Chapter 5 - The Night the Cameras Went Dark
People screamed.
Guests poured into the hallways.
Security alarms flashed red.
Smoke filled the lower floors.
Roman released Emily's hand instantly.
Marcus ran through the door.
“Kitchen fire?”
Roman shook his head.
“No.”
He knew smoke.
This wasn't one fire.
Too many alarms.
Too organized.
A diversion.
Roman grabbed Emily.
“Stay with me.”
They moved through the corridor.
The lights flickered.
Every camera monitor in the security center went black.
Marcus stared.
“Someone shut down the system.”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“From inside?”
“Looks like it.”
Then the elevator stopped.
The fire doors locked.
The hotel descended into controlled chaos.
Roman pulled Emily into a service corridor.
“Do you know another way out?”
She nodded.
“Laundry stairwell.”
They ran.
Halfway there, a man appeared.
Dark jacket.
Hotel badge.
Gun in hand.
Roman reacted before Emily could scream.
He shoved her behind him.
The gunman fired.
Roman returned fire.
The man disappeared through a side door.
Emily stared at Roman.
“You're bleeding.”
He looked down.
A line of blood crossed his shoulder.
“It's nothing.”
“It isn't nothing.”
“Keep moving.”
They reached the laundry stairwell.
The door opened.
Three men waited inside.
Roman immediately understood.
The attack had never been about the hotel.
It had been about them.
He pushed Emily behind a cart.
“Stay down.”
A fight erupted.
Roman moved with brutal precision.
Marcus arrived seconds later with two guards.
The attackers fled.
One was captured.
Roman dragged him into an empty service room.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed.
“You really don't know?”
Roman tightened his grip.
“Who?”
“Ask your family.”
“Which one?”
The man's smile vanished.
“Victor.”
Roman stared.
The man continued.
“He said the housekeeper had to disappear.”
Emily stood in the doorway.
Roman turned.
“No.”
The attacker smiled.
“She already knows.”
Emily went pale.
“Knows what?”
The man laughed.
“She knows why her mother died.”
Before Roman could question him, the man swallowed something.
Marcus cursed.
The attacker collapsed.
Roman looked furious.
“What did he take?”
“Poison capsule.”
Silence.
Emily leaned against the wall.
Roman immediately moved toward her.
“Emily.”
She looked at him.
“My mother.”
“What about her?”
“She didn't have a heart attack.”
Roman's expression changed.
“No.”
“She was poisoned.”
Roman's hands closed into fists.
“How do you know?”
Emily looked at the floor.
“Margaret told me the truth eight years ago.”
“You knew?”
“She told me after my mother died.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you weren't safe.”
Roman stared.
“From Victor?”
“From everyone.”
She stepped closer.
“Margaret gave me the key because she was going into hiding. She said she would contact me when it was safe.”
“Why didn't she?”
“I thought she was dead.”
Roman's voice softened.
“Do you still?”
Emily shook her head.
A tear finally escaped.
“I saw her yesterday.”
Roman froze.
“What?”
Emily looked up.
“At the hotel.”
“You saw Margaret?”
She nodded.
“I didn't know whether it was really her.”
“Where?”
“She was in the lobby.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she disappeared before I could reach her.”
Roman's phone vibrated.
A message.
CHECK ROOM 3701.
Roman stared.
Room 3701 was directly above his office.
He and Emily ran.
The room was empty.
But the bathroom mirror had been wiped clean except for one sentence written in steam.
YOUR FATHER DIDN'T DIE ALONE.
Roman stared at it.
Emily stood beside him.
Then they heard a noise beneath the bed.
Roman crouched.
A woman emerged slowly from the darkness.
Gray hair.
Round glasses.
Trembling hands.
Emily stopped breathing.
“Margaret?”
The woman looked at her.
“Emily.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Tears filled her eyes.
Roman stared at the woman who had been missing for eight years.
“Where have you been?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Hiding.”
“From Victor?”
She nodded.
“And your father.”
Roman's face went pale.
Margaret stepped forward.
“Your father discovered the money trail.”
Roman said nothing.
“He planned to expose them.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked toward Emily.
“Victor wasn't alone.”
She handed Roman a photograph.
Three men stood beside Victor.
One was the former head of accounting.
The second was the former chief of security.
The third was—
Roman's breathing stopped.
His own mother.
“She was part of it?”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why is she there?”
“Because she was investigating them too.”
Roman stared at the picture.
His mother had been standing behind Victor.
Her face looked terrified.
Margaret whispered the truth.
“Your mother tried to protect your father.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“Then who betrayed him?”
Margaret looked directly at him.
“The person who convinced your father he could trust him more than his own son.”
Roman understood.
Victor.
Margaret continued.
“He didn't kill your father alone.”
“Who helped him?”
Margaret looked toward the door.
“Someone who still works here.”
Roman turned.
“Who?”
Before Margaret could answer, the lights shut off again.
A gunshot exploded.
Margaret screamed.
Roman pulled Emily down.
Marcus fired toward the hallway.
When the emergency lights returned, Margaret was gone.
Only blood remained on the floor.
Emily stared in horror.
Roman grabbed her.
May you like
“She may still be alive.”
But this time, neither of them knew whether hope was enough.
