Chapter 9 - Nine Floors Above the Lobby
"Nobody touches 904," I said.
Audrey stared at the order. "It has a maintenance authorization."
"A fake account also authorized my removal. Don't you see the pattern?"
The responding officer, Detective Lena Brooks, listened without interrupting while I explained the threat, the missing housekeeper and the suspicious payment. She asked for the original messages, not just my interpretation. That made me trust her.
"We have to establish who sent these," she said. "And we'll check on Rosa immediately."
Mateo pulled up hallway footage on his authorized security terminal. The feed showed Rosa rounding a corner with her cart, followed by a man in a hotel maintenance jacket. Then the image froze for eleven minutes.
"That camera was functioning an hour ago," Mateo said.
"Can you recover it?" Lena asked.
"Maybe from the local recorder."
Audrey's phone rang. MARTIN VALE glowed on her screen. She declined the call.
"Answer next time," Lena said. "Do not tell him what we've found without my approval."
We moved to the ninth floor with hotel security and the police. I left Lily with Evelyn in a secure guest lounge; Mateo had arranged for a female guard to remain at the door. I didn't want my daughter anywhere near the suite until the building was secure.
At the end of the corridor, a housekeeping supervisor waited beside 904. Two men in blue work jackets were trying to wheel out a locked trunk.
"Set that down," Lena ordered.
One man bolted toward the stairwell. The other froze with both hands on the handle.
May you like
The trunk shifted as though something inside had struck its lid.
And from behind the bedroom wall came three deliberate knocks.
