Chương 7
The security manager opened her laptop.
“We stopped her before she reached any equipment.”
“Why would she do that?”
Neither of them answered.
They did not have to.
Lily had finished removing the bottle label and was rolling it into a tiny paper tube.
I looked at Thomas.
“Did she know there was footage?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“We told the adults in the room that surveillance had been reviewed.”
I rubbed my thumb against the edge of the table.
“And then she tried to get into the security office.”
“Yes.”
My phone vibrated.
A message from Mark.
I opened it beneath the table.
I took the photo.
The next message contained an image.
A photocopy of my driver’s license lay on a floral bedspread.
Across the top, in Vanessa’s handwriting, were four words.
Claire ID for room change.
I enlarged the photograph.
Beneath those words was something else.
A confirmation number.
Not for the hotel.
I recognized the format because I had typed similar numbers into my email when booking our trip.
It belonged to the rental car company.
My stomach tightened.
I looked at Thomas.
“Can I ask you something unrelated to the hotel?”
“Of course.”
“If someone had a photocopy of my license, could they have used it here?”
“They shouldn’t have been able to.”
“But they did.”
His expression hardened.
“Yes.”
I turned the phone toward him.
The security manager leaned closer.
Neither touched it.
Thomas read the handwritten note.
Then he looked at me.
“Do you know what ‘room change’ means?”
“No.”
My phone rang before he could respond.
The caller ID showed the rental company.
I answered.
“Ms. Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“This is Andrea with Coastal Drive Rentals.”
Her tone was cautious.
“I’m calling regarding the fraud concern you reported.”
“I didn’t report fraud.”
There was a pause.
“Someone did.”
I looked at the photocopy on my screen.
“Who?”
“The report came from a woman identifying herself as Vanessa Cole.”
My sister.
Andrea continued.
“She stated that the vehicle in your possession was obtained using stolen identification and asked us to remotely disable it.”
The conference room seemed to contract around me.
“Can you do that?”
“No, ma’am.”
Relief came first.
Then the rest of the sentence.
“But she also requested that we report the vehicle as unlawfully retained.”
I stood without meaning to.
Thomas rose too.
“Did you?”
I asked.
“We have not.”
“Why?”
“Because the rental agreement is in your name.”
My knees weakened slightly.
I sat back down.
Andrea continued.
“But there’s another issue.”
Of course there was.
“What issue?”
“Yesterday afternoon, someone contacted us using your reservation information and attempted to add Vanessa Cole as the primary renter.”
I looked at the handwritten confirmation number again.
“When?”
“At 1:32 p.m.”
Nine minutes before someone obtained a third hotel key in my name.
Twenty-four minutes before my daughter was pushed into the hallway.
“Was the change made?”
“No.”
“Our representative requested additional verification.”
“What happened then?”
“The caller disconnected.”
I closed my eyes.
This was no longer a cruel impulse that had gotten out of hand.
Vanessa had started arranging things before Lily ever left the room.
And whatever she had planned, my daughter had somehow ended up standing in its way.
I did not answer Andrea right away.
Thomas watched my face across the table.
The security manager had stopped typing.
Even Lily seemed to notice something had changed, because she put down the little paper tube she had made from the bottle label and reached for my hand.
I gave it to her.
“Why would someone try to change the primary renter?”
I asked.
Andrea took a second before replying.
“There are a few possible reasons.”
“Give me the practical one.”
“If the change had been approved, Ms. Cole could have controlled the reservation.”
“Meaning what?”
“She could have extended it, changed return details, added or removed authorized drivers, and potentially assumed responsibility for the vehicle.”
“Potentially?”
“There would have been additional documentation required at the branch.”
“So she couldn’t just steal the car over the phone.”
“No.”
“Could she cancel my access to it?”
“Not without verification.”
I looked down at Lily’s fingers wrapped around mine.
“Could she make it inconvenient enough that I’d have to come into the office?”
Andrea was quiet.
“Yes.”
That felt closer to the truth.
Not a grand theft.
Not some elaborate identity crime designed to disappear with my rental SUV.
A disruption.
A way to make me leave the room.
A way to control where I went and when.
“Was the call recorded?”
“Customer service calls generally are.”
“Preserve it.”
“We already flagged it.”
I almost asked who had flagged it, then decided that question could wait.
Andrea gave me a case number.
I wrote it beneath Owen’s name on the back of the old takeout menu I still carried in my purse.
The paper was becoming a strange little map of my family’s decisions.
Before ending the call, Andrea said, “Ms. Bennett, one more thing.”
I braced myself.
“Go ahead.”
“The person who called had more than your reservation number.”
“What else?”
“Your home address.”
My grip tightened around Lily’s hand.
“And the last four digits of the card used for the rental.”
Thomas’s expression changed.
I asked, “Would that have been visible on an emailed confirmation?”
“No.”
The answer came too fast for comfort.
“How would someone get it?”
“If they had access to the physical card, a billing statement, or your online account.”
I thanked her and hung up.
For several seconds, nobody in the conference room said anything.
Lily leaned against my arm.
“Can we go now?”
“Yes.”
Thomas cleared his throat.
“Ms. Bennett, before you leave, I need to explain what happens on our end.”
I looked at him.
“We are conducting an internal review of the key issuance and the staff response to your daughter being left unattended.”
“Okay.”
“We also documented your sister’s attempt to enter the restricted security area.”
“Did you call the police?”
May you like
“No.”
He paused.
