Chapter 2 - KEEP THEM BUSY
Portia stared at the glowing phone in Alonzo's hand.
For the first time, she looked genuinely trapped.
Cedric moved around the table.
"Who sent that?"
Portia folded her arms.
"I have no idea."
Alonzo held the screen toward her.
"They seem to know you."
"That does not mean I know them."
Flora looked at the timestamp.
The message had arrived less than ten seconds earlier.
Whoever had sent it either knew what was happening in the ballroom or was watching from somewhere nearby.
Alonzo handed the phone to the head of security.
"Trace the number."
The guard frowned.
"We can preserve it and pull the carrier data, but I cannot promise an immediate name."
"Then start with the cameras."
Portia laughed softly.
"Yes, Alonzo."
She looked around at the chandeliers and flowers.
"Turn your wedding into a police station."
Flora's anger flared again.
"You already turned it into one when you attacked my daughter."
Portia's eyes moved to Maisie.
The little girl recoiled.
Alonzo stepped between them.
"Do not look at her."
Portia blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
The bodyguards escorted Portia away from the wedding table and toward a side sitting area where she could be watched.
She protested loudly enough for the nearest guests to hear every word.
"This is kidnapping."
Cedric followed her with his eyes.
"No, Portia."
His voice was exhausted.
"This is the first time anyone in this family has made you sit still long enough to answer a question."
Portia's face hardened.
Alonzo crouched beside Maisie again.
"I need you to tell me exactly what you saw before the ceremony."
Flora smoothed the girl's hair.
"You are not in trouble."
Maisie nodded.
"I was looking for the bathroom."
"And you came through here?"
"I came through the little door by the flowers."
She pointed to a service entrance partly hidden by drapery.
"Aunt Portia was by the cabinet."
Flora glanced at Alonzo.
"Was she standing?"
Maisie shook her head.
"She was kneeling."
"Did she see you?"
Maisie's brow tightened with concentration.
"I don't think so."
"What did she do?"
"She had something white in her hand."
The child rubbed her fingers together as she remembered.
"She folded it and put it in her shiny bag."
Alonzo's gaze shifted toward the silver evening bag now sitting on the security table.
"Then what?"
"A man came through the little door."
Cedric looked over sharply.
"What man?"
Maisie shrugged.
"I don't know him."
Flora felt Alonzo tense.
"What did he look like?"
Maisie looked around the ballroom.
"He was wearing wedding clothes."
A few nervous laughs escaped from guests who immediately regretted it.
Every man in the room was wearing wedding clothes.
Alonzo smiled gently at Maisie.
"Anything else?"
"He had a red flower."
Cedric's expression changed.
Only members of the groom's inner family party had been given red carnation boutonnieres.
Everyone else wore white.
Alonzo stood.
His eyes moved across the room.
Uncles.
Cousins.
Board members.
Longtime family friends.
There were eleven red carnations in sight.
One man near the back noticed Alonzo looking.
He immediately turned away.
Flora saw it.
"Who is that?"
Alonzo followed her gaze.
"Marcus Vale."
"Your cousin?"
"Second cousin."
Marcus had always been too eager to laugh at Portia's jokes and too quick to defend her when anyone complained.
He was already moving toward the terrace doors.
The head of security spoke into his cuff microphone.
Two guards started toward Marcus.
Marcus stopped.
Then he smiled as if he had only been searching for fresh air.
"Problem?"
Alonzo walked over.
"Maybe."
Marcus glanced at the guests watching them.
"This is a wedding."
"It was."
Alonzo looked at the red carnation on his lapel.
"Were you in the ballroom before the ceremony?"
Marcus shrugged.
"Probably."
"Were you near the antique vase?"
"I don't remember."
Maisie peered around Flora's dress.
"That's not him."
Marcus's shoulders loosened.
He gave the child a thin smile.
"See?"
Maisie pointed across the room.
"The man was taller."
Everyone turned again.
A tall figure stood near the musicians.
He wore a red carnation.
He was Cedric's longtime attorney, Gideon Shaw.
Gideon lifted his eyebrows in surprise.
"Surely we are not asking a child to conduct a lineup at her mother's wedding."
Portia laughed from the sitting area.
"Finally, someone with sense."
Cedric stared at Gideon.
"Were you here early?"
Gideon adjusted his cuff.
"I helped your event coordinator with the seating documents."
"Did you come through the service entrance?"
"Possibly."
"Did you speak to Portia?"
Gideon looked toward her.
Portia was no longer smiling.
"I speak to Portia almost every day."
That answer made Alonzo's eyes narrow.
"About what?"
"Family business."
"Whose family business?"
Gideon's expression cooled.
"The kind you pay me not to discuss in ballrooms."
Cedric stepped between them.
"You can discuss it tonight."
Gideon studied him.
"Are you sure?"
The question carried a warning.
Cedric heard it.
So did Flora.
Cedric's mouth tightened.
"Very."
Gideon nodded toward the envelope.
"Then I assume Lenora's letter has finally appeared."
The ballroom erupted in whispers.
Alonzo took one step toward him.
"You knew about it?"
Gideon did not answer immediately.
Portia stood in the sitting area.
"Be careful, Gideon."
One of the bodyguards blocked her path.
Gideon's gaze flicked toward her.
"I knew Lenora intended to leave a private message for Alonzo."
Cedric looked stunned.
"You told me she destroyed it."
Gideon's face remained calm.
"She told me she was reconsidering."
"That is not what you said after she died."
"Memory changes under grief."
Cedric stared at him.
"Documents do not."
Gideon looked at the missing page number written at the top of Alonzo's second sheet.
"Unfortunately, you appear to be missing a document."
Flora stepped closer.
"Someone just texted Portia claiming to have it."
For the first time, Gideon looked surprised.
It was a small reaction.
Too small.
But Flora saw it.
"May I see the message?"
Alonzo shook his head.
"No."
Gideon smiled without warmth.
"Then I suppose trust is in short supply tonight."
"It should be."
The head of security returned from the control corridor.
His expression was grim.
"Mr. Vale."
Alonzo turned.
"What?"
"We have a problem with the ballroom cameras."
Portia began smiling again.
Flora felt a cold knot form in her stomach.
"What kind of problem?"
The guard looked toward the ceiling.
"Every interior camera covering this room stopped recording at 4:12 this afternoon."
Cedric checked his watch.
"The ceremony started at six."
"Yes, sir."
"When did they come back?"
The guard hesitated.
"They didn't."
A wave of noise moved through the room.
Alonzo's voice dropped.
"You are telling me there is no footage of Portia near the vase, no footage of whoever met her here, and no footage of the vase breaking?"
"Not from the ballroom system."
Portia lifted her hands.
"How convenient for Flora."
Flora turned on her.
"For me?"
"You are the one whose daughter broke the vase that produced the miraculous letter."
Maisie stared at Portia with wide eyes.
Flora stepped in front of her.
"Do not drag her into your lie."
Portia looked around at the guests.
"Think about it."
She pointed toward Flora.
"A woman with no connection to Lenora marries into this family, her child happens to smash the one vase hiding a letter, and suddenly that letter talks about a trust."
The whispers grew louder.
Flora could feel people looking at her differently.
Portia saw it too.
Her confidence returned with every second.
"And now the cameras are missing."
Alonzo moved closer to her.
"The cameras being missing helps you."
"Unless she disabled them first."
Flora stared at her.
"I do not even know where the security room is."
Portia gave a small shrug.
"Your wedding planner does."
All eyes turned toward the coordinator.
The woman looked horrified.
"I never touched the cameras."
Portia smiled.
"Perhaps not."
The head of security interrupted.
"There is one more thing."
Alonzo looked at him.
"Say it."
"The camera shutdown was not a technical failure."
The room quieted.
"Someone logged into the system with an executive security credential and manually disabled the ballroom feed."
Cedric frowned.
"Whose credential?"
The guard looked uncomfortable.
"Yours."
Cedric went still.
Portia's smile widened.
Alonzo looked at his father.
"Did you disable the cameras?"
"No."
"Who has access to your security credential?"
Cedric glanced toward Gideon.
Then toward Portia.
"Three people."
Alonzo waited.
Cedric's voice became quieter.
"Me."
He swallowed.
"Gideon."
Then he looked at Portia.
"And Portia."
Portia immediately shook her head.
"I have never used it."
Gideon adjusted his tie.
"Nor have I."
Alonzo looked from one to the other.
Flora could almost see the wall of lies closing around him.
Then the head of security's phone vibrated.
He read a message and frowned.
"We traced the unknown text as far as we can without a carrier warrant."
Alonzo stepped toward him.
"And?"
"The phone that sent it is still inside the building."
Every guest seemed to look at every other guest at once.
The guard continued.
"More specifically, the signal is coming from the bridal suite upstairs."
Flora's blood ran cold.
Her purse was in the bridal suite.
Her clothes were there.
Maisie's overnight bag was there.
And until thirty minutes ago, the room had been locked.
Portia looked at Flora and smiled.
"How unfortunate."
The search of the ballroom also revealed one more disturbing fact.
A service door beside the musicians had been opened with a staff badge at 4:28 p.m.
The badge belonged to an employee who had called in sick that morning.
Security tried the employee's phone.
It had been turned off since dawn.
Portia claimed she had never heard the man's name.
Gideon claimed staff access was beneath his attention.
Cedric said nothing.
Flora watched all three reactions and realized the same problem kept repeating.
Every clue pointed toward someone.
Every clue also came with just enough uncertainty to be argued away.
May you like
Whoever built the trap understood investigations as well as weddings.
