Chapter 3 - The Empty Ring Box
Sophie met Celeste Moore at the Grand Briar Hotel the following afternoon.
The ballroom was still being prepared. Workers adjusted chandeliers, polished silverware, and carried white roses through the service entrance.
Celeste stood beside the wedding cake display, speaking rapidly into a headset.
She smiled when she saw Sophie.
“There’s our bride.”
Sophie returned the smile.
“Everything looks beautiful.”
“It will be perfect.”
Celeste touched Sophie’s arm.
“And before you ask, yes, we moved your mother’s table. She’ll be beside the family table.”
“Thank you.”
“Daniel insisted.”
Sophie wondered whether Daniel had truly insisted or whether Celeste had sensed the growing tension.
“Can I see the ring box?”
Celeste’s smile remained, but her eyes changed.
“The ring box?”
“The one for the cake display.”
“Oh. That.”
She removed her headset.
“Preston has it.”
“Why?”
“He said the Hale family jeweler needed to inspect it.”
“It’s a box.”
“A custom box.”
“It belongs to me.”
Celeste glanced toward the workers.
“Perhaps we should discuss this privately.”
They entered a small preparation room beside the ballroom.
Celeste closed the door.
“You need to understand something,” she said. “Preston controls the hotel contract.”
“My mother’s company paid the hotel.”
Celeste’s face emptied.
Sophie had not planned to reveal that.
The words had escaped before she could stop them.
Celeste looked toward the closed door.
“Who told you?”
“So it’s true.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Celeste picked up her headset, then put it down again.
“Sophie, I organize events. I don’t audit the people paying for them.”
“But you accepted money from Halcyon Events.”
“I accepted instructions from Preston.”
“Why did he give you a ring box?”
Celeste lowered her voice.
“He said something would be placed inside it before the ceremony.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I never opened it.”
“Where is it now?”
Celeste hesitated.
“Preston’s private office.”
The office was located one floor above the ballroom.
Sophie had seen it during a planning meeting. Preston used it whenever he visited the hotel, though the Grand Briar supposedly did not belong to him directly.
“Does Daniel know?”
“No.”
“What else doesn’t Daniel know?”
Celeste turned away.
That was answer enough.
Sophie stepped closer.
“Celeste, if you’re involved in stealing from my mother, the next conversation you have won’t be with me.”
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“Then help me.”
“I can’t.”
“Because Preston will fire you?”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“You think losing my job is what scares me?”
She pulled back the sleeve of her jacket.
Around her wrist was a thin plastic hospital band.
“My brother is receiving treatment at a private clinic owned by Hale Capital. Preston arranged it after our insurance refused coverage.”
Sophie’s anger softened.
“He threatened to stop the treatment.”
“He never says it directly. He doesn’t need to.”
Celeste covered the band again.
“He asks for small favors. Change a vendor. Move a meeting. Deliver an envelope. Every favor becomes proof that you helped him.”
“What did you deliver in the ring box?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did you take it?”
“To Charles Hale.”
Daniel’s father.
Sophie felt a cold pressure in her chest.
“What did Charles do with it?”
“He removed a flash drive.”
The same kind of drive Charles would later try to steal from the wedding planner’s laptop.
“Was the box empty afterward?”
“Yes.”
“Then why put it on the wedding cake?”
“Preston said it needed to be visible during the reception.”
“Visible to whom?”
Celeste shook her head.
“He never told me.”
A knock sounded at the preparation-room door.
“Sophie?”
Daniel’s voice.
Celeste stepped away quickly.
Sophie opened the door.
Daniel smiled, then noticed Celeste’s expression.
“Is everything okay?”
“Perfect,” Celeste said too quickly. “We were discussing the ring display.”
Daniel looked at Sophie.
“I thought the ring was staying with the best man.”
“It is.”
“Then what ring display?”
Sophie held his gaze.
Before she could answer, Preston appeared behind him.
He wore a navy suit and the confident smile Sophie had begun to hate.
“There you are,” Preston said. “I was wondering when you would start asking questions.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Preston ignored his brother.
He reached into his pocket and placed the black ring box in Sophie’s hand.
“Try not to lose it.”
Sophie opened the lid.
The box was empty.
Inside the white satin lining, barely visible beneath the crease, someone had written a number in blue ink.
5821.
May you like
Preston watched her notice it.
For the first time, his smile slipped.
