Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Sunglasses
Kendra came to the gate alone two days later.
Her oversized sunglasses did not hide the fact that she had been crying.
I agreed to speak through the intercom with Margaret listening beside me.
"Daniel says you're vindictive," Kendra began.
"What do you say?"
She looked toward the empty driveway.
"I say he told me that chair was old and that you had a newer one."
The lie was almost insulting in its laziness.
"You heard me tell him I couldn't get downstairs."
She swallowed.
"I did."
"And you got into the car."
Her shoulders fell.
"Yes."
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Kendra was not a helpless bystander, and I would not turn her into one to make the conversation comfortable.
But she also seemed frightened of something beyond a canceled vacation.
"He said the loan was just a bridge," she whispered. "He promised I'd be a partner once the hotels were sold."
I gripped the wheels of my chair.
"The hotels aren't his to sell."
"I know that now."
She slid a flash drive through the secure document slot at the gate.
Nora collected it wearing gloves and made a receipt.
Kendra wanted a promise that we would protect her.
Margaret gave her something more honest.
"Tell the truth, preserve what you have, and get independent counsel. We cannot promise an outcome."
Kendra hesitated, then leaned toward the speaker.
"There's a man named Owen Mercer. Daniel called him the fixer. He said Owen could make a judge believe anything."
The gate camera captured her expression as a black vehicle slowed on the road beyond the hedges.
She recognized it immediately.
"That's his car," she whispered.
"Whose?"
Kendra stepped backward.
"Owen's."
Then she turned and ran toward the waiting rideshare, leaving the drive behind her.
May you like
Nora locked the slot and looked at me.
"We should find out what is on this before anyone else does."
