Chapter 5 - the boy beneath the counter
Deputy Nora Pike arrived with Deputy Samuel Ortiz twelve minutes later.
By then, Margaret had persuaded the resort manager to close the lobby’s inner doors and direct guests toward the beach entrance. She said she wanted to protect Noah’s privacy.
Claire understood the real reason.
Her mother wanted fewer witnesses.
Deputy Pike knelt several feet from Noah.
“My name is Nora. Your mom is staying right here. Can I ask you some questions?”
Noah looked at Claire.
“You can tell her what happened,” Claire said.
Deputy Pike kept her voice gentle.
“Who took you to the pool?”
“Aunt Vanessa.”
“Did your mom know?”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
“I went in the water. Then Aunt Vanessa said Grandma needed her.”
Vanessa interrupted.
“I never said that.”
Deputy Ortiz raised a hand.
“Let him finish.”
Noah squeezed Captain Chomps inside his fist. Claire had found the dinosaur beneath a chair near the lobby elevators. The strip of transparent tape was still across its back.
“Aunt Vanessa told me to wait by the towels,” Noah continued. “She said not to move until she came back.”
“How long did you wait?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anyone speak to you?”
“A man asked if I was lost.”
“What man?”
Noah looked around.
“The hotel man.”
Caleb Ross, the security director, stood near the elevators.
Noah pointed at him.
Caleb’s face changed.
“He told me to go downstairs,” Noah said.
Caleb shook his head.
“I have never spoken to that child.”
Deputy Pike stood.
“Mr. Ross, remain where you are.”
Serena stepped forward.
“I found Noah near the service elevators. Mr. Ross was walking away from that area.”
Caleb glared at her.
“You’re mistaken.”
“I said hello to you.”
“You say hello to everyone.”
“Not everyone tells me to take a lost child to the lower-level office instead of the lobby.”
The resort manager turned toward Caleb.
“You gave that instruction?”
“It is standard procedure.”
“No, it isn’t,” Serena said. “Lost children are brought to the public counter where their guardian can find them.”
Claire held Noah closer.
“What is on the lower level?”
“Administrative offices,” the manager said. “Storage, maintenance, security archives.”
“And no guests,” Claire replied.
Deputy Ortiz began collecting phones.
Margaret refused.
“You have no right to search personal property.”
“We’re asking for voluntary cooperation,” he said.
“Then my answer is no.”
Vanessa immediately placed her phone on the counter.
Claire noticed her hands were shaking.
Deputy Pike looked at Margaret.
“Your grandson’s emergency band was altered to display your number. Resort records show repeated calls to that number while he was missing. We also have a witness who saw a phone being hidden near this counter.”
Margaret looked at Serena.
“She works for us. She is trying to protect her job by creating a story.”
Serena reached beneath the folded towels.
The phone was gone.
Her confidence faltered.
“I saw Vanessa put it there.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
“That’s a lie.”
Claire searched the counter.
There was nothing beneath the towels except a white plastic label.
The label matched the one covering Claire’s number on Noah’s wristband.
Deputy Pike picked it up with a gloved hand.
“Who has access to the resort’s wristband printer?”
The manager answered.
“Guest services and security.”
Caleb looked toward the elevator.
Deputy Ortiz moved into his path.
“Where are you going?”
“To get the access records.”
“You can tell an employee to bring them.”
Margaret checked the time.
“My attorney will be here shortly.”
Claire laughed without humor.
“Your attorney was ready before my son disappeared.”
Henry sat beside Noah.
“I didn’t know,” he said quietly.
Claire looked at him.
“You saw the papers.”
“I thought your mother wanted emergency authority.”
“She wanted a documented lapse in supervision.”
Henry’s eyes filled with shame.
“I never agreed to that.”
“You never disagreed either.”
Margaret’s attorney arrived carrying a briefcase.
The moment he entered, Deputy Pike’s radio sounded.
A technician at the sheriff’s office had located the phone Serena reported missing. The device was still connected to the hotel network.
It was moving upward inside the east elevator.
Deputy Ortiz ran toward the stairs.
The elevator opened on the eleventh floor.
No one was inside.
The phone lay on the carpet.
Its screen was cracked, but a message remained visible.
Leave Noah there until his mother signs the custody papers.
May you like
The sender’s contact name was simply M.
The number was registered to Margaret Bennett.
