Chapter 5 - The Man at Her Mother's Table.
Claire had trusted her uncle Grant Holloway since she was a child.
After her father died, Grant had become the man who showed up for every birthday, every graduation, and every difficult board meeting.
He had also become vice chairman of Bennett Hospitality.
And he had spent the last year insisting that Ethan deserved a formal role in the company after the wedding.
Claire stood by the windows of her bridal suite and called him at 1:18 a.m.
Grant answered immediately.
"Claire, is everything all right?"
His concern sounded natural.
That frightened her more than anger would have.
"I need the access logs for Conference Room A."
There was a pause.
"Tonight?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Claire looked at Naomi.
"Because Ethan may have recordings of private board meetings."
Grant exhaled slowly.
"That's a serious accusation."
"I didn't accuse anyone."
Claire let the silence sit between them.
"I asked for access logs."
Grant's tone cooled.
"You should get some sleep."
"Send me the logs."
"Claire, tomorrow is your wedding."
"Exactly."
Grant did not answer for several seconds.
Then he said something Claire would remember for years.
"Some information can damage more than it protects."
The call ended.
Naomi stared at Claire.
"That wasn't a no."
"It wasn't a yes either."
Five minutes later, Grant texted that the logs were archived and could not be accessed until Monday.
Marcus quietly shook his head.
"That's not true."
Claire looked at him.
As head of executive protection, Marcus knew the hotel and company security systems better than most directors did.
"How fast can we get them legally?"
"With authorization from the chair?"
He looked toward Claire's mother's room downstairs.
"Ten minutes."
Claire had tried not to involve Vivian Bennett until she understood what she was facing.
That option was gone.
Her mother arrived wearing a navy robe over her pajamas, furious at first and frightened by the time Naomi reached the third suspicious document.
Vivian read Ethan's vendor payment twice.
Then she read the fake reception signing schedule.
"Grant knew about this?"
"I don't know."
Claire handed her the phone.
"But he doesn't want us checking."
Vivian authorized the security audit.
The access logs arrived eleven minutes later.
Ethan's badge had never entered Conference Room A.
Grant's had.
More troubling, Grant's badge had opened the room six times after midnight over the past four months.
Each visit occurred the night before a Bennett board meeting.
Naomi leaned closer to the screen.
"Look at the guest access records."
A temporary badge had entered with Grant on four of those nights.
The badge was registered to Mercer Strategic Hospitality.
Claire's mother sat down slowly.
"Grant told me that company belonged to a consultant from Chicago."
Claire felt something colder than heartbreak settle inside her.
"It belongs to Ethan."
Vivian looked at her daughter.
"Cancel the wedding."
Claire expected relief.
Instead, she looked at the clock.
1:47 a.m.
Hundreds of guests were sleeping in rooms above and below them.
Ethan still believed he had ten hours to convince her.
Grant still believed she did not have the access logs.
Claire closed the black folder and stood.
"Not yet."
Her mother stared at her.
"Why?"
May you like
Claire slipped the new logs inside the folder.
"Because if I cancel it now, they'll spend the next eight hours erasing everything they think we haven't found."
