Chapter 7 - What Lies Beneath
The beam of light cut into a tiny, windowless concrete vault no larger than a storage closet.
Inside, resting on a dusty wooden table in the center of the room, was a heavy steel safe and a black leather briefcase.
And lying on the concrete floor beside the table were the decaying remnants of a man’s leather coat, a pair of eyeglasses with broken lenses, and a steel security trunk sealed with heavy duct tape.
Olivia’s breath hitched in her throat. She knelt beside the leather coat, her gloved fingers gently picking up the cracked eyeglasses.
They matched the frames Daniel Carter wore in his 2011 personnel photograph.
"Daniel," she whispered softly, tears rising in her eyes.
He hadn't been carried out of the hotel in a dripping trunk. His body had been sealed inside this concrete tomb fifteen years ago, along with the evidence of Victor’s theft.
Olivia stood up, her hand trembling as she opened the black leather briefcase resting on the wooden table.
Inside were four thick paper ledgers, a stack of certified bank transfer receipts, and a handwritten diary bound in brown leather.
Olivia opened the diary.
The first page bore her father’s signature: James Sterling - October 12, 2011.
Olivia’s hands shook as she read her father’s distinct handwriting:
If anyone finds this room, know that Daniel Carter was an honest man. Victor Grant forged my signature on the development transfers to frame us both. Daniel discovered the fraud and brought it to me. We hid these ledgers here to protect ourselves before Victor realized we knew.
Victor caught Daniel in the cellar tonight. I could not save him. Victor threatened to murder Olivia if I went to the authorities or revealed what happened. I am surrendering my shares in the Bellweather to buy my daughter’s life.
May God forgive me for staying silent.
James Sterling.
Olivia stood in the cold darkness of the concrete vault, tears streaming down her cheeks, the heavy brown diary pressed tightly against her chest.
Her father hadn't stayed silent to cover up his own greed. He hadn't been knee-deep in grand larceny.
He had given up his empire, his hotel, and his reputation to keep her safe from a ruthless murderer.
Victor had lied to her on the sixth floor. He had used her love for her father's memory to try to break her spirit once again.
"He died protecting me," Olivia whispered into the silent room. "And I am going to finish what he started."
She gathered the four paper ledgers, the transfer receipts, and her father’s diary, shoving them into her plastic cleaning caddy beneath a layer of dirty towels and bleach bottles.
She took one last look at Daniel Carter’s glasses, stepped out of the concrete vault, and pulled the steel hatch shut behind her.
As she stepped back into the wine cellar corridor, the heavy steel B2 fire door slammed shut with a deafening boom.
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The electronic lock clicked into place.
The lights went completely dark.
