CHAPTER 2 THE SERVICE CORRIDOR
CHAPTER 2
THE SERVICE CORRIDOR
Samantha’s shoulder struck the wall as she was dragged into the service corridor.
The ballroom behind her had vanished into darkness and confusion. Guests screamed. Chairs scraped across marble. Somewhere near the stage, a woman shouted for the lights to be restored.
The hand around Samantha’s wrist tightened.
“Keep moving.”
She recognized the voice.
Ethan.
For one stunned second, Samantha stopped resisting.
“You?”
“Quiet,” he hissed.
He pulled her farther down the narrow corridor, away from the ballroom.
Emergency lights flickered to life along the floor, casting dim red shadows over stacks of folded tablecloths, silver serving carts, and closed kitchen doors. Ethan moved quickly, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
Samantha twisted her arm.
“Let go of me.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“You just grabbed me in the dark!”
“Because Julian’s men were moving toward you.”
“What men?”
Ethan stopped beside a metal storage door.
He released her wrist but immediately placed one finger against his lips.
Footsteps thundered past the far end of the corridor.
Two men in catering uniforms ran toward the ballroom.
Neither carried food.
One held a radio.
The other had something heavy beneath his jacket.
Samantha pressed herself against the wall.
Ethan waited until they disappeared.
“They aren’t hotel staff,” he whispered.
“How do you know?”
“Because I hired them.”
Samantha stared at him.
Ethan looked ashamed.
“Not for this. Julian told me they were private security. He said Chairman Vance might try to remove you before the necklace was discovered.”
“You helped him trap me?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without excuse.
Samantha’s chest tightened.
“Then why should I trust you now?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Ethan opened the storage door.
Inside was a cramped room filled with wine crates and cleaning supplies. He motioned for her to enter.
Samantha remained where she was.
“No.”
“If Julian realizes you have the flash drive—”
“I don’t have it. Marcus does.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“That’s worse.”
Before Samantha could ask why, a gunshot cracked through the ballroom.
The sound was distant but unmistakable.
Samantha flinched.
Ethan pushed her into the storage room and closed the door behind them.
The space became nearly black.
Samantha backed away from him.
“What is happening?”
Ethan pulled out his phone. Its screen remained dark.
“They’ve jammed the internal network.”
“Marcus blocked the phones.”
“No. This is different. Vance security blocked outgoing signals. Someone else just shut down the hotel’s power and emergency communications.”
Samantha felt cold despite the heat of the small room.
“Julian?”
Ethan shook his head.
“Julian is reckless, cruel, and arrogant. But he isn’t capable of organizing something this large.”
“Then who is?”
Ethan did not answer.
He crouched beside a crate and reached behind it. His hand emerged holding a small emergency radio.
Samantha stepped back.
“You hid that here?”
“I hid several things.”
“Before the wedding?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him with disgust.
“You knew this was planned.”
“I knew about the necklace. I knew Julian intended to humiliate you. I knew he wanted everyone to believe you were unstable.”
“And the stolen money?”
“I found out three weeks ago.”
“The flash drive?”
“I copied the server after I realized the Harrington company wasn’t simply losing money. It was moving it.”
Samantha lowered her voice.
“Where?”
Ethan turned on the radio. Static hissed through the speaker.
“Shell companies. Private funds. Overseas accounts. Construction projects that never existed.”
“And my signature?”
“Used as collateral.”
Samantha closed her eyes.
She had known Julian had forged her name.
She had not understood the scale of it.
Nine hundred million dollars.
Enough to ruin entire families.
Enough to make people desperate.
Ethan adjusted the radio frequency.
A broken voice came through.
“—north stairwell compromised. Repeat, north stairwell—”
Static swallowed the rest.
Another voice responded.
“Package is moving toward the service level.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
Samantha watched him.
“What package?”
He looked toward the closed door.
“You.”
She almost laughed because the answer seemed too absurd.
Then she remembered the false accusation, the planted necklace, the forged contracts, and Julian’s recorded threat.
Samantha disappears from our lives permanently.
“Why would they call me a package?”
“Because whoever planned this doesn’t see you as a person.”
The radio crackled again.
“Chairman contained in main ballroom. Daughter unaccounted for.”
Samantha grabbed Ethan’s arm.
“My father is trapped?”
“Marcus will protect him.”
“They fired a gun!”
“That may have been a distraction.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No,” Ethan admitted. “I don’t.”
Samantha moved toward the door.
Ethan blocked her path.
“I have to go back.”
“If you return to the ballroom, they will find you.”
“My father is there.”
“And he came here to protect you.”
“That doesn’t mean I abandon him.”
Ethan held her gaze.
“You are exactly like him.”
Samantha shoved past him.
Ethan caught the door before she opened it.
“Listen to me. There is a secure exit beneath the kitchen. We can reach the underground parking garage.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“I can get you outside and send help.”
“My father brought help.”
“His team was prepared for financial crimes and crowd control. They weren’t prepared for an armed takeover.”
Samantha stared at him.
“You knew armed men were coming?”
“No.”
“But you’re not surprised.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Because the people behind the money have too much to lose.”
“Who are they?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation told Samantha he knew more than he had admitted.
She moved closer.
“Who is behind this?”
Before Ethan could respond, the storage-room handle turned.
Both of them froze.
A man tried the locked door.
“Open it.”
Ethan reached inside his jacket.
Samantha tensed, expecting a weapon.
Instead, he pulled out a second flash drive.
He pressed it into her palm.
“If we get separated, give this to your father.”
“I thought Marcus had the evidence.”
“He has the files from the Harrington server.”
“What does this contain?”
“The names of everyone who paid us.”
Samantha closed her fingers around it.
The man outside struck the door.
The metal rattled violently.
“Open the door now.”
Ethan whispered, “There’s another exit.”
Samantha looked around.
The room had no visible second door.
Ethan climbed onto a crate and pushed open a ceiling ventilation panel.
“You’re serious?”
“It connects to the laundry sorting room.”
“I’m not crawling through a vent.”
The door shook again.
A hinge bent.
Ethan looked at her.
“Then stay and explain that to them.”
He lifted himself into the opening.
Samantha glanced at the door.
Another strike split the lock plate.
She climbed onto the crate.
Ethan reached down.
She took his hand.
He pulled her into the narrow vent just as the storage-room door burst open.
Samantha crawled behind Ethan through darkness.
Metal pressed against her knees and palms. Dust filled the air. The ventilation shaft was barely wide enough for them to move.
Below, men entered the storage room.
“She was here.”
“Find the exit.”
Samantha stopped breathing.
A flashlight beam swept through the vent opening behind them.
“Go,” Ethan whispered.
They crawled faster.
The shaft turned sharply to the left.
Samantha’s dress caught on a metal screw.
She pulled once.
The fabric would not move.
“Ethan.”
He looked back.
“I’m stuck.”
He crawled toward her and tore the fabric free.
The sound seemed deafening.
Below them, one of the men shouted.
“They’re in the ceiling!”
A hand reached through the vent behind Samantha.
Fingers grabbed the torn edge of her dress.
She kicked backward.
The man lost his grip.
Ethan seized her wrist and dragged her around the corner.
A heavy impact shook the ventilation shaft.
Someone had climbed inside.
“They’re following us,” Samantha said.
“I know.”
Ahead, dim light appeared through another panel.
Ethan kicked it downward.
The panel crashed onto a large laundry table.
He lowered himself through the opening.
Samantha followed.
They landed inside a room filled with white sheets, garment bags, and rolling racks of staff uniforms.
Ethan pushed a laundry cart beneath the vent, blocking the opening.
“Move.”
They ran through a row of industrial washing machines.
Behind them, metal groaned.
The cart shifted.
Samantha reached the far door and pulled it open.
A hotel employee stood on the other side.
She was young, perhaps twenty-five, wearing a white service jacket. Her eyes widened when she saw Samantha’s torn evening dress.
“Ms. Vance?”
Samantha recognized her.
The woman had served champagne near the bridal suite earlier.
“What’s your name?” Samantha asked.
“Lena.”
“Can you help us reach the garage?”
Lena looked toward the laundry room.
Then toward Ethan.
Fear crossed her face.
“You shouldn’t be with him.”
Ethan stiffened.
Samantha turned.
“Why?”
Lena stepped backward.
“I saw him enter the security office before the power went out.”
Ethan’s expression became cold.
“You’re mistaken.”
“No, I’m not.”
Lena reached toward the wall and pressed a red alarm button.
Nothing happened.
The system was dead.
Ethan moved toward her.
“Don’t.”
Lena ran.
Ethan caught her before she reached the next corridor.
Samantha grabbed his jacket.
“Let her go.”
“She’ll lead them directly to us.”
“She’s terrified.”
“So am I.”
Lena struggled.
“I saw you give the order!”
Samantha froze.
“What order?”
Ethan released her.
Lena stumbled away, breathing hard.
“He was inside the security office with Julian,” she said. “They were watching the cameras. Julian told him to begin when Chairman Vance arrived.”
Samantha turned slowly toward Ethan.
He did not deny it.
The silence between them became heavier than any confession.
“You caused the blackout,” Samantha said.
“I started the original shutdown.”
“Why?”
“To prevent Julian from deleting the server.”
“You said someone else took control.”
“They did.”
“How convenient.”
Ethan looked toward the laundry-room door.
“We don’t have time for this.”
Samantha held up the second flash drive.
“Is this real?”
“Yes.”
“Or is it another trap?”
“It is the only reason I’m still alive.”
Lena looked between them.
“Security is searching every floor.”
“Hotel security?” Samantha asked.
Lena shook her head.
“Men I’ve never seen before.”
A crash sounded inside the laundry room.
The cart beneath the vent overturned.
Ethan moved immediately.
“We have to go.”
Lena pointed toward a staff elevator.
“It leads to the lower service level.”
They ran.
Lena pressed the call button repeatedly.
The elevator display remained frozen at the sixth floor.
“No power,” she said.
Ethan opened a nearby emergency cabinet and pulled out a key.
Samantha stared at him.
“You have a master key too?”
“Julian gave it to me.”
“Of course he did.”
Ethan unlocked a narrow stairwell door.
Cold air rose from below.
“This leads to the basement.”
Lena shook her head.
“The hotel plans show a maintenance passage on level B2. It reaches the parking structure.”
Ethan looked at her with new interest.
“How do you know?”
“My father worked here when the hotel was built.”
They entered the stairwell.
Samantha descended first, gripping the railing. Her heels made it difficult to move quickly, so she stopped and removed them.
Ethan glanced at her bare feet.
“You’ll cut yourself.”
“I’ll survive.”
They reached the next landing.
Voices echoed from above.
“Stairwell clear?”
“Check every level.”
Ethan motioned downward.
They continued.
The building seemed to tremble around them. Somewhere, machinery shut off with a heavy metallic groan.
On the B1 landing, the door suddenly opened.
Marcus stood on the other side.
His suit jacket was torn, and a thin cut marked his forehead, but he remained steady.
Samantha nearly collapsed with relief.
“Marcus.”
He pulled her through the doorway.
Two members of the Vance security team stood behind him.
“Your father is safe,” Marcus said.
“Where is he?”
“Still in the ballroom.”
“Why?”
“He refuses to leave until every guest is accounted for.”
That sounded exactly like Alexander.
Marcus looked at Ethan.
His expression changed instantly.
“Step away from her.”
Ethan raised his hands.
“I’m helping.”
“You disabled the security system.”
“To protect the files.”
“You trapped three hundred people in a dark ballroom.”
“I didn’t authorize armed men.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Who did?”
Ethan looked at Samantha.
She could see the fear in his face.
Not fear of Marcus.
Fear of the answer.
Before he could speak, the radio on Marcus’s shoulder came alive.
“Cole, we found the shooter.”
Marcus pressed the button.
“Status?”
“He’s dead.”
Samantha looked away.
Marcus’s voice remained controlled.
“Identification?”
“Hotel engineer. At least according to the uniform.”
“Weapon?”
“Found beside him. But there’s a problem.”
“What problem?”
A pause followed.
“The shot wasn’t fired from his gun.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
“The weapon hasn’t been discharged.”
The stairwell went silent.
Samantha understood before anyone said it.
The dead man had been placed there to take the blame.
Marcus looked toward Ethan again.
“Who knew the security layout?”
Ethan’s face became pale.
“Julian.”
“Who else?”
“Richard. The hotel manager. Several board members.”
“And you.”
“Yes.”
Marcus reached for Ethan.
A blast shook the stairwell.
The lights flashed white.
The landing beneath them collapsed with a roar of concrete and metal.
Marcus pushed Samantha backward as smoke filled the air.
Lena screamed.
One of the security officers disappeared through the broken floor.
Ethan caught the railing with both hands.
For several seconds, no one could see anything.
Then Samantha heard a voice through the smoke.
A familiar voice.
Julian.
“Samantha!”
She turned toward the lower stairwell.
Julian stood one level below them, holding a pistol.
His white wedding shirt was stained with dust. His tie was gone. A dark bruise marked his jaw.
He pointed the weapon upward.
Ethan moved in front of Samantha.
Julian laughed.
“Still pretending to be the hero, cousin?”
Marcus raised his own weapon.
“Drop the gun.”
Julian ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on Samantha.
“You should have left when I gave you the chance.”
Samantha’s hand tightened around the flash drive.
“You never gave me a chance.”
“I gave you everything.”
“You stole everything.”
Julian’s face twisted.
“You think your father built that empire honestly?”
Samantha stared at him.
Marcus said, “Don’t listen.”
Julian smiled.
“Did Chairman Vance ever tell you how he bought Harrington Resorts during the crash?”
“My father never bought your company.”
“No,” Julian said. “He bought the debt.”
Ethan looked down at him.
“Julian, stop.”
“He let our company drown, then offered to rescue it in exchange for control.”
Richard Harrington’s earlier words returned to Samantha.
Alexander had introduced them to lenders.
Protected the resorts during the recession.
Trusted Julian.
Julian took another step upward.
“My father spent fifteen years taking orders from yours. Every expansion. Every loan. Every board appointment.”
“That doesn’t justify stealing from me.”
“No. But it gave us a way inside.”
A siren began somewhere deep in the building.
Julian raised the gun higher.
“Give me the drive.”
Samantha hid it behind her back.
“What’s on it?”
“You don’t understand what you’re holding.”
“Then explain it.”
“It proves that Harrington Resorts moved money. It also proves where the money came from.”
Ethan shouted, “He’s lying.”
Julian looked at him.
“Tell her, Ethan.”
Ethan remained silent.
Julian smiled.
“The nine hundred million dollars did not come from the Vance family trust.”
Samantha felt the air leave her lungs.
“Then where?”
Julian’s answer came quietly.
“From Chairman Vance’s private accounts.”
Samantha looked at Marcus.
He did not react.
That frightened her more than denial would have.
“Marcus?”
His eyes remained on Julian.
“Do not give him the drive.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Julian’s smile widened.
“She doesn’t know, does she?”
“Shut up,” Marcus said.
“Her father didn’t come here to save her.”
Samantha’s heart began to pound.
Julian aimed the gun directly at her.
“He came here to recover the evidence before she discovered he created the entire scheme.”
Then a second weapon pressed against Samantha’s back.
She froze.
Lena’s frightened voice disappeared.
In its place came a calm, unfamiliar tone.
“Drop your weapon, Marcus.”
Samantha slowly turned her head.
Lena stood behind her holding a small black pistol.
The fear had vanished from her face.
Ethan whispered, “Who are you?”
May you like
Lena smiled.
“Someone Chairman Vance hoped never to see again.”
