Chapter 6 - Room 317
Emily ignored him.
She arrived at the Ravenwood just before sunset.
The hotel was expensive and quiet.
The clerk at the front desk looked at her identification.
“Room 317?”
“Yes.”
“That room hasn't been occupied in eleven months.”
Emily's heart stopped.
“Who booked it?”
The clerk checked the computer.
“Daniel Parker.”
Emily swallowed.
“When?”
The clerk looked at the screen.
“November 12.”
Two days before the date on Daniel's death certificate.
Emily took the key.
She walked upstairs.
The hallway smelled faintly of cedar.
Room 317 was at the end.
She inserted the key.
The door opened.
The room looked untouched.
A suitcase sat beside the bed.
A black coat hung over a chair.
On the desk was a laptop.
Emily walked toward it.
The screen was already on.
A video file waited.
The title was simple.
FOR EMILY.
Her hand trembled.
She clicked it.
Daniel appeared on the screen.
He looked tired.
But alive.
Emily covered her mouth.
“Emily,” he said in the recording, “if you're watching this, something went wrong.”
She began crying.
“I need you to know that I never abandoned you.”
The video paused.
A loading symbol appeared.
Then the screen went black.
Emily hit the keyboard.
“Come on.”
A message appeared.
ACCESS REVOKED.
Then the hotel lights went out.
Emily froze.
Someone knocked on the door.
Three times.
She stepped backward.
Another knock.
“Emily?”
She knew that voice.
Richard.
She opened the door.
Her father stood there.
His face was pale.
“What are you doing here?”
Richard looked past her.
“Did you watch it?”
“What?”
“The video.”
Emily stared.
“How do you know about the video?”
Richard did not answer.
Instead, he whispered,
“Because I recorded it.”
Emily stepped backward.
“You?”
Richard entered the room.
“I helped Daniel disappear.”
Emily stared at him.
“Why?”
Richard looked toward the dark window.
“Because someone was trying to kill him.”
“Who?”
Richard's voice cracked.
“I don't know.”
Emily stared at her father.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Richard reached into his coat.
He removed an old envelope.
Inside was a passport.
Daniel Parker.
Different photograph.
Different signature.
Emily stared.
Richard said,
May you like
“Your husband has been alive this entire time.”
Then the door slammed shut behind them.
