Chapter 4 - Thirty-Nine Missing Days
Adrian left Poppy with his sister, Beth, who had brought a casserole because she never trusted wedding food. Beth wrapped the girl in her coat and promised to stay beside her.
"If Simone comes near her, I call you and then I call the police," Beth said.
"Reverse the order," Adrian answered.
Outside, rain struck the loading dock. A black van idled beside the dumpster. Kent Rusk was standing behind it, speaking to someone inside.
"Turn the engine off," Adrian shouted.
Kent faced him without surprise. "Private deliveries, sir. Go back to your guests."
"You took the security recordings."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Adrian saw a black equipment case near Kent's shoes. A hotel inventory sticker identified it as a digital recorder. He reached for it. Kent struck his forearm away and stepped between Adrian and the van.
"Don't make a mistake," Kent said.
"I made one when I let you near my family."
A catering cart rolled through the doorway, pushed by Nina with unnecessary force. Its corner clipped the van's bumper. While Kent cursed and turned toward her, Adrian pulled out his phone and photographed the license plate. The van lurched into traffic before he could stop it.
Nina swallowed hard. "There's an old camera over the dock. Separate system. The hotel used to be a bank. My uncle maintains it."
"Can you reach him?"
"If he hasn't been fired already."
Adrian stepped beneath the awning and called Elise's mother in Cleveland. She answered with the same desperate question she always asked: had there been news?
"Maybe," he said. "Did Elise tell you why she was frightened before she vanished?"
"She told me something strange. She said a charity that was supposed to help children had been stealing from them. She mentioned Simone's name."
Adrian shut his eyes. Simone directed the Morrow House Fund, a nonprofit that financed after-school programs. He'd donated building materials and signed sponsorship letters at her request.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did, Adrian. Four weeks ago. You said Simone had already explained it."
He remembered the conversation. He had been tired. Simone had been beside him, listening.
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The worst part was that Elise's mother was telling the truth.
Then Adrian noticed a small bloodstain on his sleeve. It wasn't his. It had come from the silver button he'd picked out of the service-lift track.
