Chapter 6 - THE FIRE ALARM
The first thing Detective Ruiz did was take the USB drive out of the laptop and put it directly into my hand.
"Pocket."
I obeyed.
The second thing she did was pull the door open and scan the hallway.
Guests were already pouring from rooms in formal clothes, confused and irritated, while hotel employees shouted directions toward the emergency stairs.
Linda stood frozen beside the bed.
"This is not an accident."
Ruiz looked at her.
"How can you know that?"
"Because they like confusion."
"Who are they?"
Linda's face tightened.
"The people Evelyn works with."
"You were about to give me a name."
"Get David first."
Ruiz stepped closer.
"Mrs. Marlowe, this is not a negotiation."
"It is if you want my husband alive."
I hated the sentence, but I understood it.
Fear had been Linda's jailer for six years.
She was not going to become brave because a detective raised her voice.
Smoke did not enter the room.
I smelled no burning plastic, no hot wiring, no chemical bitterness.
The alarm continued.
Ruiz spoke into her radio.
"Any confirmed fire?"
Static answered.
Then a voice said the alarm had originated from a manual pull station near the west service corridor.
No smoke had been detected.
Someone had pulled it by hand.
"Move," Ruiz said.
We entered the hall.
Martin appeared from the stairwell with Toby in his arms.
"The elevators are locked down."
"Where are the officers?" Ruiz asked.
"Two in the ballroom, two at the lobby exits."
"Tell them nobody leaves without being recorded."
The hotel hallway became a river of expensive clothing and rising panic.
Wedding guests mixed with tourists and staff.
Evelyn appeared at the far end in her wedding gown.
Her veil was gone.
She was holding her mother's hand and demanding to know where I was.
Then she saw me.
"Thomas!"
She pushed through the crowd.
I watched her face carefully.
She looked frightened.
The question was whether she was frightened by the alarm or by the fact that I still had the USB.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Fine."
Her eyes went immediately to Linda.
The transformation lasted less than a second.
Recognition.
Shock.
Then anger.
Linda saw it too.
She stepped backward.
Evelyn recovered.
"Who is that?"
It was such a poor lie that I almost smiled.
"You don't recognize her?"
"Should I?"
Linda whispered.
"You recognized me six years ago."
Evelyn's expression hardened.
"Thomas, I don't know what this woman has told you, but this is our wedding day."
"I am aware."
"Then why are you standing here interrogating hotel staff while everyone is evacuating?"
"Because she is not hotel staff."
Evelyn stared at Linda.
"Then who is she?"
I waited.
Evelyn did not answer her own question.
That was the important part.
If she genuinely did not know Linda, curiosity would have pulled the name from her.
Instead she wanted distance.
Ruiz stepped between us.
"Ma'am, please continue toward the stairwell."
Evelyn looked at the badge clipped to Ruiz's waistband.
Her face changed again.
"Police?"
"Hotel safety issue."
"Why are police involved in a fire alarm?"
Ruiz smiled without warmth.
"Why does that concern you?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Thomas, what did Genevieve tell you?"
There it was.
Not whether Genevieve was safe.
Not whether she had been found.
What did she tell you?
I took one step closer.
"Interesting question."
Evelyn's eyes flicked to my jacket.
For one instant I thought she could see the shape of the USB through the fabric.
Then someone slammed into Linda from behind.
It happened so fast that at first it looked accidental.
A man in a hotel security jacket pushed between us, grabbed Linda around the waist, and shouted that the stairs were blocked.
Ruiz grabbed his shoulder.
He twisted away.
Linda screamed.
The man pulled her toward a service door.
I caught his sleeve.
He hit me in the chest with his elbow.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
Ruiz drew her weapon.
"Stop!"
The man released Linda and ran.
He disappeared through the service door.
Ruiz chased him.
I helped Linda to the wall.
Evelyn stood six feet away.
She was staring after the fleeing man.
Her face was utterly blank.
Then she noticed me watching.
"Oh my God."
She lifted a hand to her mouth.
The reaction came late.
Too late.
Martin took Toby farther down the hallway.
"Thomas, stairs."
I nodded.
Linda gripped my arm.
"He was not hotel security."
"You know him?"
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
"Wrong jacket."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"The hotel changed uniforms last month."
She pointed toward a real security employee guiding guests near the stairwell.
His jacket had a silver crest over the chest.
The fleeing man's jacket had been plain black.
A costume.
Evelyn stepped toward me.
"Thomas, come with me."
I moved Linda behind Martin instead.
"Go downstairs."
"Not without you."
"Then stand there."
Her face flushed.
"I am your fiancee."
"For the moment."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Evelyn became very still.
Around us, guests continued toward the stairs.
Her mother stared at me in horror.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Evelyn's voice was soft.
I held her gaze.
"It means we haven't finished the ceremony."
For half a second, rage flashed across her face.
Then it vanished.
"You are upset."
She touched my cheek.
I stepped back.
"Do not."
Her hand dropped.
The alarm stopped suddenly.
The silence was almost as jarring as the siren.
A hotel announcement followed.
False alarm.
Guests could remain on their floors until elevators were restored.
Martin looked at me.
"Convenient."
Ruiz returned two minutes later.
She was furious.
"Lost him in the service corridor."
"Cameras?" I asked.
"Offline."
Linda laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
Ruiz turned to her.
"Now you give me the name."
Linda looked toward Evelyn.
Evelyn stared back.
The two women held each other's eyes across the corridor.
Linda's lips parted.
Then a man emerged from the stairwell behind Evelyn.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, silver at the temples, wearing a perfectly fitted midnight-blue suit.
Victor Hale.
My chief operating officer.
My business partner of twenty-eight years.
Toby called him Uncle Vic even though there was no blood between us.
Victor looked from me to Linda and stopped.
Linda's entire body went rigid.
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
And I understood before anyone said a word.
"No," I whispered.
Linda looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"Thomas, I am sorry."
Victor smiled as if he had just walked into an ordinary inconvenience.
"What's going on?"
Linda pointed at him.
May you like
"That's the man."
