Chapter 3 - The Service Elevator

The wedding guests broke into nervous clusters as Claire walked toward the kitchen. Adrian followed, furious but suddenly careful about raising his voice.

"You're making a scene," he hissed.

"You did that when you threw a plate at my feet."

Behind Claire, an elderly cousin called out that brides should never argue with their husbands on the wedding day. Claire turned long enough to answer, "Then husbands should stop doing things worth arguing about." The cousin recoiled. Nina, the young server, caught Claire's eye with an almost invisible nod. Claire remembered Nina delivering water to the bridal suite hours earlier, then quietly asking whether she wanted to speak to someone from security. At the time, Claire assumed it was a question about a drunk guest. Now she wondered how long the staff had known that something terrible was happening behind the polished doors.

The service hall smelled of rosemary and industrial cleanser. At its end, a red emergency light flashed above the freight elevator. A young server named Nina was pressing the call button.

"I heard pounding," Nina said. "Then somebody told me to get away."

"Who?" Claire asked.

Nina glanced at Adrian. "One of the security men."

Adrian reached for his phone. "I'll call maintenance."

Claire called 911 instead.

"You're calling the police at our wedding?" Adrian asked.

"Someone may be trapped."

A muffled thump came from behind the steel doors. Then a voice, thin with panic: "Don't let them open it from below!"

Claire crouched beside the seam. "Lucy? Is that you?"

"Claire? Listen. The papers in your room aren't wedding paperwork. Don't sign anything."

Footsteps pounded behind them. Two security guards appeared, wearing identical dark suits and earpieces. The taller one, Grant, carried a coil of heavy cable.

"Step aside," he said.

"Emergency services are coming," Claire answered.

Grant glanced at Adrian. Adrian gave the smallest nod.

Nina saw it too. She slipped a loose metal serving cart into Grant's path. It crashed against his shoes, buying Claire enough time to move to the fire exit.

"There's a key in Lucy's purse," Claire called. "Tag 414. What does it open?"

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From inside the elevator, Lucy began sobbing.

"A locker," she said. "But if Eleanor finds what's inside, she won't let either of us leave here alive."