Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT BEFORE SUNSET
Celeste refused to say anything more in the elevator.
Fear had opened the door, but self-preservation closed it again.
She claimed she had misunderstood Grant’s conversation and insisted that Sunset Atlas was probably the name of an investment project. Then she left the hotel through a staff corridor and did not return to her room.
Evelyn took the diamond bracelet and went directly to Officer Ruiz.
They met in the resort’s security control room, where every hallway, terrace, elevator, and dock could be observed.
Ruiz listened without interruption.
“Celeste may be preparing to cooperate,” the officer said.
“Or she is trying to convince me she is less involved than Grant.”
“Both can be true.”
“Can we arrest them now?”
“Not yet.”
Evelyn looked at the surveillance screen showing Grant entering Room 711.
“He has the authority document.”
“We need him to use it.”
“And if Atlas removes him first?”
Ruiz zoomed in on the corridor.
“We are monitoring every exit.”
“The yacht?”
“Disabled.”
“The airport?”
“Watched.”
“The mountain road?”
“Covered.”
Evelyn looked toward the screen displaying the private dock.
The black yacht remained tied in place.
A gray-suited crew member stood near the stern.
“Who is that?”
Ruiz enlarged the image.
The man turned slightly, but a hat concealed most of his face.
“I don’t know,” Ruiz said.
“I’ve seen him before.”
“Where?”
Evelyn thought of the photograph beside her father.
“I’m not sure.”
She was no longer willing to reveal every detail. Someone continued to anticipate their movements, and the anonymous source still warned her not to trust Adrian.
Nadia entered the control room carrying a laptop.
“Grant has opened the controlled archive.”
The screen showed activity from Room 711.
Grant downloaded acquisition records, property deeds, and investor agreements. He then accessed the marked version of the Hart family trust summary.
“He’s searching for something specific,” Nadia said.
“What?”
“Documents from the final year of your father’s life.”
Evelyn leaned closer.
Grant opened folders connected to private security payments, mountain properties, and a confidential project labeled Aster House.
“Aster House,” she repeated.
Nadia searched the company database.
“No active property under that name.”
Adrian entered behind her.
“There used to be.”
Everyone turned.
He closed the door.
“Aster House was a private residence owned by Charles through a separate trust.”
“Where?”
“Bellhaven Island.”
Evelyn had never heard of it.
“Why was it hidden?”
“Your father ordered the file sealed.”
“You knew?”
“I prepared the trust.”
The anonymous warning returned to Evelyn’s mind.
Do not trust the attorney.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Charles instructed me not to reveal the property unless someone attempted to access the sealed archive.”
“Grant is attempting now.”
“Yes.”
“What is on Bellhaven Island?”
Adrian looked toward Ruiz.
“I don’t know.”
“You created the trust.”
“I handled the ownership documents, not the property itself.”
Nadia’s laptop sounded an alert.
Grant had initiated a transfer of twelve million dollars from the controlled development account.
The money moved into the monitored bank.
Ruiz checked her phone.
“We have the financial action.”
“Is that enough?” Evelyn asked.
“For attempted theft and use of forged documents, yes. But he still has not uploaded the company files.”
On the screen, Grant attached the marked archive to an encrypted message.
The recipient was Sunset Atlas.
Before he could send it, another person entered Room 711.
Arthur Bell.
They could not hear the conversation, but the body language was clear.
Arthur was angry.
Grant pointed toward the computer. Arthur shook his head. Grant held up the power of attorney document and struck the desk with one hand.
Arthur moved close and said something that caused Grant to step backward.
Then Arthur removed a small object from his pocket.
A flash drive.
He inserted it into the laptop.
The controlled archive disappeared from the screen.
Nadia stared at her system.
“They’re deleting the files.”
“Can you stop them?” Ruiz asked.
“No. The drive is wiping the computer locally.”
Grant grabbed Arthur’s arm.
Arthur pulled away and pointed toward the balcony.
Grant looked frightened.
The gray-suited man from the yacht was standing outside Room 711.
No security camera showed him entering the hotel.
He had simply appeared.
The man opened the balcony door.
Grant and Arthur became silent.
Then the security feeds went black.
Every screen in the control room lost its image simultaneously.
Nadia tried restoring the system.
“Someone has taken control of the network.”
Ruiz contacted her officers.
No one answered.
The hotel lights flickered.
Evelyn’s phone vibrated.
The anonymous number had sent a final message.
Leave the resort before midnight.
After that, I cannot protect you.
The power returned.
Security feeds reappeared.
Room 711 was empty.
Grant, Arthur, and the gray-suited man had vanished.
Ruiz opened the control room door.
“We begin a full search.”
Evelyn looked at the clock.
11:43 p.m.
Seventeen minutes until midnight.
She should have left.
Instead, she went to Room 711.
The door stood open.
The laptop was gone. The folders were gone. Even the hotel security photographs had been removed.
Only one object remained on the bed.
Grant’s wedding ring.
Beneath it was a handwritten note.
Evelyn recognized the writing immediately.
May you like
It belonged to her father.
Do not let them take you to Bellhaven.
