Chapter 1 - THE LOCKET JULIAN REMEMBERED
Julian still held the locket.
Leah finished gathering the last of the receipts from the marble floor.
The young server beside her placed the imitation pearls inside her satchel.
His name tag read MATEO.
“Your scissors,” he said quietly.
Leah accepted them.
“Thank you.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“That locket belongs to the Mercer family.”
Leah looked up.
“No.”
“It belonged to my mother.”
Julian turned toward Eleanor.
“You have never seen this locket before.”
It was not a question.
Eleanor’s expression remained smooth.
“Claire may have taken it.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“Claire did not steal.”
The name moved through the ballroom again.
Claire Moreno.
Most guests did not recognize it.
Several older donors did.
An elderly woman near the auction tables pressed one hand against her chest.
“I remember Claire,” she whispered.
Eleanor heard her.
“That was more than thirty years ago.”
“It has nothing to do with tonight.”
Julian closed the locket.
“It has everything to do with tonight.”
The hotel’s head of security approached.
His name was Adrian Cross.
He was tall, gray at the temples, and careful with every movement.
“Mr. Mercer, we have secured the private reception room.”
“Was the bracelet found?”
“Not yet.”
Eleanor folded her arms.
“Then search the florist’s work area.”
Leah stood.
“You already emptied my bag.”
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves you wanted an audience.”
The answer brought a low murmur from nearby guests.
Eleanor looked toward Adrian.
“Remove her.”
Julian stepped between them.
“No one removes anyone.”
“This is my gala too,” Eleanor said.
“It is held in my hotel.”
Julian looked at her.
“Our hotel.”
Something in his voice made Eleanor look away.
Adrian touched the earpiece at his collar.
A second security officer entered the ballroom carrying a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a diamond-and-pearl bracelet.
Eleanor smiled.
“Where did you find it?”
The officer hesitated.
“In the private reception room.”
Eleanor’s confidence returned.
“You see?”
“However,” Adrian continued, “it was not in Ms. Moreno’s work area.”
The ballroom quieted again.
“Where was it?” Julian asked.
The officer looked directly at Eleanor.
“Inside the lining of your evening coat.”
Eleanor did not react at first.
Then she laughed.
“That is ridiculous.”
“My coat was hanging in the reception room.”
“Anyone could have placed it there.”
Adrian nodded.
“That is true.”
“We are reviewing the cameras.”
Eleanor’s gaze moved toward the ceiling.
The nearest camera’s small green light had gone dark.
Adrian followed her eyes.
His expression changed.
“That camera was active twenty minutes ago.”
Julian looked at him.
“Who can disable it?”
“Hotel security.”
“Executive management.”
“And anyone with the private override code.”
Eleanor’s hand tightened around her beaded clutch.
Leah noticed.
So did Adrian.
Julian turned toward the guests.
“The gala is suspended.”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“You cannot stop a four-million-dollar fundraiser because a florist brought an old photograph.”
Julian’s voice became colder.
“She is not just a florist.”
Leah stared at him.
“You do not know who I am.”
“No.”
He looked at the locket in his hand.
“But I know who your mother was.”
Eleanor moved toward him.
“Julian, think carefully.”
He turned.
“I have spent thirty-three years thinking about the night you told me Claire’s baby died.”
The older donors stopped whispering.
Several phones rose.
Eleanor’s face lost color.
Julian continued.
“You said Claire left the city after the funeral.”
“You said she never wanted to see me again.”
He looked toward Leah.
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-two.”
“When is your birthday?”
“November seventeenth.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Claire’s baby had supposedly died on November seventeenth.
The same year.
The same day.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked at Eleanor as though seeing a stranger.
“You did not only lie about the child.”
“You knew exactly where she was.”
Eleanor’s composure finally cracked.
“You have no proof.”
A voice came from behind the auction display.
“I may.”
The elderly woman who remembered Claire stepped forward.
Her name was Dr. Miriam Hale.
She had delivered babies at Saint Catherine’s Hospital for forty years.
She looked at Leah.
May you like
Then at the brooch pinned above her waistcoat.
“I was present the night you were born.”
