Chapter 2 - The Name on the Badge.
Claire woke to the smell of coffee and antiseptic wipes.
She was lying on a leather sofa in the ballroom's private library with a folded towel beneath her head.
A hotel medic had placed a narrow bandage along the scratch on her cheek.
Eleanor Whitmore sat in a chair nearby, still wearing the same dark blue gown.
Adrian stood at the window with his jacket off and his bow tie loosened.
He turned the instant Claire moved.
"Easy."
Claire pushed herself upright anyway.
"How long was I out?"
"Seven minutes," Adrian said.
"Then I need to get back downstairs."
Eleanor stared at her.
"Absolutely not."
Claire almost laughed.
"Mrs. Whitmore, my supervisor is going to think I abandoned the floor."
"Your supervisor watched you pull me out from under a chandelier."
Eleanor's voice remained calm, but there was steel beneath it.
"If he complains, he can complain to me."
The door opened.
Marcus Reed, the hotel's security director, entered with the general manager and an event coordinator named Paige Larson.
Reed was broad-shouldered, gray-haired, and too composed for a man whose ballroom had just fallen into chaos.
"Everyone is safe," he announced.
"The ballroom has been cleared, and the building engineer believes a mounting component failed."
Adrian turned away from the window.
"Believes?"
Reed gave him a professional smile.
"We won't know until the inspection is complete."
Claire remembered the steel bolt.
She also remembered a hand reaching for it.
"Someone picked something up from the floor."
The room went quiet.
Reed looked at her.
"What did you see?"
"A bolt. Maybe part of the chandelier mount."
"And someone removed it?"
Claire nodded.
"I couldn't see the face. Gray sleeve. Dark watch."
Paige folded her arms.
"There were hundreds of people moving around. It could have been maintenance."
"Maintenance should have been keeping people away," Adrian said.
Paige flushed.
Reed stepped in before the exchange sharpened.
"I'll review the security footage."
Eleanor leaned forward.
"The chandelier passed inspection this morning, didn't it?"
Reed hesitated.
Only for a second.
Claire noticed.
"According to the preliminary log, yes," he said.
Adrian's expression hardened.
"According to the preliminary log?"
"Mr. Whitmore, we are still gathering information."
Claire looked toward the doorway.
A server had stopped outside with a tray of water.
Behind him, a man in a gray suit crossed the corridor.
Claire's pulse jumped.
Same sleeve.
Same dark watch.
She stood too quickly.
The room tilted.
Adrian caught her elbow.
"What is it?"
Claire pointed toward the hallway.
"That man."
They all turned.
The corridor was empty.
Reed stepped outside, looked both ways, then returned.
"No one there."
"He was there," Claire insisted.
Paige gave her a sympathetic expression that somehow felt more insulting than disbelief.
"You hit the floor pretty hard."
Claire's face went cold.
"I know what I saw."
Adrian moved beside her.
"So do I."
Claire looked at him.
He held up his phone.
On the screen was a photograph taken by a guest seconds after the chandelier fell.
In the background, half hidden behind a column, stood a man in a gray suit.
May you like
His right hand was closed around something small and metallic.
And around his wrist was a black watch.
