Chapter 10 - Room 1114
Grant wanted to challenge the transfer in court.
Nora wanted to go to Room 1114.
The Halcyon Hotel stood near the river, thirty floors of black glass owned by the company Grant was attempting to acquire.
At three in the morning, the lobby was almost empty.
Daniel remained at the hospital to protect Evelyn and Paige. Rosa accompanied Nora and Grant, insisting she knew more about the old Whitfield household than any security officer.
The key card opened a private elevator.
Room 1114 did not appear on the hotel directory.
The elevator stopped between the eleventh and twelfth floors.
Beyond the doors was a windowless corridor containing a single suite.
Nora used the key.
Inside, the walls were covered with screens.
One displayed live footage from the hospital.
Another showed the Whitfield penthouse.
A third showed Malcolm driving north in a rented vehicle.
The room had been monitoring them all.
Grant crossed to the control desk.
“No active operator.”
Rosa examined a table near the window.
Three place settings had been arranged.
Each plate held an untouched slice of white cake.
Cards rested beside them.
NORA.
GRANT.
ROSA.
“Do not touch anything,” Grant said.
Nora opened the card bearing her name.
You inherited his protection.
Mara inherited his guilt.
Adeline inherited his war.
The screens changed.
A recorded video began playing.
Thomas Hale appeared on the central monitor.
He looked tired and frightened. The timestamp showed that the recording had been made four days before his death.
“Nora,” he said, staring into the camera. “If you are watching this, the first ledger has failed.”
Nora moved closer.
Grant stood beside her.
Thomas continued.
“Adeline believes the hidden accounts can protect the company from governments, competitors and economic collapse. She is wrong. They have become a company within the company, controlled by people who answer to no board.”
He looked away from the camera, as though someone had entered the room.
“I tried to dismantle the network. Instead, I discovered my own authorization codes had been used to build it.”
The footage distorted.
When it returned, Thomas was holding the serpent ring.
“Mara witnessed the first murder. She knows who ordered it. But she does not know who carried it out.”
Nora’s breathing stopped.
“The first murder?” Grant said.
Thomas leaned toward the camera.
“If Adeline survives, she will come for the shares. If Mara survives, she will come for the truth. They are not the same threat.”
The screen went black.
A voice filled the room.
Not Thomas’s.
A woman’s.
“Grant Whitfield, place your hand on the scanner.”
A blue light activated on the desk.
Grant did not move.
The voice continued.
“Refusal will release the remaining anniversary footage with Nora’s fabricated confession.”
Nora looked at the nearby screen.
A video showed her face speaking words she had never said.
I put the compound in the cake because Evelyn deserved to suffer.
The image was perfect.
Even Nora might have believed it.
“Do it,” she told Grant.
“It may copy my authorization.”
“They already have mine.”
Grant placed his hand on the scanner.
A panel opened in the wall.
Inside was a blue leather ledger.
Nora reached for it.
The alarm activated immediately.
The suite doors locked.
Red numbers appeared across every screen.
05:00
04:59
04:58
“What happens when it reaches zero?” Rosa asked.
Grant opened the ledger.
Its pages had been cut away.
A phone rested inside.
It began ringing.
Nora answered.
A woman spoke.
“You took longer than your father.”
“Mara?”
“Sometimes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means names are useful until someone steals them.”
“Did you send the cake?”
“No.”
“Did Adeline?”
“My mother has been dead for nine years.”
“Then who controls her company?”
“That is what Malcolm was supposed to discover.”
“Malcolm poisoned Evelyn and Paige.”
“No. Malcolm was trying to steal the cake before they ate it.”
Nora looked at the screen showing Malcolm’s vehicle.
“Why?”
“Because he knew who made it.”
“Catherine Lowe?”
A soft laugh came through the phone.
“There has never been a Catherine Lowe.”
“Paige met her.”
“Paige met someone wearing a face created from Halcyon’s identity system.”
“Who?”
The timer reached three minutes.
Mara’s voice became serious.
“Grant, tell Nora why you were really in Chicago.”
Nora turned toward her husband.
Grant looked at the phone.
“I was identifying a body.”
“Whose body?” Nora asked.
May you like
Mara answered for him.
“Mine.”
