Chapter 5 - The Hidden Elevator
Sebastian returned to the Valle Grand before dawn.
Charlotte went with him.
Security footage showed Nathaniel entering his penthouse suite at 12:14 a.m.
He never appeared in the hallway again.
Margaret vanished twelve minutes later.
Daniel studied the architectural plans.
“There’s an old service elevator behind the presidential suite.”
Sebastian frowned.
“That elevator was sealed twenty years ago.”
“Officially.”
They entered Nathaniel’s suite.
Behind a paneled wall, Daniel found fresh scratches near the floor.
Security removed the panel.
A steel door appeared.
Charlotte stared at it.
Her family had spent generations building hotels full of hidden passages for staff and executives.
Apparently Nathaniel had found a personal use for one.
The elevator descended to the parking garage.
A camera showed Nathaniel and Margaret entering a gray sedan.
They carried two suitcases and a black archive box.
Sebastian recognized the box.
“That came from the executive records room.”
Daniel checked access logs.
Nathaniel had entered the records room three hours before the gala.
Charlotte understood.
“He knew Grandfather invited me.”
Sebastian nodded.
“And he started removing evidence.”
Daniel’s team contacted authorities.
Meanwhile, Charlotte returned to Evelyn’s documents.
One shell company appeared repeatedly.
Northstar Development Holdings.
It had received sixty-two million dollars.
Charlotte searched the address.
The company was registered to an office in Delaware.
But the mailing address belonged to a house in Connecticut.
Sebastian recognized it.
“That was Margaret’s property.”
Charlotte looked at him.
“You knew she owned it?”
“I gave it to her after your grandmother died.”
The betrayal in his voice was worse than anger.
Charlotte touched his hand.
For eight years she had imagined Sebastian as the villain of her life.
Now she saw another possibility.
He had been manipulated too.
Daniel entered carrying a report.
Nathaniel’s sedan had been found abandoned near Teterboro Airport.
No flight plan showed his name.
Margaret’s passport had been used three hours earlier.
Destination Zurich.
Nathaniel’s had not.
Charlotte looked at Daniel.
“So he stayed behind.”
“Probably.”
Sebastian’s phone rang.
The caller identification showed Nathaniel.
Sebastian answered on speaker.
Nathaniel’s voice was calm.
“Charlotte should have stayed gone.”
Sebastian gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Nathaniel paused.
“But before Charlotte destroys this family, she should ask herself one question.”
Charlotte stepped closer.
Nathaniel continued.
“Why did Evelyn put Daniel Reed in charge of protecting the evidence?”
Charlotte looked at Daniel.
Nathaniel laughed softly.
“Because Daniel wasn’t just her security officer.”
The line disconnected.
Charlotte’s eyes remained on Daniel.
“What was he talking about?”
May you like
Daniel’s face told her Nathaniel had finally found a secret worth using.
---
