Chapter 5 - The Name They Tried to Steal
Audrey stopped in front of me, eyes fixed on the roses rather than Lily.
"Nobody here has claimed to be anyone," I said. "I gave my name for a reservation."
"Our ownership office has confirmed you're not authorized to use that name at this property."
"Who in the ownership office?"
She hesitated. "Operations."
"Martin Vale?"
Her shoulders went rigid.
"Please don't make this uglier," she said. "We can arrange a car to a budget property."
"I don't want a car. I want the room I paid for."
"No money has changed hands."
I turned the phone to show my booking confirmation. Audrey wouldn't look at it.
Lily lifted her head. "Why won't they let us stay?"
The question landed harder than Patrick's insult. I could argue with a receptionist. I could investigate a fraudulent account. I could not make my child understand why adults were behaving as though her mother's quiet voice didn't count.
"They have something wrong in their computer," I told her. "We'll fix it."
Audrey's expression softened for half a second. "I'm sorry the child is involved."
"Then stop involving her."
Evelyn spoke up. "I am willing to give this family my suite tonight."
"That would violate our transfer rules," Audrey said.
"You've had an answer for everything except being decent," Evelyn replied.
My phone buzzed again. Naomi had sent a screenshot from our corporate authentication log. Someone had used an inactive legacy account to issue the trespass order. The username was D.VANCE_ADMIN.
Daniel's old credentials had supposedly been destroyed when he died.
I felt a coldness I hadn't felt since the day the hospital called.
May you like
"Audrey," I said slowly, "who still has access to Daniel Vance's account?"
She looked genuinely frightened. "How do you know that name?"
