Chapter 2 - THE FILE WITH RICHARD HALE'S SIGNATUREThe next morning, Maya arrived before sunrise.
The Halcyon Grand looked completely different at five-thirty.
Without the chandeliers glowing and guests moving through the lobby, the hotel became what it truly was.
A machine.
Laundry carts rolled through service corridors.
Kitchen staff prepared breakfast.
Engineers checked boilers.
Housekeepers moved silently from floor to floor.
Maya preferred this version.
It was honest.
Nobody pretended.
She entered her office and locked the door.
Then she opened the folder.
The first page was the appointment certificate.
The second contained a list of financial irregularities.
The third was a maintenance report.
The fourth was a photograph.
Maya stared at it.
It showed the hotel's basement.
Specifically, a sealed storage room beneath the east wing.
She turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared.
DO NOT LET VICTORIA ACCESS THIS ROOM.
Maya's stomach tightened.
She continued.
The document had been signed by Richard's father, Edward Hale.
Edward had been the original owner of the Halcyon Grand.
He had died twelve years earlier.
The note was dated six months before his death.
Maya read the next sentence.
The accounts don't match the inventory.
Another page.
Someone is removing assets through the hotel.
Another.
I suspect my own family.
Maya leaned back.
Her heart began beating faster.
She had originally been hired because Richard believed the hotel was losing money.
The numbers had never made sense.
Revenue was high.
Occupancy was high.
But profit margins were strangely low.
She had spent three weeks auditing departments.
Then she had discovered something.
Luxury purchases were being billed to the hotel.
Private cars.
Jewelry.
Travel.
Renovations on private properties.
All disguised as operational expenses.
The amounts were enormous.
But there was one name that appeared again and again.
V. Hale.
Victoria.
Maya reached for her laptop.
She opened the financial database.
The same vendors appeared.
Then something else caught her attention.
A company called Hale Hospitality Consulting.
It was supposedly independent.
But the registered owner was Victoria.
Maya stared at the screen.
Richard had no idea.
Or perhaps he did.
She printed the records.
Then the door opened.
Richard entered.
“You're here early.”
“So are you.”
“I couldn't sleep.”
“Neither could I.”
He looked at the papers.
“What did you find?”
Maya handed him the first page.
His face changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your father's private records.”
Richard read the note.
He sat down.
“My father thought Victoria was stealing from the hotel.”
“I think he was right.”
Richard stared at the papers.
“No.”
Maya looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn't you investigate?”
“Because I didn't believe it.”
“Or because you didn't want to?”
Richard looked hurt.
“You think I protected her?”
“I don't know.”
He stood.
“My father and Victoria had a terrible relationship.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
Richard looked toward the window.
“When my father died, Victoria inherited part of the company.”
“How much?”
“Twenty percent.”
“And you?”
“Forty.”
“The remaining forty?”
“Held in a family trust.”
Maya frowned.
“Who controls the trust?”
Richard didn't answer.
“Richard?”
“My father's attorney.”
“Who?”
“Jonathan Pierce.”
Maya froze.
She knew that name.
Jonathan Pierce was one of the city's most powerful attorneys.
He represented several major corporations.
Including the hotel.
Maya opened another file.
“Then you need to see this.”
She showed him a transfer.
Money had been moving from the hotel to a trust controlled by Jonathan.
Richard stared.
“That can't be.”
“It happened.”
He looked at the dates.
Then his face became pale.
“Those transfers began after my father's death.”
Maya nodded.
“And they stopped three months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because someone changed the authorization.”
Richard looked at her.
“Who?”
Maya pointed to the document.
“Me.”
Richard stared.
“You blocked the payments?”
“I did.”
“Without telling me?”
“You were in Europe.”
Richard rubbed his forehead.
“And Victoria attacked you yesterday because she found out.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Maya.
“What exactly did you stop?”
Maya closed the folder.
“That's what I'm trying to find out.”
Then the office phone rang.
Richard answered.
His face changed within seconds.
“What?”
Maya watched him.
He slowly put the phone down.
“The basement alarm just went off.”
Maya stood.
“What basement?”
May you like
Richard looked at her.
“The sealed room.”
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