Chapter 2 - The Promise Daniel Broke
Daniel contacted hotel security without explaining the entire situation.
He told them that an eight-year-old boy named Noah Vale might be somewhere inside the building with his mother. He instructed them to search public areas and employee corridors without causing panic among the wedding guests.
Claire stood beside him while he made the call.
“You’re still hiding something,” she said when he finished.
Daniel leaned against the desk.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me now.”
For months, Claire had imagined this room differently. Daniel would be nervous. His father would enter with an old family watch. Friends would make jokes. Someone would open champagne.
Instead, her future husband stood before her with a bloodstained charm in his palm.
“Adrian didn’t come to me because I was his friend,” Daniel said. “He came because he believed my father was involved.”
Claire felt the floor shift beneath her.
“Theodore?”
“He was chairman of the charitable trust whose accounts Adrian was auditing.”
“Did your father steal from it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve had two years to find out.”
“I confronted him. He denied everything. Three days later, Adrian vanished.”
“And you let it end there?”
“No.”
Daniel crossed to a locked case beside the bed. From beneath folded clothes, he removed a thin black notebook.
“Adrian mailed this to me the morning he disappeared.”
The pages were filled with numbers, company names, dates, and abbreviated initials. Some entries had been circled in red.
V.V.
T.M.
R.H.
Claire recognized Theodore Mercer’s initials.
“Who is R.H.?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you take this to the police?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“The detective assigned to the case died in a car accident before he could submit it as evidence. The notebook disappeared from the evidence room two days later.”
“But you have it.”
“This is a copy.”
Claire stared at him.
“You made a copy before going to the police.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of your father?”
“Of everyone.”
A knock sounded.
Daniel quickly returned the notebook to the case.
His best man, Julian Cross, entered. He wore a black tuxedo and an irritated expression.
“The ballroom is filling,” Julian said. “Your father wants to know why you canceled photographs.”
Daniel studied him.
“Have you seen Vanessa Vale?”
Julian’s expression did not change, but he paused for half a second.
Claire noticed.
“No,” Julian said.
“You know who she is?”
“You mentioned her once.”
“I never mentioned her to you.”
The silence became sharp.
Julian closed the door.
“You need to stop this.”
“Stop what?”
“Dragging old accusations into your wedding day.”
Claire moved closer to Daniel.
“How do you know about the accusations?”
Julian looked at her, then back at Daniel.
“Your father told me.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“My father knew Vanessa was here?”
“I don’t know what he knew. He asked me to keep you focused.”
“Focused on marrying Claire while a missing child might be bleeding inside his hotel?”
Julian lowered his voice.
“This hotel is full of diplomats, investors, reporters, and half the board. If you announce that the son of a missing financial investigator may have been attacked, you will destroy more than your wedding.”
Daniel stepped toward him.
“Find Noah.”
“I’m not hotel security.”
“You are head of risk management for Mercer International.”
“I manage corporate threats.”
“A frightened child is not a threat.”
“No,” Julian replied. “But what he knows might be.”
Claire saw the instant regret in his eyes.
Daniel grabbed his lapel.
“What does Noah know?”
Julian pulled free.
“You should ask your father.”
He left before Daniel could stop him.
Claire hurried after him, but by the time she reached the corridor, Julian had entered an elevator.
The doors closed.
Daniel called his father.
No answer.
He called again.
Theodore’s assistant picked up.
“Mr. Mercer is meeting with members of the board.”
“Interrupt him.”
“I have been instructed not to.”
Daniel ended the call.
Claire examined the bronze charm.
It was heavier than it looked. One side of the horse had a small dent near the hind leg. A dark substance remained trapped in the groove.
Blood, she thought.
A child screamed somewhere below them.
Claire and Daniel ran to the stairwell.
They found a hotel housekeeper on the landing between the twenty-ninth and thirtieth floors. She was crouched beside a service cart, trembling.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
“A boy,” the housekeeper said. “He ran past me. His shirt was torn. A woman chased him.”
“Which direction?”
“Upstairs.”
Daniel looked toward the upper stairwell.
“The roof.”
The housekeeper caught Claire’s wrist.
“Doctor, wait.”
May you like
“What?”
“The woman wasn’t alone.”
