Chapter 10 - The Repair Shop
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Damian wanted an answer immediately.
The detective refused.
“We verify first.”
Damian hated those words.
But he understood them.
Facts mattered now.
Not rage.
Especially if Elena’s death was involved.
Detectives contacted Mason Auto & Fleet Repair.
The business had closed eighteen months earlier.
But the former owner was alive.
His name was Paul Mason.
He agreed to speak.
By two in the morning, investigators had confirmed something unsettling.
Elena’s SUV had been brought to Mason Auto two days before the crash.
Not by Elena.
By a man.
Curtis Bell.
Damian stared at the detective.
“Curtis worked for Celia back then?”
“No.”
Curtis had claimed he met Celia only eight months earlier.
That part was true.
So the Curtis in the repair record wasn’t Celia’s bodyguard.
It was another man with the same surname.
Richard pulled archived employment records.
Then he found it.
Curtis’s older brother.
Raymond Bell.
Former security contractor.
Former boyfriend of Celia Moretti.
Celia closed her eyes.
Damian saw it.
“You knew him.”
“We dated.”
“Did he take Elena’s car?”
“I don’t know.”
Police contacted Raymond.
No answer.
Paul Mason remembered the vehicle because the request had been unusual.
Raymond said the owner complained about brake vibration.
The shop inspected the brakes.
They recommended replacement of one damaged line.
But before the work could be completed, Raymond returned and took the SUV.
“He said the owner needed it immediately,” Mason told detectives by phone.
“Was it safe?”
“I told him not to drive it until the line was replaced.”
The hall went silent.
Damian stared at Celia.
She shook her head.
“No.”
No one had accused her yet.
Still, she said it.
“No.”
The detective leaned forward.
“Did you ask Raymond Bell to take Elena’s SUV from that shop?”
Celia’s voice cracked.
“I asked him to pick it up.”
“Why?”
“Elena was coming home early.”
“Did you know the brake line needed replacement?”
Celia said nothing.
Damian’s hands curled into fists.
Richard touched his shoulder.
“Damian.”
Damian didn’t move.
The detective asked again.
“Did you know?”
Celia looked at her father.
And for the first time in Damian’s life, she seemed to understand that he truly wanted the truth more than he wanted to protect her.
“Yes.”
Lily was asleep upstairs.
The house was silent.
Damian’s voice barely carried.
“You knew her brakes weren’t safe.”
Celia began crying.
“I didn’t think she’d drive in the storm.”
Damian stared at her.
“You gave her the car.”
“I was angry!”
“You gave my daughter a car you knew was unsafe.”
“I didn’t cut the brakes!”
“No one said you did.”
That broke her.
Celia covered her mouth.
And Damian understood.
Maybe the crash had not been planned.
Maybe there was no murder plot.
But Celia had knowingly put Elena in danger.
And Elena had died.
May you like
👉 Celia’s secret wasn’t a calculated murder plan—but the truth she finally admitted could still send her to prison.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
