Chapter 5 - Room 1812)
Daniel called the number back.
Disconnected.
He tried again.
Nothing.
He stood in Michael’s suite trying to decide whether anger or fear was stronger.
Emily was alive.
That mattered most.
But she was hiding.
And she had named Thomas.
Daniel left the room and took the stairs instead of the elevator.
He needed somewhere private.
He needed time.
He had neither.
His phone showed 2:18 p.m.
The ceremony was scheduled for four.
More than two hundred guests were already arriving downstairs.
Rebecca was dressed.
The ballroom was ready.
And somewhere inside the hotel or beyond it, people believed Daniel was still walking toward a trap.
He called Emily again.
No answer.
Then a text appeared from an unknown number.
1812.
Nothing else.
Daniel looked at the floor numbers.
He was on twelve.
He took the service elevator to eighteen.
Room 1812 stood near the end of a quiet corridor.
Daniel knocked softly.
No answer.
He knocked again.
“Emily?”
Silence.
The handle turned.
Daniel pushed the door open.
The room was empty.
Curtains were closed.
A lamp glowed beside the bed.
On the floor near the window lay a cream blazer.
Emily’s blazer.
Daniel picked it up.
One sleeve had dried blood near the cuff.
Not much.
Enough.
“Emily?”
No response.
The bathroom was empty.
The closet too.
Then Daniel noticed the television.
A small red light blinked beneath it.
He approached.
A phone had been propped against a lamp and connected to a charger.
The screen displayed a video waiting to play.
Daniel pressed it.
Emily appeared.
She was sitting in that exact room.
A small bandage covered her forehead.
“Dad, if you found this, I had to move again.”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
Emily continued.
“I can’t use my phone. I don’t know who has access to your accounts, your security system, or your location.”
She touched the bandage.
“I’m okay. Noah is safe as long as he’s with you.”
Daniel whispered, “He is.”
As if she could hear him, Emily continued.
“Last night Rebecca found me in your kitchen. I had already copied the documents. I thought I could confront her and scare her into leaving.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That was stupid.”
Daniel sat on the bed.
“She attacked me. I fell. I remember her taking my phone and looking for the USB. She didn’t know Noah had come downstairs because he heard us arguing.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“He was hiding behind the pantry door.”
The kitchen video had not shown the pantry.
Emily took a breath.
“When Rebecca left the room for a second, Noah crawled to me. I gave him the USB. I told him to hide it in his suit because Rebecca knew he was supposed to wear it today.”
Daniel pictured the three-year-old doing exactly that.
“Then I told him that if Mommy went away, he had to give it to Grandpa.”
Emily looked down.
“I hate that I made him carry this.”
Daniel touched the screen.
“Rebecca came back with somebody.”
Daniel froze.
“I couldn’t see him clearly. A man. I heard his voice.”
Emily swallowed.
“I think it was Thomas.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“They put me into a car. I pretended I was more confused than I was. At a stoplight, I opened the back door and ran.”
She gave a humorless laugh.
“I made it about two blocks before I collapsed. Somebody called an ambulance.”
Daniel already knew the rest.
“At the hospital, I realized Rebecca still had my phone. She could see who I called. She could possibly track Noah through the family account.”
Emily leaned closer to the camera.
“So I left.”
Daniel whispered, “Where?”
“I’m trying to reach Samuel Price. Dad, Samuel told me something yesterday. Something about Mom.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Catherine.
“He said Mom changed the family trust six months before she died.”
Daniel frowned.
That was impossible.
He had signed the final amendment with Catherine.
Hadn’t he?
Emily continued.
“Samuel said Mom added a private protective clause. He refused to explain it over the phone.”
The hallway outside room 1812 creaked.
Daniel paused the video.
He listened.
Footsteps.
He turned off the lamp and moved beside the door.
The handle slowly depressed.
Someone entered.
Daniel grabbed the man by the jacket and slammed him against the wall.
“Jesus!”
The man dropped a keycard.
Daniel recognized him.
It was the Grand Marlowe’s security director, Marcus Bell.
“Mr. Arden.”
“What are you doing here?”
Marcus raised his hands.
“Your daughter told me to come.”
Daniel released him slightly.
“You’ve seen Emily?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Where is she?”
“She asked me not to tell anyone.”
“I’m her father.”
“She specifically said not to tell you unless you answered a question.”
Daniel stared.
“What question?”
Marcus reached into his pocket.
Daniel tensed.
The security director slowly removed a folded piece of paper.
He read from it.
“What did Catherine call the cabin where Emily learned to swim?”
Daniel’s confusion lasted only a second.
“Bluebird.”
Marcus exhaled.
“Okay.”
“Where is Emily?”
“Still in the hotel.”
“Where?”
“I moved her into an employee office on seventeen.”
Daniel headed for the door.
Marcus caught his arm.
“Wait.”
Daniel looked back.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Somebody accessed hotel security this morning using an administrator credential.”
“Who?”
“We’re checking.”
“What did they do?”
“They deleted footage from the loading dock between midnight and two a.m.”
Daniel remembered Emily saying she had been put into a car.
“Can it be recovered?”
“Maybe.”
“Do it.”
“I already started.”
Daniel turned toward the door again.
Marcus said, “There’s something else.”
Daniel stopped.
“Someone also searched our camera system for one guest repeatedly.”
“Who?”
Marcus looked directly at him.
“Noah.”
Daniel felt the room tilt.
“Where is he now?”
“With Thomas.”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
Thomas did not answer.
Daniel called again.
May you like
Nothing.
He ran.
