Chapter 6 - The Door Behind Me
“Luca?”
Every screen went dark.
Luca reached for his radio.
Nothing.
“No signal.”
A sound came from the hallway.
The elevator.
Ding.
Luca moved toward the door.
“Stay here.”
“Absolutely.”
“Elena.”
“I know this building better than you think.”
The handle moved.
Locked.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
“Hotel engineering.”
Luca looked through the security viewer.
“No uniform.”
Another knock.
“Elena Crosswell?”
My blood went cold.
Nobody called me that.
I whispered, “They’re guessing.”
Luca nodded.
My eyes moved around the room.
Then I remembered something from the hotel’s emergency plans.
“There’s another exit.”
“Where?”
“Behind the equipment rack.”
We moved it enough to expose a narrow maintenance door.
The main door rattled again.
Luca opened the maintenance passage.
“Go.”
“What about Damian?”
“He’ll know.”
“How?”
“Because losing cameras was the signal.”
We descended one flight through the service stairs.
Then footsteps sounded below us.
I stopped.
“Not that way.”
Luca listened.
More footsteps.
We went upward instead.
My phone buzzed.
A text from Damian.
Where are you?
I typed:
North service stairs. Going up.
His reply came immediately.
Roof access. Wait for me.
We reached the upper mechanical floor.
The door opened behind us.
A man appeared at the far end of the corridor.
I recognized him instantly.
“Voss.”
He stopped.
“So you really do remember everybody.”
Luca moved between us.
Voss raised both hands.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
“Then why are you here?” I demanded.
“To get out.”
“What?”
“Mercer’s finished. He knows it.”
Luca didn’t lower his guard.
Voss continued.
“He’s blaming everyone. Nolan. Marissa. Me.”
“Where’s Marissa?” I asked.
“Gone.”
“Gone where?”
“She left Boston this morning.”
“Why should we believe you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
At least that was honest.
Voss pulled a flash drive from his pocket and placed it carefully on a metal cabinet.
“That contains Mercer’s payments to Nolan, Marissa, and hotel employees.”
“Nolan was coerced,” I said.
“I know.”
“Then why are there payments?”
“To make it look voluntary if anyone investigated.”
Smart.
Ugly.
Exactly the kind of detail that could ruin someone innocent.
“Why give this to us?” Luca asked.
Voss laughed bitterly.
“Because Mercer just told two men downstairs that I’m responsible for everything.”
Suddenly another door opened.
Damian appeared.
Two of his security men followed him.
His eyes found me first.
Not Voss.
Not Luca.
Me.
“Elena.”
“I’m fine.”
Only then did he look at Voss.
Voss nodded toward the drive.
“Everything’s there.”
Damian picked it up.
“You expect to walk away?”
“I expect nothing.”
Damian studied him for several seconds.
Then he looked at Luca.
“Get Elena downstairs.”
“No,” I said.
Damian closed his eyes briefly.
“What now?”
“I’m tired of people deciding things around me.”
“This isn’t the time.”
“It’s exactly the time.”
I walked closer.
“You brought me into this because I notice people. So listen to me now.”
He did.
“Voss is scared.”
“I can see that.”
“He’s also telling the truth about something.”
“How do you know?”
“Because when he lied at Crosswell six months ago, he wouldn’t look at me. Right now he won’t stop looking at you.”
Voss blinked.
Damian stared at him.
Then Damian’s phone rang.
Luca answered his own radio at the same moment.
The building’s communications had returned.
“Boss,” Luca said. “Mercer’s trying to leave.”
Damian turned.
“Let him.”
Everyone stared at him.
Luca frowned. “What?”
“Let him walk through the lobby.”
“Why?”
Damian’s expression became almost amused.
“Because federal investigators are waiting outside.”
I blinked.
“You called federal investigators?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
He looked at the flash drive.
“Nolan.”
Downstairs, Mercer stepped through the Harbor Crown’s revolving doors.
May you like
He didn’t get farther than the sidewalk.
And for the first time since the crimson dress had started all of this, Damian Cross smiled.
