Chapter 5 - Midnight
The smoke was real.
That was the first thing Nathan confirmed.
A linen storage room on the east side of the executive floor was burning.
The second thing he confirmed was worse.
The suppression system had been disabled manually.
“Everyone to the west stairs,” he ordered.
Sebastian refused to move without me.
“I can walk,” I told him.
“I’m aware.”
“I mean I don’t need a billionaire bodyguard.”
He looked at the bruise forming on my cheek.
“Today has not supported that argument.”
Against my will, I almost smiled.
Then the lights flickered.
We moved through the west corridor. Elias carried the trust documents inside his jacket. Nathan stayed behind us with two security officers.
Andrew’s wheelchair moved slowly.
Margaret kept asking the time.
10:31.
10:36.
10:42.
Too often.
I noticed.
“So what happens if the building is evacuated and I can’t sign?”
Elias answered, “The trust requires witnessed acceptance on Valle property.”
Margaret said, “Rules are rules.”
Sebastian turned on her.
“You sound pleased.”
“I sound realistic.”
At the stairwell door, Nathan swiped his badge.
Red light.
He tried again.
Red.
“That’s impossible.”
One guard checked the wall panel.
“Access control is in lockdown.”
Margaret said, “Then we wait for fire crews.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Fire crews can’t reach this corridor without central override.”
Smoke thickened behind us.
I coughed.
Andrew covered his mouth.
Then a side door opened.
A young woman in a black evening dress appeared.
“Dad?”
Margaret snapped, “Olivia, go back.”
Olivia Valle.
My cousin.
She looked from Margaret to me.
“Is that Charlotte?”
I blinked.
“You know who I am?”
Her mother went still.
Olivia realized her mistake.
“I’ve seen pictures.”
“Where?”
“No time,” Nathan said.
He kicked the emergency release panel beneath the lock.
The stairwell door opened.
We started down.
At the thirty-first floor, smoke cleared.
At twenty-eight, the door to the landing slammed behind us.
A security guard I had not seen before stood below.
He held a radio.
“Miss Valle, this way.”
Nathan stopped.
“Who are you?”
The man ran.
Nathan chased him.
I heard a crash below.
Then silence.
Sebastian started down.
“Stay here,” I said.
I followed Nathan.
He was on the twenty-sixth-floor landing, kneeling beside the dropped radio.
The stranger was gone through a service door.
On the floor beside the radio lay an employee badge.
My photograph was printed on it.
My name underneath.
CHARLOTTE VALLE — EXECUTIVE ACCESS.
I stared.
“I arrived in Chicago two hours ago.”
Nathan turned the badge over.
Issue date: three weeks earlier.
Someone had created an identity for me inside the hotel before I ever received the invitation.
The radio crackled.
A voice said, “Did she take the bait?”
Nathan and I looked at each other.
The voice continued.
“Because if Charlotte signs, use the second plan.”
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
