Chapter 2 - the ballroom doors locked)
Chaos spread faster than Nathan could control.
The instant Owen Pike announced that the cake was poisoned, wedding guests surged toward the ballroom exits.
The doors remained locked.
"Open them."
Marcus Vale grabbed the nearest hotel manager by the arm.
"I'm trying, sir."
"Try faster."
"The electronic system isn't responding."
Nathan barely heard them.
His attention remained on Lily.
"What else did you see?"
Lily wiped her face.
"You said it wasn't the first thing."
The waitress still kneeling beside her introduced herself quietly.
"I'm Elena Briggs. I can stay with her."
Nathan nodded once.
He hated stepping away from Lily, but he needed answers.
"What else did the man touch?"
Lily pointed toward the banquet tables.
"The glasses."
Nathan's blood ran cold.
"Which glasses?"
She looked around.
"There."
Table seven.
Rachel and Marcus's family table.
Nathan moved before anyone could stop him.
"Nobody drink anything."
People stared.
He swept the champagne flutes from the table with both hands.
Glass shattered across the marble.
Rachel stood.
"Nathan, what are you doing?"
"The cake may not be the only thing."
Marcus immediately grabbed Rachel's glass.
She had already taken several sips.
Nathan saw that.
His stomach tightened.
"Rachel, how much did you drink?"
Her face changed.
"Why?"
"How much?"
"Maybe half."
Marcus shouted for a medic.
Rachel grabbed Nathan.
"I'm fine."
"Sit down."
"Nathan."
"Sit down."
Something in his voice made her obey.
Hotel security began pushing guests away from the tables.
Nathan scanned the room.
The suspicious server was nowhere visible.
Owen Pike approached with the white plate containing the strange red capsule.
"I've contacted emergency services."
"The doors are locked."
"I know."
"What kind of poison?"
"I can't confirm anything without laboratory testing."
"But you were certain enough to say poisoned."
Owen looked uncomfortable.
Nathan stepped closer.
"How did you know?"
Before Owen could respond, the lights went out.
The ballroom disappeared into darkness.
Guests screamed.
Lily shouted.
"Daddy."
Nathan turned toward her voice.
Emergency lights activated seconds later, bathing the room in dim amber light.
Elena was still beside Lily.
But Owen Pike was gone.
The plate remained on the floor.
The red capsule was missing.
Nathan stared.
"Where is he?"
A security guard looked around.
"Owen?"
No answer.
Marcus joined Nathan.
"What's happening?"
"The man who identified the poison disappeared."
Marcus swore quietly.
"Nobody leaves."
"Nobody can leave."
Marcus looked toward the locked doors.
"Exactly."
Rachel suddenly made a strange sound behind them.
Nathan turned.
His sister had one hand against her throat.
Marcus caught her before she fell.
"Rachel."
Her champagne glass rolled beneath the table.
Nathan dropped beside her.
"Rachel, look at me."
She tried.
Her breathing became shallow.
Nathan's world narrowed.
"Medic."
Two guests identified themselves as doctors and rushed forward.
One checked Rachel's pulse.
"Call an ambulance now."
"The doors won't open."
"Break them."
Marcus seized a banquet chair and hurled it into a glass panel beside the main entrance.
The reinforced glass barely cracked.
Nathan looked toward the service corridors.
"Kitchen exit."
A hotel manager shook his head.
"Same electronic security network."
Nathan understood then.
This was not merely poisoning.
Someone had planned containment.
Someone wanted whatever happened inside the ballroom to remain inside long enough to matter.
His gaze moved toward the ceiling cameras.
Every camera had turned toward them.
Someone was watching.
Lily suddenly tugged Elena's sleeve.
"The bad man."
Elena followed her gaze.
Across the ballroom, a service door moved.
Just slightly.
Nathan saw it too.
He ran.
The door slammed shut.
Nathan hit it shoulder first.
Locked.
Marcus arrived seconds later.
"Move."
Together they forced the handle until the latch broke.
Beyond it lay a narrow hallway.
Empty.
A black service jacket was lying on the floor.
Nathan picked it up.
No name badge.
No identification.
Only one thing remained inside the pocket.
A photograph.
Nathan pulled it out.
For several seconds he could not understand what he was seeing.
It was a picture of his house.
Taken from across the street.
His front door.
His driveway.
Lily's bedroom window.
On the back was a handwritten date.
Three days earlier.
Marcus stared.
"Why would a hotel employee have a photograph of your house?"
Nathan did not answer.
Because he had finally remembered where he had seen the black stag.
Eighteen months ago.
Among the belongings recovered from Anna's burned car, police had found a small black card.
Nathan had assumed it belonged to a restaurant or business.
A silver stag had been embossed in the center.
He had thrown it into a drawer.
And forgotten it.
Until now.
Behind them Rachel gasped painfully.
Nathan ran back.
May you like
Her eyes were open.
But she could no longer speak.
