Chapter 5 - Rebecca Came Back Smiling
Rebecca called Mason herself.
“I heard you were asking about me.”
Mason looked at the phone.
He did not answer immediately.
Then:
“Where are you?”
“Houston.”
“Come to San Antonio.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“I always admired your honesty.”
Mason's voice was cold.
“Tonight.”
Rebecca arrived at the hotel wearing an elegant black coat.
She looked exactly as Mason remembered.
Professional.
Calm.
Immaculate.
She walked into his office and smiled.
“I've missed this place.”
“You shouldn't have.”
Her smile faded.
“What happened to you?”
“You tell me.”
Rebecca sat.
Mason placed a file on the desk.
“Four years of fraudulent invoices.”
“I don't know anything about that.”
“Joanne Parker.”
Rebecca's expression changed.
Barely.
But Mason saw it.
“That's unfortunate.”
“Why?”
“She was unstable.”
Mason leaned forward.
“She was an honest woman.”
Rebecca sighed.
“You always did have a soft heart for employees who played victim.”
“Did she play victim when she listed fraudulent suppliers?”
Rebecca went silent.
“Did she play victim when she documented price differences?”
Silence.
“Did she play victim when she wrote me three letters?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“I never saw any letters.”
Mason smiled.
“That's interesting.”
“Why?”
“Because we found copies.”
Rebecca's face tightened.
Mason opened another file.
“We also found proof that you intercepted correspondence.”
“I wouldn't do that.”
“Then explain your signature.”
Rebecca stared at the document.
“You forged my initials.”
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
Mason pushed a photograph across the table.
It showed Rebecca meeting Richard in a hotel parking garage.
She looked at it.
Then laughed.
“You followed me?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Your mistake.”
Rebecca leaned back.
“You haven't changed.”
“So you admit you met Richard?”
“We discussed work.”
“At 1:12 a.m.?”
“He had a family emergency.”
Mason almost smiled.
“You're very good.”
“At what?”
“Lying.”
Rebecca's expression hardened.
“You should be careful.”
“Why?”
“Because destroying people is easier than you think.”
There it was.
A threat.
Mason's security team stood outside.
He calmly pressed a button.
The recording indicator turned green.
“Say that again.”
Rebecca stared.
“You recorded me?”
“Yes.”
“You can't use that.”
“I don't need your permission.”
Rebecca stood.
“I think I'm leaving.”
“Sit.”
She looked at him.
Then sat.
Mason placed another folder on the desk.
“Victor Kane.”
Rebecca's face changed completely.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
“I don't know him.”
“We have payments.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Vantage Hospitality.”
Rebecca said nothing.
“Your brother owns it.”
She stared at Mason.
“My brother is a businessman.”
“He received five million dollars in renovation contracts.”
“So?”
“So the contracts were approved by people connected to you.”
Rebecca crossed her arms.
“This is absurd.”
Mason opened his final folder.
Inside was a bank transfer.
“Payment from an account belonging to Victor Kane.”
Recipient: Rebecca Shaw.
Amount: $250,000.
Date: six months before her resignation.
Rebecca looked at it.
Her lips parted.
Then closed.
Mason leaned back.
“Now we're getting somewhere.”
She whispered, “You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Rebecca's eyes filled with anger.
“You think Richard ran everything?”
“I know he did.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He was never the boss.”
Mason went still.
“Who was?”
Rebecca looked directly into his eyes.
“Victor.”
Mason had suspected it.
But hearing it confirmed felt different.
“How long?”
“Four years.”
“Why?”
“He wanted your hotel.”
“He could have bought it.”
“You refused.”
“So you decided to steal from me?”
“We decided to weaken you.”
Mason stared.
Rebecca continued.
“You were expanding. You were buying properties. You wanted to dominate South Texas.”
“And?”
“Victor knew that eventually you'd need capital.”
“So you manufactured losses.”
“Yes.”
“You made the hotel look unstable.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted me to sell.”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Yes.”
Mason asked quietly.
“And Joanne?”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“She found out.”
“You framed her.”
“Yes.”
“You used my name.”
“Yes.”
“You let her believe I wanted her fired.”
Rebecca looked away.
“Yes.”
Mason's voice broke.
“And when she got sick?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
Mason stood.
“What happened?”
Richard's involvement was known.
But Rebecca knew something else.
She whispered:
“Victor ordered the pressure campaign.”
“What pressure campaign?”
“Calls.”
“Threats?”
“Yes.”
“Against Joanne?”
Rebecca nodded.
“They scared her.”
Mason felt a wave of anger.
“She had a stroke because of you.”
Rebecca began to cry.
“I didn't know she would collapse.”
“You knew you were hurting her.”
“I thought she'd leave.”
“Why?”
“Because that was the plan.”
Mason walked to the window.
For a long moment he said nothing.
Then Rebecca asked:
“Are you going to have me arrested?”
“Yes.”
She stared.
“Then why did you bring me here?”
“Because I need the whole network.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“You won't survive it.”
Mason turned.
“Try me.”
Rebecca hesitated.
Then she made a proposition.
“I'll testify.”
Mason said nothing.
“In exchange for protection.”
“You don't deserve protection.”
“No.”
Rebecca looked exhausted.
“But you need me alive.”
She was right.
Victor Kane had money.
Connections.
Lawyers.
Political influence.
And probably people inside law enforcement.
Mason needed evidence strong enough to survive every challenge.
He agreed to temporary protection through his attorney.
Rebecca began talking.
She named shell companies.
Bank accounts.
Kickbacks.
Forged documents.
Brandon.
Richard.
Daniel.
Even two executives Mason had trusted for years.
But then she mentioned something Mason had never imagined.
“The largest payment hasn't happened yet.”
Mason frowned.
“What payment?”
“The purchase agreement.”
“What purchase agreement?”
“Victor has a buyer lined up.”
“For what?”
“The Grand Crest.”
Mason's pulse quickened.
“Who?”
“A private investment group.”
“When?”
“Next Friday.”
Mason stared.
“Why next Friday?”
“Because by then the hotel will be reported as insolvent.”
Mason understood.
There was a final move.
Victor wasn't just trying to force him into selling.
He wanted to make the hotel look so financially broken that Mason would have almost no choice.
Rebecca looked at him.
“They are going to trigger the final collapse.”
“How?”
“Your largest lender.”
Mason froze.
His bank.
His financing.
Someone had been preparing to call in a loan.
Rebecca whispered:
“Tomorrow morning.”
Mason immediately reached for his phone.
But before he could call his attorney, the hotel's fire alarm screamed.
Then the lights went out.
Emergency sirens echoed through the building.
May you like
And Mason received a text from an unknown number.
LET IT GO, OR THE GIRL WILL PAY.
