Chapter 4 - THE SECRET IN WARREN CROWE'S OFFICE
Three days after the gala, Elias received a report from his financial investigator.
Several suspicious transfers had been traced to companies connected to Warren Crowe.
The amounts were enormous.
But the most disturbing discovery wasn't the money.
It was a series of payments to a private security contractor.
The contractor had supplied personnel to the Orpheum Crown Hotel.
Some of those personnel had been among the attackers.
Elias sat in his office reviewing the documents.
Gabriel Torres, his closest associate, stood beside the desk.
“We have enough to hand over.”
Elias nodded.
“Do it.”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Everything?”
Elias looked up.
“Everything connected to the attack.”
Gabriel studied him.
Then nodded.
“Understood.”
Avery was in the suite when Elias called.
“Are you busy?”
She looked at Milo sleeping on the sofa.
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether you're calling to tell me another man wants me dead.”
Elias went silent.
Avery closed her eyes.
“Sorry.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“You have every right to be angry.”
She sighed.
“What do you need?”
“I wanted to ask whether you'd be willing to review some event records.”
Avery frowned.
“Why me?”
“You know the hotel staff.”
“And?”
“You noticed people who didn't belong.”
She looked down.
“I was just doing my job.”
Elias smiled faintly.
“You're very good at it.”
Avery hesitated.
Then said, “Send me what your lawyers say I can review.”
The records revealed something strange.
Three catering employees had been added to the staff list only hours before the gala.
Their names were unfamiliar.
Their employment documents were incomplete.
And one had been assigned to a service corridor that wasn't supposed to be staffed.
Avery recognized the location immediately.
“The linen storage room.”
Elias leaned forward.
“What?”
“That's where I heard Crowe and Rourke.”
She pointed at the schedule.
“Someone put an unfamiliar employee outside that room.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Why?”
Avery studied the document.
Then looked up.
“Maybe they weren't guarding the room.”
Elias waited.
She swallowed.
“Maybe they were waiting for someone to overhear.”
The room went silent.
Elias looked at the schedule again.
Then whispered, “A trap.”
May you like
Avery nodded.
“And I walked straight into it.”
