Chapter 7 - The Man Behind the Door
Silas entered the forty-seventh floor through a ventilation maintenance route designed during the hotel’s original construction.
Only Silas and Lena knew it existed.
Until now.
Smoke from the transformer explosion had entered part of the service corridor.
Emergency lights painted the walls red.
Silas moved silently.
He heard a voice.
Male.
“Check the bedroom.”
Another answered.
“Dane said the girl was here.”
Emma.
Silas’s hand tightened.
He reached the junction.
Two men.
Both armed.
Neither hotel security.
Silas could have called for backup.
He did not have time.
The first man turned.
Silas hit him before he raised the weapon.
The second swung.
Silas took the blow against his shoulder, drove the man into the wall, and disarmed him.
The struggle lasted less than fifteen seconds.
Silas left both men conscious.
Barely.
He found Emma inside the office bathroom, holding a heavy marble soap dispenser like a weapon.
When Silas opened the door, she swung.
He caught her wrist.
“Emma.”
She froze.
“Oh my God.”
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Any injuries?”
“No.”
“Come.”
She stared at the men on the floor.
“Did you do that?”
“Unfortunately.”
“You’re a hotel guy.”
Silas almost laughed.
“Apparently.”
He moved her toward the service elevator.
Then a voice came through the hallway.
“Silas.”
Victor Dane.
Silas stopped.
Emma whispered, “Is that him?”
“Yes.”
Dane appeared near the bedroom entrance.
He held a gun.
“Send the girl into the elevator.”
Silas looked at Emma.
“Go.”
She hesitated.
“Go.”
Emma entered.
Silas pressed the security code.
The doors closed.
Dane smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
Silas faced him.
“You killed Julian.”
Dane’s smile disappeared.
“You found the recording.”
“Yes.”
“It wasn’t supposed to survive.”
“Neither was I, apparently.”
Dane stepped closer.
“Your brother was going to destroy everything your father built.”
“He was trying to expose you.”
“He was a child playing hero.”
“He was twenty-eight.”
“He didn’t understand power.”
Silas looked at the gun.
“And you do?”
“Better than you.”
Dane laughed.
“You spent years pretending you were different from Everett, but you use the same systems. The same people. The same leverage.”
Silas did not deny it.
Dane continued.
“You think protecting one frightened maid redeems you?”
Silas’s face hardened.
“This isn’t about Wren.”
“Everything changed when she crawled into your bed.”
Silas said nothing.
Dane smiled.
“There. That silence.”
He raised the weapon.
“You finally found something to lose.”
A shot cracked.
Silas moved.
The bullet struck the doorframe.
He hit Dane.
The weapon skidded across the marble floor.
They fought.
Dane was older but strong.
Desperate.
He drove Silas into the desk.
Silas struck back.
Dane grabbed a letter opener.
Silas caught his wrist.
For one suspended second, Silas could have ended him.
Nobody would question it.
Armed intruder.
Private residence.
Self-defense.
The man who murdered Julian was beneath him.
Silas saw his brother’s face.
Then Wren’s.
You’re punishing the wrong man.
Silas released the weapon.
He stepped back.
Dane stared.
“What are you doing?”
“Something my father never did.”
“What?”
“Letting consequences belong to the right person.”
Lena and three federal agents entered.
Dane looked toward the door.
Then at Silas.
“You brought federal agents into your own hotel?”
“Yes.”
“They’ll destroy you too.”
“Maybe.”
“You think she’ll still want you when she finds out what you’ve done?”
Silas’s face became unreadable.
“That’s her decision.”
Dane was arrested.
Evan Harlow disappeared before police could take him into custody.
That became the next problem.
Wren hugged Emma so tightly downstairs that her sister complained she could not breathe.
Then Wren saw Silas.
Blood at his lip.
Torn shirt.
Bruising already forming.
She ran toward him.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
“You are literally bleeding.”
“Occupational hazard.”
“You own hotels.”
Silas almost smiled.
Wren touched his cheek.
Then remembered the kiss on the roof.
Her hand paused.
Silas noticed.
“So that happened?”
She glared.
“You said it didn’t.”
“I was under stress.”
“So was I.”
“Convenient.”
Emma looked between them.
“I’m going to pretend I don’t understand whatever this is.”
Lena led her away.
Wren and Silas remained.
“I resigned,” Wren said.
Silas stared.
“What?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“Why?”
“Because you were right.”
His face changed.
She continued.
“I work for you. I don’t want to wonder whether what happens between us belongs to us or to the fact that you control my paycheck.”
Silas looked at her.
“And after you leave?”
Wren swallowed.
“You can ask me to dinner.”
A small smile appeared.
“Is that permission?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow?”
“You were nearly shot tonight.”
“Day after tomorrow?”
She laughed.
“Ask me after I finish my notice.”
“I dislike waiting.”
“I know.”
For one brief moment, the nightmare seemed almost finished.
Then Lena returned.
“Harlow took Emma’s roommate.”
Everything stopped.
Wren stared.
“What?”
“Her roommate, Megan Pierce. He grabbed her outside the dorm twenty minutes ago.”
“Why?”
Lena handed Silas a phone.
A video played.
Megan sat tied to a chair.
Evan stood behind her.
He looked exhausted.
Unshaven.
Unstable.
“I know you’re watching, Wren.”
Wren’s blood ran cold.
Evan continued.
“You chose him.”
Silas took one step closer to Wren.
“I gave you everything, and you chose him.”
The camera moved.
They could see the location.
Industrial.
Old brick walls.
Metal piping.
Evan smiled.
“Bring me the recording. The original memory card. You come alone, Wren, or this girl pays for your choices.”
The video ended.
Wren turned toward Silas.
“No.”
He knew what she was going to say.
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“He has Megan because of me.”
“He has Megan because he’s a violent criminal.”
“He’ll kill her.”
“He may kill you too.”
Wren’s eyes filled.
“If Emma were in that chair, I’d go.”
Silas knew.
That was the problem.
Lena examined the video.
“We can locate the building.”
“How long?” Silas asked.
“Maybe an hour.”
Evan’s second message appeared.
Forty minutes.
Wren looked at Silas.
“He planned this.”
“Yes.”
“Then use me.”
Silas’s face hardened.
“No.”
“As bait.”
“No.”
“Silas.”
“I said no.”
She stepped close.
“You don’t own me.”
The words stopped him.
Wren continued.
“You said my choices were mine.”
His jaw tightened.
“You’re asking me to watch you walk into a trap.”
“I’m asking you to trust that I can be part of saving someone too.”
Silas looked at her for a long time.
Then at Lena.
“Body wire.”
Wren exhaled.
Silas added, “Tracker in her shoe. Two teams outside visual range. Nobody moves until Harlow is separated from Megan.”
Wren nodded.
Silas touched her face.
“You do exactly what Lena tells you.”
“I thought I didn’t work for you anymore.”
“This is not an employment discussion.”
Despite everything, she smiled.
Then Silas lowered his forehead to hers.
“If anything feels wrong, you leave.”
“I know.”
“No heroics.”
“That sounds rich coming from you.”
“Wren.”
“I’ll come back.”
His eyes held hers.
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.”
She whispered, “But I’m going to try.”
Thirty-two minutes later, Wren walked alone into an abandoned print warehouse in Brooklyn.
A memory card sat inside her coat pocket.
It was fake.
Evan waited under a single hanging light.
Megan was tied to a chair.
Wren stopped.
May you like
Evan smiled.
“You finally came home.”
