Chapter 2 - The Name Beneath the Gold
The Bellwether Grand had been built by Elena's father, Thomas Vale, forty-two years earlier, when the block around it was still crowded with repair shops and old brick warehouses. He had turned it into a landmark: a tower of pale stone, brass doors, and windows that caught the Hudson River at sunset. To the public, it was a luxury hotel. To Elena, it had once been home.
His will left the Bellwether and its holding company to Elena through the Vale Hospitality Trust. The transfer had taken months because the company was tangled in old loans, complicated shares, and a board that seemed determined to delay every signature. That morning, the county had finally recorded the deed.
“Why didn't you tell us you were coming?” Davis asked quietly as he led her toward a private sitting room.
“I wanted to see how the hotel worked when no one had time to prepare a show for me.”
“She has been running daily operations for two years,” he said. “The board gave her more authority while your father's estate was being settled.”
Elena studied him. “Did you know she treated people like that?”
“I knew there were complaints,” he said. “I should have acted sooner.”
“Miss Vale,” he whispered, “you need to know something. The cameras in the east lobby went dark ten minutes before you arrived.”
Davis frowned. “That's impossible. The system is backed up.”
Jamie swallowed. “Not anymore. Someone wiped the recording.”
May you like
From the hallway came the sharp click of Victoria's heels.
“And,” Jamie added, “they're wiping the rest right now.”
