Chapter 19 - The Last Door
Rain swept across the rooftop, turning the stone tiles slick. Victoria stood beside the service entrance with a hard drive in one hand and her phone in the other. Beyond her, the city shone through the mist. A helicopter crossed the river, its lights blinking against the clouds.
Victoria laughed, though she was breathing hard. “You still think this is about a few missing dollars? Sloane promised me a fortune. I was going to run the new property. I would have had everything.”
“You had a job, a good salary, and the trust of people who worked for you.”
“Trust doesn't buy anything.”
Victoria stepped backward toward the low safety wall. “If I go down, the records go with me.” She flung the hard drive toward the edge. Elena lunged and caught the strap, but the wet surface gave way beneath her shoe. She slid toward the wall. Victoria grabbed her wrist by instinct, and for one suspended second both women hung over the drop, their weight pulling against each other.
Owen and two officers burst onto the roof. Owen seized Elena's coat and dragged her back onto the tiles. The hard drive skidded across the roof and stopped beneath a ventilation unit.
Elena watched the officers take her away. The hard drive was recovered, but Victoria's last words stayed with her. The loan secured against the hotel still needed an explanation.
Downstairs, the gala guests were being moved to safety. Rachel stood beside the shelter volunteers, soaked but upright. Jamie was talking to a police detective. Davis waited by the ballroom doors, holding a sealed envelope he had found in the old executive office.
May you like
“It was addressed to you,” he said.
Elena opened it. Inside was a short note from her father, dated two days before his death. The first line read: IF VICTORIA EVER TELLS YOU I SIGNED THE LOAN, ASK WHO WAS IN THE ROOM.
