Chapter 17 - The Woman in Red
The hotel locked down every exit.
Rafael was nearly impossible to restrain.
"That is my wife."
"I know," the detective said. "And running through the building alone will not help us find her."
Camila stared at the blue sugar rose sealed inside an evidence bag.
It was from her cake.
Not from the damaged flowers on the floor.
This one had been taken cleanly from the back of the second tier.
"Whoever took her stood at the cake after we left," Camila said.
Nolan pulled ballroom footage.
At 9:17 p.m., Elena spoke with guests near the dance floor.
At 9:19, a hotel server approached and whispered in her ear.
Elena followed.
The server's face was turned away.
"Uniform number?" Nolan asked.
Mateo zoomed in.
No number.
The jacket was fake.
At 9:22, Elena and the fake server entered a service elevator.
The camera inside was offline.
Camila watched the footage again.
Elena did not look frightened.
She looked angry.
"She knew the person," Camila said.
Rafael leaned closer.
The fake server lifted one hand near the elevator.
A gold watch flashed under the cuff.
Victoria gasped.
"I know that watch."
Everyone looked at her.
"My uncle Adrian."
Rafael shut his eyes.
Adrian Salazar was Daniel's younger brother. He managed the family's hotel investments in Houston and had arrived late to the party.
No one had noticed he was now missing.
"Why would Adrian take Grandma?" Victoria whispered.
Rafael answered quietly. "Because if Daniel built this scheme, Adrian helped him move properties."
Police traced Adrian's phone to the underground loading garage.
Camila went with them despite every instruction to stay behind.
At the far end, an armored family SUV idled near a service gate.
The driver's door was open.
Inside, no one.
On the passenger seat lay Elena's red shawl.
Rafael grabbed it with shaking hands.
Then Camila heard a muffled sound from the refrigerated delivery room.
They rushed over.
The door was locked from outside.
Security cut it open.
Elena stood inside, shivering but upright, holding a fire extinguisher like a weapon.
On the floor beside her, Adrian Salazar groaned with a bleeding nose.
Rafael stared.
Elena lifted her chin. "He should know better than to turn his back on a woman he locked in a room with a fire extinguisher."
Camila laughed from pure relief.
Rafael wrapped his wife in his jacket.
Adrian was handcuffed.
A detective asked, "Where's the recording?"
Elena looked at Camila.
"I never kept it in the hotel."
"Where is it?"
Elena smiled faintly.
"Inside the one place Daniel would never think to look."
She pointed toward the ballroom.
"Camila's cake."
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