
“I only put in a few hours today, knocking off at noon since it’s Saturday and I knew we were meeting later tonight. I wanted to do a full inspection of the wiring, and that’s easier to do when there aren’t a bunch of guys around,” Luca went on to explain. “Didn’t have a chance to check out the cellar below. Didn’t consider it a top priority.”
“Inspection,” Conor said. “Just an inspection?”
Luca smirked. “It took several hours, so I didn’t get around to starting any of the new wiring we’d discussed.”
Conor sighed. “I see.”
“Aldo suggested there might have been a squatter?” Harper asked.
Luca nodded. “He and the fire marshal think that maybe a homeless person had set up a nest down there. No way to tell if there’d been a forced entry because the fire destroyed any evidence of that.”
Conor rubbed his forehead. “There’s not exactly a shortage of homeless people in Philadelphia. It’s probably not a bad guess.”
“Yeah. According to Aldo, Kayden said there’s been a record high as far as break-ins this winter. He said it’s not uncommon for homeless people to seek shelter in abandoned buildings. The pizza parlor’s been closed for a while now, so that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.”
“Maybe not, but you and your crew have also been working there for a week,” Conor pointed out.
Luca grimaced. “True. But, like I said, we haven’t gone down in the cellar and there’s only an outdoor entrance to it. If someone had found a way in, they could be sleeping there at night and hightailing it out before we start work each morning. At least now you know it wasn’t an electrical issue.” Luca gave Conor a pointed look. “As for the other thing…”
Conor rolled his eyes, though there wasn’t any heat behind the expression. “I did not set a fire with a space heater for insurance money or to destroy the Moretti reputation.”
It had been obvious to Harper back at the restaurant, and again now, that Luca hadn’t really believed that either.
“Okay,” Luca drawled. “I believe you.”
Harper wasn’t sure, but it looked like a tentative peace was shifting into place. Or it had. Until she opened her big mouth.
