Chương 7
“Tell me what happened in the house.”
Genevieve took a breath.
“I got into the study.”
“Was Arthur there?”
“No.”
“I found the safe.”
“Opened?”
“Yes.”
“With the code from Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“There were folders inside.”
“What kind?”
“Corporate structures, payments, land options.”
Daniel said, “Did you photograph them?”
“Some.”
“Where’s the phone?”
“I don’t know.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“I heard a car.”
“Arthur?”
“I thought so.”
“Was it?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Evelyn.”
Toby had gone completely still on the bed.
“What did she do?”
“She came inside angry.”
“Why?”
“She said I wasn’t supposed to take the originals.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because photographs can be challenged.”
Daniel murmured, “She’s not wrong.”
I shot him a look.
Genevieve continued.
“I put the folders in my bag.”
“And Evelyn?”
“She tried to stop me.”
“With force?”
“At first, no.”
Toby whispered, “Mommy yelled.”
Genevieve heard him.
“Oh, baby.”
His face crumpled.
“Mommy.”
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
He crawled toward the phone.
I held it closer.
“You sleep long.”
“I did.”
“Grandpa got drive.”
“I know.”
“You say give.”
“I know, baby.”
“You hurt?”
There was a silence so fragile I could hear Sarah crying somewhere beside her.
“I’m okay.”
Toby shook his head.
“You got blood.”
Genevieve’s breath caught.
I closed my eyes.
“Tell us what happened,” I said.
Her voice changed.
Less daughter.
More witness.
“I tried to leave.”
“Evelyn blocked the study door.”
“Did she hit you again?”
“No.”
Toby stared at the phone.
“She pushed.”
Genevieve went silent.
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“On the stairs.”
My grip tightened.
“It wasn’t like it sounds.”
“How does being pushed on stairs sound?”
“She grabbed the bag.”
“And?”
“I pulled back.”
“What happened?”
“I lost my footing.”
Toby whispered, “Boom.”
Genevieve began crying.
Not loudly.
That made it worse.
“I fell down six or seven steps.”
I stood without knowing why.
Daniel remained motionless.
“Did Evelyn call an ambulance?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“She tried.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
“Arthur arrived.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“He told her not to.”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He took the folders.”
“And your phone?”
“Yes.”
“Then he left you injured?”
“I was conscious.”
“That was not my question.”
“Yes.”
I stared at the wall.
Genevieve continued.
“Evelyn stayed.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“She stayed with me.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she do?”
“She got ice.”
The ordinariness of the answer confused me.
“She wanted to take me to the hospital.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
“I wouldn’t go.”
“Why?”
“I needed Toby.”
“Where was he?”
“In the car.”
“And then?”
“Evelyn helped me outside.”
Toby looked down at his hands.
“She picked Mommy.”
Genevieve whispered, “Yeah.”
I felt anger, confusion, and something almost like relief collide uselessly inside me.
“She put me in the passenger seat.”
“Who drove?”
“Evelyn.”
“Where?”
“Sarah’s.”
“That was last night.”
“Yes.”
“But Sarah said you came back this morning.”
“I made her drop me near my car.”
I stared at the phone.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because the drive wasn’t with me.”
The USB sat beside the laptop.
“Where was it?”
“With Toby.”
“No.”
Genevieve coughed.
“That was the backup.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What happened to the primary copy?”
“It was hidden in Arthur’s house.”
My skin prickled.
“Where?”
“I put it somewhere before Evelyn found me.”
“Where?”
Genevieve hesitated.
Then she said, “Inside the piano bench in the living room.”
Daniel swore.
“Does Arthur know?”
“No.”
“Does Evelyn?”
“No.”
I looked toward the locked hotel door.
“Then there is still evidence in his house.”
“Yes.”
“And Arthur thinks he recovered everything.”
“That’s what I was counting on.”
Daniel shook his head.
“We are not going there.”
I looked at him.
He knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Thomas.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Genevieve’s voice sharpened through the speaker.
“Dad, don’t.”
I looked at Toby.
Then at the contract.
Then at my wedding jacket hanging over the chair.
“No,” I said.
Daniel’s shoulders loosened slightly.
“I’m not going to Arthur’s house.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Three slow knocks.
Daniel looked at me.
Nobody moved.
Then a man’s voice came from the hallway.
“Mr. Vance, hotel security.”
Daniel walked to the door but did not open it.
“Yes?”
“We need you to come downstairs, sir.”
“Why?”
“There’s been an incident in the ballroom.”
I picked up the phone and ended the hospital call after telling Genevieve I would call back.
Daniel asked through the door, “What kind of incident?”
The guard hesitated.
Then he said, “A guest collapsed.”
My first thought was Arthur.
My second was Evelyn.
Neither was right.
The guard lowered his voice.
“It’s one of your company executives, sir.”
Daniel looked back at me.
“Who?”
“Mr. Leonard Shaw.”
I felt the floor shift beneath me again.
Leonard was Vance Development’s chief financial officer.
One of the six people who had access to the West Harbor bid ranges.
And the only man besides me who had authorized Evelyn’s temporary credentials for our executive retreat the previous spring.
Daniel opened the door only after the guard stepped back far enough for us to see both his hands.
The man was in his fifties, broad through the chest, with a radio clipped to his shoulder and the careful expression of someone who had already been told too many versions of the same emergency.
“What happened to Leonard?” I asked.
“He went down near the west bar.”
“Is he conscious?”
“He was when paramedics arrived.”
“Paramedics?”
“Someone called 911 before our staff reached him.”
Daniel glanced at me.
“Who?”
The guard shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
I turned toward Toby.
He was still on the bed, hugging the pillow.
I was not taking him into a ballroom full of frightened adults.
“Can you get someone from hotel management up here?”
The guard nodded.
“A woman.”
He understood immediately.
“I’ll have Ms. Ruiz come up.”
May you like
Daniel leaned close to me.
“Thomas, we don’t know who in that ballroom is safe.”
