Chapter 4 - The Secretary’s Escape
Chloe reached the service corridor before anyone understood what she was doing.
Her heels struck the marble in rapid, uneven bursts. A waiter carrying champagne flattened himself against the wall as she pushed past him.
Agent Sloan shouted for her to stop.
Chloe did not.
She grabbed the handle of an unmarked door and disappeared into the hotel’s staff area.
One of the federal agents followed.
Dominic remained on the stage.
He did not call after her.
He did not look surprised.
Vivienne watched his face and realized Chloe’s escape was not panic.
It was part of a plan.
“What is she carrying?” Vivienne asked.
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“Chloe’s evening bag. What’s inside?”
“How would I know?”
“You looked at it before she ran.”
“I looked at her.”
“No. You looked at the bag.”
Agent Sloan stopped beside Dominic.
“Mr. Vale, I strongly recommend that you avoid interfering.”
“I’m not interfering.”
“Then answer the question.”
Dominic lowered his voice.
“I gave Chloe an encrypted company drive this afternoon.”
Gordon Pike stood so quickly his chair fell.
“You removed a drive from the office?”
“It contains the acquisition presentation.”
“Why would your secretary run with a presentation?”
Dominic’s eyes moved toward the ballroom doors.
Agent Sloan spoke into her radio.
“Suspect may be carrying an encrypted storage device. Lock down all hotel exits.”
The guests erupted.
Some hurried toward the doors, worried they were being detained. Others remained in place, fascinated by the disaster. Hotel staff moved quickly to reassure everyone that they were free to leave but might be asked for contact information.
Vivienne searched for Julian.
“Where are the children?”
“In the private lounge with Miriam and two guards.”
“I need to see Sophie.”
Julian caught her arm gently.
“You need to decide whether you want Dominic removed from the building first.”
Vivienne looked toward her husband.
He had stepped away from Agent Sloan and was speaking urgently to a board member.
Even now, he was negotiating.
Trying to survive.
“Remove him,” she said.
Dominic heard her.
“You don’t have that authority.”
Malcolm Pierce appeared beside the stage.
“On hotel property, she does.”
“This gala rented the ballroom.”
“The agreement includes a conduct clause.”
“You can’t throw out the company hosting the event.”
“I can remove an individual who has caused a disturbance.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“I caused the disturbance?”
Vivienne walked toward him.
“No. Your wives did that by meeting each other.”
His face hardened.
“Be careful.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It is advice. You have no idea what you’re pulling apart.”
“I know exactly what I’m pulling apart. A company funded with stolen signatures. Two marriages maintained through fraud. Accounts hidden under the names of women who trusted you.”
“You think Julian is protecting you?”
“He came when I called.”
“He came because he has wanted control of Vale Meridian for years.”
“My brother advised me not to invest in you.”
“And you ignored him.”
“I loved you.”
For the first time that night, Dominic’s expression softened.
It was not enough.
“I loved you too,” he said quietly.
Celeste stood behind him.
“And me?”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Celeste laughed once, a broken sound.
“You don’t get to be silent now. Did you love me?”
“I cared about both of you.”
“You cared about what we gave you,” Vivienne said.
Dominic looked at her.
“You gave me capital. Celeste gave me credibility in the charity world. Chloe gave me access to everything happening inside the company.”
Chloe’s absence seemed suddenly enormous.
“What did you give us?” Celeste asked.
Dominic had no answer.
Two hotel security officers approached.
“Sir, you need to leave the ballroom.”
“I will leave when my board meeting is complete.”
Gordon stepped onto the stage.
“The meeting is complete.”
Dominic stared at him.
Gordon looked toward the directors gathered at the front tables.
“Under the emergency provisions of the corporate bylaws, and pending an independent investigation, I move that Dominic Vale be suspended from all executive responsibilities.”
A woman named Priya Shah stood.
“I second.”
“You cannot vote without notice,” Dominic said.
Miriam returned through the side doors.
“Notice may be waived when credible evidence exists that an officer has misappropriated company assets.”
Dominic pointed at her.
“You represent Vivienne, not the corporation.”
“Correct. Which is why the corporation’s general counsel is joining by video.”
The giant screen came to life.
A gray-haired attorney appeared from a home office.
He looked deeply unhappy.
“I have reviewed the documents provided by Agent Sloan and the Hart trust,” he said. “The board is authorized to proceed.”
Dominic looked around the ballroom.
Every path was closing.
The vote took less than three minutes.
Nine directors supported suspension.
One abstained.
Dominic’s own seat was excluded due to conflict of interest.
He stood beneath the stage lights while the company he claimed to have built removed him from power.
When Gordon announced the result, the ballroom remained silent.
Dominic turned toward Vivienne.
“Are you satisfied?”
“No.”
“What else do you want?”
“My daughter’s childhood back.”
Pain moved through his face.
Vivienne hated that she still recognized it.
She hated that some part of her wanted to believe his pain meant he was capable of remorse.
Then his phone rang.
Dominic looked at the screen.
He declined the call.
It rang again.
Agent Sloan held out her hand.
“Give me the phone.”
“You don’t have a warrant.”
“Not yet.”
Dominic slid it into his pocket.
The phone rang a third time.
This time, everyone close enough saw the caller’s name.
Chloe M.
Dominic hesitated.
Agent Sloan activated the speaker on her own phone and signaled to another officer, who began tracing the call.
“Answer it,” Vivienne said.
Dominic ignored her.
Celeste reached into his pocket and snatched the phone.
He grabbed her wrist.
She slapped him with her free hand and pressed the answer button.
“Chloe?” Dominic said.
The secretary was breathing hard.
“I’m in the garage.”
Dominic looked at Agent Sloan.
Chloe continued before he could warn her.
“The car isn’t here.”
“Which car?”
“The black Mercedes. You said it would be waiting.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Listen to me. Do not say anything else.”
Chloe began crying.
“You told me we would leave together.”
The ballroom reacted with a fresh wave of whispers.
Celeste looked disgusted.
“You were running away with her?”
Dominic ignored the question.
“Chloe, stay where you are.”
“No. The agents locked the exits.”
“Do not give them the drive.”
“I won’t go to prison for you.”
“You are not going to prison.”
“You said the same thing about the audit. You said no one would ever learn about Aster Holdings.”
Celeste gripped the edge of the stage.
Agent Sloan moved closer to the phone.
“Ms. Mercer, this is Special Agent Rebecca Sloan. Put the drive on the ground and raise your hands.”
Chloe went silent.
“Chloe?” Dominic said.
“You lied to me,” she whispered.
“Stay calm.”
“You never planned to marry me.”
Dominic’s face became stone.
Chloe laughed through her tears.
“You weren’t choosing between them. You were going to leave all of us.”
A car engine roared through the phone.
Then came the screech of tires.
“Chloe!” Dominic shouted.
The line filled with shouts, a crash, and a woman screaming.
The call disconnected.
Agent Sloan spoke rapidly into her radio.
“Report.”
Static answered.
Then a male voice came through.
“Vehicle collision on level three. Suspect is conscious. We’re approaching now.”
Vivienne exhaled.
She had not realized she was holding her breath.
“Was anyone else hurt?” Agent Sloan asked.
“Negative. She struck a concrete barrier.”
“Secure the device.”
Another pause.
“There’s no drive in the bag.”
Every person near the stage looked at Dominic.
He shook his head.
“She had it.”
Agent Sloan stepped closer.
“Where would she have put it?”
“I don’t know.”
Vivienne remembered Chloe touching her throat after Miriam mentioned the charity account.
She remembered the secretary’s silver clutch.
Then she remembered something else.
A waiter had bumped into Chloe before she reached the service door.
Champagne had spilled.
Chloe had grabbed the waiter’s tray with both hands.
For two seconds, her bag had been open.
Vivienne turned toward Malcolm.
“The waiters.”
“What about them?”
“Find the server Chloe passed.”
Malcolm spoke into his radio.
Within minutes, security brought a young waiter named Daniel into the ballroom. He looked terrified.
“Did Ms. Mercer give you anything?” Agent Sloan asked.
“No.”
“Did she place anything on your tray?”
Daniel shook his head.
Then stopped.
“There was a napkin.”
“What kind of napkin?”
“A black cocktail napkin. I thought it was strange because ours are white.”
“Where is it?”
“I cleared the tray in the service pantry.”
Agent Sloan and two officers hurried toward the corridor.
Vivienne followed.
Dominic tried to come with them, but security blocked him.
“You’re no longer authorized in staff areas,” Malcolm said.
The service pantry smelled of coffee, lemon cleaner, and warm bread. Stacks of plates lined stainless-steel counters.
Daniel pointed toward a gray laundry bin.
“I put the used napkins there.”
An agent pulled on gloves.
One by one, he removed the damp white cloths.
Near the bottom, he found a black square of fabric folded around something hard.
Agent Sloan opened it.
Inside was a silver flash drive.
Dominic appeared in the doorway behind the guards.
When he saw the drive, every trace of color left his face.
Vivienne watched him.
“That isn’t an acquisition presentation, is it?”
He did not respond.
Agent Sloan sealed the drive inside an evidence bag.
“You will not access it,” Dominic said. “It contains privileged corporate communications.”
“We’ll obtain a warrant.”
“You don’t understand what’s on there.”
“That is becoming a familiar sentence tonight,” Vivienne said.
Dominic looked at her with something close to desperation.
“Vivienne, there are names on that drive.”
“Whose names?”
“People who will not tolerate exposure.”
Agent Sloan’s expression sharpened.
“Are you claiming someone threatened you?”
Dominic said nothing.
Vivienne stepped closer.
“Is that why you stole the money?”
“I was moving it.”
“For whom?”
“You need to take Sophie and leave the hotel.”
“My daughter is protected.”
“No one is protected.”
The words were quiet.
They frightened Vivienne more than his shouting had.
Before she could ask what he meant, every light in the service corridor went out.
Someone screamed in the ballroom.
Red emergency lamps flashed on.
Agent Sloan reached for the evidence bag.
A masked figure burst through the pantry door.
He struck one agent in the throat, shoved a metal cart into the second, and seized the bag from Sloan’s hand.
Vivienne saw only fragments.
Black clothing.
Gloves.
A silver watch.
A tattoo above the wrist.
The figure turned toward the loading corridor.
Julian appeared from the opposite doorway and tackled him.
They crashed into a stack of trays.
The masked man drove an elbow into Julian’s ribs and pulled a knife.
Vivienne grabbed the nearest object—a heavy glass coffee carafe—and swung it into the attacker’s wrist.
The knife hit the floor.
Agent Sloan lunged.
The man tore free, leaving part of his sleeve in Julian’s hand, and escaped through the fire door.
Security alarms began to shriek.
Sloan picked up the evidence bag.
The drive was still inside.
Julian leaned against the counter, breathing hard.
Vivienne saw blood on his shirt.
“Julian!”
“It’s a cut. I’m fine.”
She pressed a towel against his side.
Dominic stood in the doorway, staring at the torn fabric Julian had taken from the attacker.
A gold emblem was embroidered inside the sleeve.
Vivienne recognized it.
She had seen the same symbol on documents in Dominic’s home office.
A circle divided by three black lines.
Agent Sloan held it beneath the emergency light.
“What is this?”
Dominic did not answer.
Vivienne looked at him.
“You know.”
His eyes moved toward the ballroom, where Sophie and Noah were waiting.
When he finally spoke, his voice shook.
“The money wasn’t for me.”
“Then who was it for?”
Dominic looked at the drive in Agent Sloan’s hand.
“For the people who own everything you think belongs to you.”
A fire alarm sounded.
May you like
Smoke began pouring beneath the ballroom doors.
Someone had set fire to the hotel.
