Chapter 6 - WHAT HAPPENED IN ROOM 1814
Amy did not speak for several seconds.
The ocean roared beyond the cabin.
Ruth quietly stepped outside, leaving her alone.
“Were you there?” Amy asked.
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because Vanessa told me.”
Amy laughed once.
The sound held no humor.
“Of course she did.”
“It was two months ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“Amy—”
“You knew?”
“I knew she claimed Daniel came to her room.”
“Claimed?”
Margaret’s voice shook.
“She implied more happened.”
Amy gripped the phone.
“What did Daniel say?”
“I never asked him.”
That hurt almost as much as the photograph.
“You never asked your son whether he slept with another woman?”
“I should have.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Margaret became quiet.
Then said the words Amy never expected from her.
“Because I was protecting the foundation.”
Amy closed her eyes.
There it was.
The Harrison answer to everything.
Protect the company.
Protect the foundation.
Protect the name.
Protect the family.
Everyone protected everything except her.
“Vanessa had just secured three major donors,” Margaret continued. “We had the gala coming. Your marriage already looked strained. I convinced myself I needed facts before creating a scandal.”
“So you did nothing.”
“Yes.”
“And let me stand in that ballroom beside her.”
“Yes.”
“Let me smile.”
Margaret began crying.
“I am ashamed of that.”
Amy’s voice went quiet.
“Good.”
Margaret did not defend herself.
Amy looked at the photograph again.
“Did Daniel sleep with her?”
“I don’t know.”
Amy ended the call.
She turned off the phone.
For the rest of the day, she did not cry.
That worried Ruth.
“You should probably break something.”
Amy sat near the fireplace.
“I’m pregnant.”
“Something inexpensive.”
Amy laughed despite herself.
Then cried so hard she could barely breathe.
In New York, Daniel was learning the same story from another direction.
Lucas had recovered security footage from the Chicago hotel.
The original data had been scheduled for deletion after ninety days.
They had four days remaining.
Daniel watched himself enter the elevator with Vanessa.
1:07 a.m.
Vanessa leaned against him.
Daniel remembered the evening.
A donor dinner.
Bourbon.
Argument with Amy over the phone because he had canceled another weekend.
Vanessa telling him he worked harder than anyone appreciated.
Then the kiss in the hallway.
He remembered stopping.
He remembered Vanessa asking him upstairs.
He remembered saying no.
But the video showed something he had forgotten.
He entered the elevator with her.
Daniel stared.
“Why did I go up?”
Lucas said nothing.
The next camera showed Daniel leaving the elevator eighteen minutes later.
Alone.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
Eighteen minutes.
He remembered entering her room.
He remembered Vanessa handing him water.
He remembered her kissing him again.
He remembered pushing her away.
Then?
Fragments.
Daniel had been drunk.
But not unconscious.
He closed his eyes.
“I need access to the hotel room key records.”
“Already requested.”
“And hallway cameras.”
“There were none on the eighteenth floor.”
Daniel swore.
Lucas hesitated.
“There’s another problem.”
“What?”
“The reporter who photographed Amy was paid through a shell vendor.”
Daniel looked up.
“One of the companies in the suspicious foundation invoices?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the company?”
“Northstar Media Strategies.”
Daniel recognized the name.
Vanessa had recommended Northstar eighteen months earlier.
“How much have we paid them?”
“Four hundred eighty-three thousand dollars.”
“For what?”
“That’s the issue. We can’t identify any actual work product.”
Daniel leaned back.
Fraud.
Possibly theft.
But why stalk Amy?
Then another thought.
“What if this isn’t about Amy?”
Lucas frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“What if Amy is leverage?”
“Against you?”
“Against the foundation. Or me.”
Daniel stood.
“Find the beneficial owner of Northstar.”
“We’re working on it.”
“Work faster.”
Two hours later, Vanessa arrived at Harrison Freight with an attorney.
Daniel refused the attorney entry to the private meeting.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“You suspended me.”
“Yes.”
“You’re destroying my reputation because your wife ran away.”
“No. You’re suspended because your department appears connected to half a million dollars in questionable payments.”
Vanessa’s expression barely changed.
Good, Daniel thought.
She had expected this.
“Northstar is legitimate.”
“Then show me the work.”
“My team handled it.”
“Your team says you handled it.”
For the first time, Vanessa’s eyes flickered.
Daniel continued.
“Did you send someone after Amy?”
“No.”
“Did you leak her pregnancy?”
“No.”
“Did you access her travel file?”
“No.”
“Did you invite me to Room 1814?”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Now we’re finally talking about what you actually care about.”
“I care about the truth.”
“Do you?”
She stepped closer.
“You came upstairs.”
“Yes.”
“You kissed me.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted me.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“For a moment.”
“That moment happened.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa smiled sadly.
“Then stop rewriting history because Amy left.”
Daniel studied her.
“What happened after I entered your room?”
“You know.”
“No. Tell me.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t remember?”
“I remember enough.”
“Then why ask?”
“Because I want to hear your version.”
Vanessa walked toward the window.
“You came inside. I poured water. We kissed again.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You told me your marriage had become exhausting.”
His face changed.
“I never said that.”
“You said Amy wanted a version of you that didn’t exist.”
Daniel remembered saying something similar.
The shame was immediate.
Vanessa continued.
“You kissed me. You took off your jacket.”
Daniel’s stomach turned.
“And?”
“And then your phone rang.”
Amy.
He remembered.
A call around 1:20.
He had looked at the screen.
He had not answered.
Vanessa turned.
“You saw her name and suddenly became Saint Daniel.”
“What happened?”
“You left.”
Daniel stared.
“That’s it?”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You sound disappointed.”
“Nothing else?”
“No.”
Relief came.
Then Daniel stopped himself.
Relief did not equal innocence.
He had still entered the room.
Kissed her.
Ignored Amy’s call.
He had still betrayed his marriage.
“Why did you imply otherwise to my mother?”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
“I never did.”
“She says you did.”
“Then she misunderstood.”
Daniel watched her.
Vanessa picked up her bag.
“You want the truth? Fine. You never slept with me. Congratulations. You can put that on a greeting card and mail it to Oregon.”
Daniel went still.
Vanessa did too.
The room changed.
Neither spoke.
Daniel’s voice became dangerously calm.
“I never said Oregon.”
Vanessa’s face went white.
Daniel stepped toward her.
“I never told you where Amy was.”
Vanessa backed away.
“I guessed.”
“Portland was in the press chatter.”
“No press story has been published.”
Vanessa said nothing.
Daniel reached for the phone.
She grabbed her bag.
“Don’t.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why do you know where my wife is?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with something new.
Not embarrassment.
Fear.
“Daniel, this is bigger than you think.”
“What is?”
“You need to stop looking.”
“Why?”
“Because Northstar isn’t mine.”
“Whose is it?”
Vanessa shook her head.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Who owns Northstar?”
Vanessa looked toward the closed office door as if afraid someone might hear.
Then she whispered a name.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Because it was impossible.
May you like
The person Vanessa named had been dead for six years.
His father.
