Chapter 2 - The Husband Who Wasn't in Baltimore
"Tell me the photograph is fake," I said.
Miles looked once, then shut his eyes. That was an answer before he gave one.
"Vivian, listen to me."
"Were you there?"
"Yes."
I felt the entire room tilt. Eight years of grief had been built around a story he helped write.
"You told me you were in Baltimore."
"I was supposed to be. Your father called. He said he'd found something in the pension accounts. He sounded scared."
"My father wasn't scared of anybody."
"That night he was."
We stood so suddenly our chairs scraped the floor. I caught Delaney watching from the far service door. A thickset security guard gripped her elbow.
"Let her go," I called.
The man released her, smiling as if he'd been helping her balance a tray. Miles caught my arm.
"That's Conrad Pike, Voss's security chief. He has keys to places he's not supposed to."
"And you know that how?"
"Because he locked me in a stairwell eight years ago."
I pulled away. "You watched my father die?"
"I heard a crash. When I got out, he was already on the floor. Voss told the police your father had suffered a heart attack. He showed me the medical report."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
His voice broke. "Voss threatened you with a forged letter. I should have told you anyway."
An explanation wasn't forgiveness. I walked toward the elevators, still holding the key.
"Vivian, he wants us separated."
"Then he should've chosen a better secret."
The elevator opened on seventeen. The hallway smelled faintly of paint. Room 1704 was at the end, beyond a folding screen and a sign that said RENOVATION IN PROGRESS. It had been off the booking system since my father's death.
The card flashed green.
Inside, the furniture wore dust covers. The curtains were pinned shut. A mantel clock sat beneath a glass dome, its hands frozen at 11:17.
ASK ABOUT THE CLOCK.
I lifted the dome. A strip of faded red tape sealed the battery compartment. Behind me, the suite door clicked.
"Miles?"
No answer.
May you like
A woman's whisper rose from behind the bedroom wall.
"Mrs. Mercer, don't turn on the lights. They think I'm dead."
