CHAPTER 5 — ROOM 614
The photograph had been taken at the Calder Hotel.
Claire recognized the gold wallpaper and black marble tables.
Mason had taken her there for their fifth wedding anniversary.
Room 614 was located on the sixth floor.
Claire called the hotel and asked to speak with the manager.
“I’m trying to locate a receipt connected to my company.”
“Do you have a reservation number?”
“No.”
“Then I’m afraid I can’t release guest information.”
Claire looked at the photograph again.
Daniel’s watch displayed the date.
October 17.
The same night Claire had attended a charity event across town.
She called the hotel again, this time pretending to be Dana from Bennett Coastal Design’s accounting department.
“I need a duplicate invoice for our auditors. The reservation was charged to our corporate account.”
The employee placed her on hold.
Two minutes later, she returned.
“I found the booking.”
Claire held her breath.
“Who was the registered guest?”
“I can’t disclose the guest’s name, but I can email the invoice to the address associated with the corporate account.”
Dana received it seconds later.
Room 614 had been reserved for three nights.
The invoice included room service, champagne, printing charges, and a private conference-room rental.
The guest name had been partially hidden.
But the last name remained visible.
Bennett.
Olivia could have used it.
So could Claire.
Attached to the invoice was an equipment charge.
Two cameras.
A lighting kit.
A wireless microphone.
“They recorded something,” Dana said.
Claire checked the dates again.
On October 18, the day after the booking began, Claire had collapsed in her office.
She remembered drinking coffee from the cup Mason brought her.
Twenty minutes later, she became dizzy.
Her vision blurred.
She woke in a private hospital room with Mason beside her.
The doctor said exhaustion and anxiety had caused the episode.
Mason told everyone Claire had suffered a breakdown.
That incident was now mentioned repeatedly in his custody petition.
Claire opened her medical records.
The hospital report stated that Mason had requested a private transfer after Claire became “combative and disoriented.”
Claire remembered none of that.
She had never been combative.
She had barely been conscious.
“Room 614 was booked the same weekend I was hospitalized,” Claire said.
Dana’s face lost color.
“Do you think they did something to you?”
“I think they needed evidence that I was unstable.”
Claire called the hospital and requested the complete toxicology report from that night.
The records department told her the file had been sealed at the request of her legal representative.
Daniel Cross.
Claire drove to the Calder Hotel.
She did not expect the manager to help her.
But an elderly bellman named Samuel recognized the photograph.
“I remember them,” he said quietly.
“The man with the beard complained about the elevators.”
“Daniel Cross?”
“I don’t know his name.”
Samuel pointed to Mason.
“But that one came through the lobby several times.”
“Was my sister with him?”
Samuel studied Olivia’s face.
“She wore a blond wig most of the time.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“I assumed they were filming something.”
“In Room 614?”
Samuel looked toward the reception desk.
Then he lowered his voice.
“There was an incident.”
“What kind?”
“A woman was brought down through the service elevator in a wheelchair.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“When?”
“The second night.”
“Did you see her face?”
“Not clearly. She had dark hair.”
Claire’s hair was dark.
“What happened to her?”
“A private ambulance took her away.”
Claire showed him a photograph of herself.
Samuel stared at it for several seconds.
“I can’t be certain.”
“Please.”
He looked into her eyes.
“The woman was wearing that necklace.”
Claire touched the small gold pendant at her throat.
It had belonged to her mother.
She wore it every day.
Her knees nearly gave way.
Claire had not collapsed at the office.
Or if she had, someone had moved her afterward.
She had been inside Room 614.
And someone had filmed her there.
Samuel glanced behind Claire.
“You should leave.”
“Why?”
“The man from your photograph just entered the lobby.”
Claire turned.
Daniel Cross stood near the revolving doors.
He was watching her.
Then he reached into his coat.
Claire’s phone rang.
A blocked number appeared on the screen.
She answered without looking away from Daniel.
A woman whispered into her ear.
“Do not let him see that you recognize him.”
“Who is this?”
“Walk toward the service corridor.”
Daniel began moving across the lobby.
May you like
The woman’s voice became urgent.
“Claire, move now. He knows you remember Room 614.”
