Chapter 9 - The Locked Floor
Daniel put Crowe on speaker.
“Say that again.”
“I said you should stop pretending you’re in control.”
Daniel scanned the hallway.
Security guards moved toward the elevators.
Crowe continued, “You built your life around protecting those children. That makes you predictable.”
“And threatening them makes you stupid.”
“Threatening? No. I’m trying to protect Sarah’s legacy from a man who buried her wishes.”
Daniel’s hand tightened.
“Sarah’s wishes were written in her will.”
“Not all of them.”
The line went dead.
Nathan looked at Daniel. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel rushed from the suite.
“Emma and Noah are gone again.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Rachel held up both hands. “Not like before. Security moved them to the executive floor. Two guards went with them.”
Daniel exhaled once.
Then one of the guards called.
“Mr. Mercer, we have a problem.”
The executive floor had gone into lockdown.
Elevators would not open.
Key cards failed.
Fire doors had magnetically sealed.
Someone had accessed the hotel’s building system.
Daniel stared at the elevator numbers above the doors.
His children were on twenty-two.
He was on seven.
A hotel engineer sprinted toward the stairwell.
“We can override it manually from the mechanical room.”
Daniel grabbed his arm. “How long?”
“Five minutes.”
“Too long.”
He ran for the stairs.
Grant followed.
Daniel looked back. “Stay with Vanessa.”
Grant shook his head. “Crowe used my name to get into this family. I’m coming.”
They climbed hard.
On the twentieth floor, Daniel’s legs burned and the sedative made the walls tilt slightly.
Grant grabbed his elbow.
“You’re not okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re drugged.”
“My kids are upstairs.”
They reached twenty-two.
The door opened.
The hallway was empty.
One security guard lay unconscious beside the elevator.
The other was missing.
At the far end of the hall, Emma’s cream dress disappeared around a corner.
May you like
Daniel shouted her name.
A man’s hand reached out and yanked her out of sight.
