Elena stared at him for a long moment. Then, she slowly nodded.
“Fine,” she said coldly. “I’ll go down to the security office. I need to make sure the cameras in the loading dock are wiped from this morning when Thomas tried to come back in.”
“Make it quick,” Marcus said. “I need to review these contracts before Vance gets back from the lounge.”
Elena turned and walked out of the suite. The heavy doors clicked shut behind her.
Marcus stood alone in the room. He finished his scotch, set the glass down, and walked toward the bathroom. A moment later, I heard the sound of the shower turning on.
This was my only chance.
I slowly released my grip on Leo. My muscles were screaming, cramped and shaking from the tension.
“Stay exactly right here,” I whispered into his ear. “Do not make a single sound.”
Leo nodded, his eyes wide with fear in the dark.
I pushed the wooden closet door open. It creaked slightly, a terrifyingly loud noise in the quiet room, but the sound of the running shower masked it.
I slipped out of the closet and sprinted silently across the thick carpet.
I reached the glass desk. I grabbed the brown manila envelope containing Thomas’s files and shoved it inside the front pocket of my hoodie. I reached for the black burner phone, turning off its screen, and slid it into my pocket as well.
I had everything I needed to prove their conspiracy. The forged documents, the wire transfers, and the phone connecting Marcus to the mechanic.
I turned back toward the closet to grab Leo.
Suddenly, a massive alarm klaxon erupted from the ceiling.
The sound was deafening, a high-pitched, rhythmic wailing that vibrated in my teeth. The main lights in the suite instantly shut off, replaced by spinning red emergency strobes.
The shower stopped abruptly.
“What the hell?” Marcus yelled from the bathroom.
I froze in the center of the room.
The digital intercom on the glass desk crackled to life. Elena’s voice blasted through the speaker, frantic and breathless.
“Marcus! Get out of the suite!” Elena screamed. “I just checked the lobby terminal. The front desk clerk was fired ten minutes ago. Her master keycard was stolen. The system flagged the master card swiping into the Presidential Suite. She’s in the building, Marcus! She’s in the room with you right now!”
The bathroom door slammed violently open.
Marcus stepped out, a towel wrapped around his waist, holding a heavy black steel fireplace poker in his hand.
His eyes locked onto me through the flashing red strobe lights.
His face contorted into a mask of pure, murderous rage.
“Dani,” he snarled, his voice dropping into a guttural, terrifying pitch.
I didn't hesitate.
I spun around and sprinted toward the main double doors. I slammed my hand against the digital exit button.
Nothing happened.
The small screen above the handle read: INITIATING SECURE LOCKDOWN. EXECUTIVE OVERRIDE REQUIRED.
Elena had locked the entire 50th floor from the security room. The elevators were shut down. The stairwells were electronically sealed.
We were trapped inside a steel box in the sky with a man who wanted us dead.
Marcus slowly began walking toward me, tapping the heavy steel poker against the palm of his hand.
“You just couldn't stay away, could you?” he said, a sick smile spreading across his face. “You had to come back and play the hero. Well, congratulations, Dani. You just saved me the trouble of waiting for a car crash.”
He raised the iron bar and lunged.
Adrenaline, sharp and electric, exploded through my veins.
As Marcus swung the heavy steel poker toward my head, I dropped to the floor, rolling wildly across the thick carpet.
The iron bar smashed into the solid mahogany door with a deafening crack, splintering the heavy wood into jagged pieces.