Chapter 1 - One Inch
Vanessa Sterling's silver heel stopped one inch from my face.
I caught her ankle with both hands before it could connect. For one breath, the ballroom went so quiet I could hear ice shifting in somebody's glass.
"Let go of me!" Vanessa shrieked.
I lowered her foot to the marble. "Gladly. You need to back away."
A camera flashed. Then another. Three hundred guests stared from tables dressed in white orchids and gold linen. Someone had paid more for the flowers than I made in six months cleaning this hotel.
Vanessa smoothed her scarlet gown. The fury vanished from her face so fast it gave me chills.
"She attacked me!" she cried, turning toward the photographers. "I hope somebody got that!"
I looked past her. Two photographers stood shoulder to shoulder beside the stage. Their lenses were already trained on us before she raised her leg. I had noticed them repositioning while I carried a tray of used champagne flutes to the kitchen.
I knew a setup when I saw one. I'd spent eight years working professional security before I took a nineteen-dollar-an-hour housekeeping job at the Marlowe Hotel.
"Ma'am," I said, "there are plenty of witnesses. Let's keep this calm."
"You're fired," Vanessa snapped. "Right now."
A young waitress across the room knocked her knuckles twice against her collarbone. I recognized the signal. I'd taught it to her three days earlier: I need help, but someone is watching.
Her name was Iris Vega. She was twenty-two and had been asking dangerous questions about the charity hosting tonight's gala.
Before I could reach her, a broad man in a black suit stepped between us. Calder Pike, the hotel's head of security, carried himself like a man who believed every hallway belonged to him.
"Come with me, Lena," he said.
I looked over his shoulder. Iris was gone.
Then Pike turned, and I saw her yellow employee badge hanging from the pocket of his jacket.
May you like
He smiled. "We can do this the easy way."
Behind him, the service elevator opened onto a dark hallway. Something inside it struck the metal wall three times.
