Chapter 5 - The Man Behind the Mirror
Marcus reached the door before it shut.
He forced his shoulder into the gap while Matthew pulled from the other side. The unseen person released the handle and ran.
Marcus chased the footsteps up the staircase.
Elena and Matthew remained in the records room.
“Do not move,” Matthew said.
“You do not get to order me.”
“The floor may be wired.”
Elena froze.
Matthew crouched and studied the tiles.
A faint line of dust had been disturbed near the desk.
He followed it to a wall mirror.
Behind the glass, they found a small digital camera transmitting a live feed.
Isabel had been watching.
Matthew removed his jacket and covered the lens.
“We need to leave.”
“What about the ledger?”
“It is a decoy.”
“You cannot know that.”
“Daniel would not connect evidence to an obvious alarm.”
Elena examined the desk.
Her father had used the room before the hotel closed. A photograph showed him standing with the original staff.
The frame was slightly crooked.
Elena lifted it.
Behind it was a handwritten note.
THE BOOK TELLS YOU WHERE TO LOOK. THE NUMBERS TELL YOU WHEN.
She showed Matthew.
He carefully disconnected the alarm wire and opened the ledger.
Most of the pages contained ordinary hotel records from twenty years earlier.
Room numbers.
Dates.
Guest initials.
Payments.
Elena turned the pages.
“Daniel must have added something.”
Matthew pointed toward several entries marked with red ink.
Room 914.
Room 508.
Room 1207.
Beside each number was a date from the months before Alejandro Vargas died.
“These are not old records,” Elena said.
Matthew photographed the pages.
Marcus returned alone.
“Whoever locked the door knew the tunnels. I lost them near the loading dock.”
“Did they leave by car?” Matthew asked.
“No. They may still be inside.”
A metallic sound echoed above them.
Then the hotel’s emergency lights turned on.
Elena stared upward.
“The building has no electricity.”
Matthew closed the ledger.
“Someone activated the old generator.”
A voice came through the ballroom speakers.
“Elena.”
Isabel’s voice filled the abandoned hotel.
“You were always too curious.”
Elena’s hands became cold.
Matthew looked for the nearest speaker.
Isabel continued.
“Your father had the same weakness.”
“What did you do to him?” Elena shouted.
The speakers crackled.
“I protected what he built.”
“You stole it.”
“I saved it from people who believed kindness was a business strategy.”
Matthew moved toward the stairs.
Isabel’s voice sharpened.
“Do not move, Matthew.”
He stopped.
“You see, Elena, he still obeys when he recognizes my tone.”
Elena looked at him.
A section of the wall beside the mirror lit up.
It was not a wall.
It was one-way glass.
A hidden room existed on the other side.
A man stood behind it.
Daniel Cross.
He was alive.
His hands were free, but his face showed exhaustion and fear.
“Daniel!” Elena rushed toward the glass.
He shook his head urgently.
A red light appeared above the door.
Matthew grabbed Elena and pulled her back.
A metal security shutter dropped between them and Daniel.
May you like
The speakers went silent.
Then smoke began pouring from the ventilation grate.
