Chapter 13 - The Staff Who Wouldn't Bow
By midnight, Celeste had ordered Marisol's badge deactivated, threatened three banquet workers with dismissal, and sent a letter telling the entire housekeeping department not to speak to reporters.
In the employee cafeteria, Eddie the head waiter stood on a chair. "We have spent our lives making sure nobody sees us. Well, tonight they see us. Anybody who wants to tell the truth, come with me."
Sixteen people stood. Then twenty-four. Even Frank from the loading dock came in with his coat over his arm.
Marisol hadn't planned a rebellion. She wanted her father home. But when the workers gathered around her, she understood that those wishes had never been separate.
"You could lose your jobs," she told them.
"We're already losing our rooms," said a dishwasher named Tasha. "What have we got left to protect?"
Adrian walked in carrying a stack of old payroll schedules. The room went silent. He set them on a table. "I checked the housing deductions. My office approved fees that were never explained. They stop now, and anyone who was overcharged will be reimbursed after an independent audit."
"You think a refund fixes nine years?" Eddie asked.
"No," Adrian said. "I think it's the first bill I should pay."
Iris watched from the door. Marisol unfolded another piece of her father's letter. The back contained a crude map of the old Saint Alder stairwell and a handwritten X beneath the loading dock office.
"Dad wrote this on the day they convicted him," she said. "He knew something was hidden there."
Owen nodded slowly. "Rosa had a canvas work bag. She never took it home that week."
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They started toward the old wing with Victor and an officer escorting them. At the first turn, Iris saw black shoe marks across the dusty tile. Fresh marks.
Someone had reached the stairwell before them.
