Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT THE HOTEL WENT DARK
The power failed at 11:07 p.m.
Every chandelier inside the Halcyon went dark.
Emergency lights should have activated.
They did not.
Adrian’s voice came through the security radios.
“Backup generators have been disabled.”
The hotel entered darkness.
Guests used phone lights in the hallways.
Elevators stopped between floors.
Fire doors closed automatically.
Leah was inside the greenhouse with Julian, reviewing Claire’s papers.
Adrian called.
“Someone entered the accounting office.”
“Priya is missing.”
Leah stood.
Julian stopped her.
“Security will handle it.”
“Priya trusted me.”
“She may be in danger because she spoke.”
They moved toward the stairwell.
The door had been locked from the outside.
Smoke entered beneath it.
Not fire smoke.
Chemical smoke from a security canister.
Someone wanted them unconscious.
Julian covered Leah’s mouth with his handkerchief.
The greenhouse had an old maintenance ladder leading toward the roof.
Claire’s maps showed it.
Leah found the panel behind dead vines.
They climbed into the rain.
Below them, hotel alarms remained silent.
Across the roof, a figure dragged Priya toward the maintenance elevator.
Leah recognized Eleanor’s driver, Martin Vale.
He had worked for the Mercer family for twenty-seven years.
Julian shouted.
Martin turned.
He held a gun.
“Stay back.”
Priya’s hands were tied.
Blood ran from her forehead.
Julian moved in front of Leah.
“Let her go.”
Martin shook his head.
“Mrs. Mercer said you would understand.”
“She said the hotel cannot survive scandal.”
“The scandal is Eleanor.”
“She built this place.”
“No.”
Julian’s voice carried across the rain.
“She occupied it.”
Martin lifted the gun.
Leah saw his attention move toward Julian.
She grabbed a loose metal watering rod and struck his wrist.
The gun slid across the roof.
Priya dropped to the ground.
Martin grabbed Leah.
He pulled her toward the ledge.
Julian tackled him.
All three fell against the wet stone.
Adrian and security officers emerged from the opposite stairwell.
Martin released Leah.
He attempted to jump toward the neighboring roof.
He missed.
A safety cable caught his harness before he fell beyond the service platform.
Security pulled him back.
Priya was freed.
Inside Martin’s jacket was a remote device.
It controlled the power system and emergency alarms.
He had also carried a flash drive containing a program designed to erase the pension records and Claire’s ownership files from the hotel server.
Martin claimed Eleanor contacted him from jail through an attorney’s assistant.
She promised him two million dollars and a home in France.
The attorney’s assistant was arrested the next morning.
The blackout became another criminal charge.
Conspiracy.
Attempted kidnapping.
Evidence destruction.
Julian stood beside Leah as emergency lights returned across the hotel.
One chandelier illuminated at a time.
The building seemed to wake in sections.
Leah looked toward the ballroom below.
“My mother spent her life outside these rooms.”
Julian nodded.
“And Eleanor nearly destroyed the building to keep you from entering them.”
May you like
Leah looked at him.
“Then we should make sure nobody owns the doors again.”
