Chapter 6 - The Girl in the Photograph.
Nathan pushed the laundry cart through a service door.
“Run.”
Claire and Sloane followed.
Julian shouted behind them.
“Stop them!”
The corridor exploded into motion.
Nathan slammed a rolling rack into the doorway.
Metal hangers crashed across the floor.
The guards stumbled.
Claire pushed the cart with everything she had.
Anne moaned beneath the blankets.
“Sorry, Mom.”
They reached the employee cafeteria.
Lunch workers scattered.
Sloane pointed toward a side exit.
“That leads to the conference wing.”
Nathan nodded.
“Too public.”
“Exactly.”
Sloane shoved open the door.
They emerged beside a ballroom filled with nearly four hundred investors.
A giant screen displayed the Ashford Hotels logo.
Harrison Ashford stood onstage.
Claire stopped.
She had seen his face in newspapers for years.
Now she saw pieces of herself.
The eyes.
The chin.
The way he held his shoulders.
Her stomach turned.
Harrison was presenting a new international expansion plan.
Applause filled the ballroom.
Sloane looked at Claire.
“That’s him.”
Claire could not answer.
Harrison glanced toward the side entrance.
His words stopped.
He saw Sloane first.
Then Nathan.
Then the laundry cart.
Finally, Claire.
His face changed.
Only for half a second.
But Claire saw it.
Recognition.
He knew exactly who she was.
Harrison immediately turned toward the audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll take a short recess.”
Claire pushed through the ballroom.
Investors moved aside.
Julian and security appeared behind them.
Harrison stepped down from the stage.
“Claire.”
She stopped.
Sloane stared at him.
“You know her.”
Harrison’s silence answered.
Claire pulled the photograph from her apron.
She held it in front of him.
“You wrote this?”
Harrison looked at the picture.
Something almost human entered his expression.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother.”
His face hardened.
“Anne is dead.”
Claire pulled away the blankets.
Anne opened her eyes.
Harrison staggered backward.
For the first time, the famous billionaire looked genuinely afraid.
Anne whispered.
“Hello, Harrison.”
Nearby investors began raising phones.
Sloane stepped onto the stage.
She grabbed a microphone.
“Everyone stay exactly where you are.”
Harrison looked at his daughter.
“Put that down.”
“No.”
Sloane’s voice echoed throughout the ballroom.
“I think my father owes this room an explanation.”
Julian reached Claire.
He grabbed her elbow.
Nathan immediately seized him.
Julian struggled.
“Claire, listen to me.”
She pulled free.
“No.”
Harrison looked at Claire.
His eyes dropped toward her apron.
Julian must have warned him.
“The drive you took contains confidential corporate information.”
Claire smiled.
“Then you won’t mind explaining it to the police.”
Harrison’s expression became flat.
“There will be no police.”
Sloane stared.
“What does that mean?”
Harrison looked toward the ballroom doors.
They closed simultaneously.
Electronic locks clicked.
The chandeliers dimmed.
The giant screen behind him went black.
Harrison slowly removed his tie.
Then he looked at everyone recording.
“You people think this is a family scandal.”
His voice became colder.
“It isn’t.”
Claire touched the USB in her pocket.
Harrison looked directly at her.
“That drive contains enough information to send hundreds of people to prison.”
May you like
He paused.
“Including people who do not allow witnesses to walk away.”
