CHAPTER 3 : Room 1708
Claire ran toward the balcony stairs with two security officers behind her.
The stranger had vanished.
The side door opened into a private elevator lobby accessible only to senior Ashford executives. One elevator was descending.
Claire watched the floor numbers flash.
Seventeen.
Sixteen.
Fifteen.
“Stop the elevator,” she ordered.
The security officer entered an override code, but the panel rejected him.
“Someone changed the authorization.”
Marcus arrived carrying Noah.
“The hotel system has been locked from the inside.”
Claire looked toward the elevator.
“Where was it called from?”
The officer checked the console.
“Room 1708.”
Victoria, standing several feet away, suddenly went still.
Claire noticed.
“What is in Room 1708?”
“Nothing,” Victoria answered.
“Then why do you look afraid?”
Victoria turned away.
Claire took Noah from Marcus and headed toward the service stairs.
Adrian blocked her path.
“You are not taking the boy upstairs.”
“You do not give me orders anymore.”
“You have no idea what you are walking into.”
“Then tell me.”
Adrian lowered his voice.
“Daniel used that room during the final months before he disappeared. No housekeeping. No staff. Only him.”
Claire stared at him.
“You knew?”
“We all knew.”
Noah gripped her neck.
“Mom, I don’t want to go.”
Claire hesitated.
Marcus offered to stay with him, but Noah refused to let go.
“I stay with you.”
They climbed seventeen floors through the service stairwell.
When they reached the corridor, the lights were dim. Room 1708 stood at the far end.
Its door was open.
Inside, a lamp burned beside the bed.
A cup of coffee sat on the desk.
Steam still rose from it.
Someone had been there less than a minute earlier.
Claire searched the room while Marcus checked the bathroom.
No one.
Then Noah walked toward the window.
“Mom, look.”
A child’s drawing had been taped beneath the curtain.
Three people stood in front of a large house: a mother, a little boy, and a tall man.
Above them, someone had written:
WE WILL BE TOGETHER SOON.
Claire recognized Noah’s handwriting.
She turned sharply.
“Did you draw this?”
Noah shook his head.
“I drew it at school.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
Claire felt the room tilt beneath her.
Someone had taken the picture from Noah’s classroom.
Marcus opened a drawer.
Inside was Daniel’s wedding ring.
Claire picked it up with shaking fingers.
It was scratched exactly where Daniel had damaged it on their honeymoon.
A sound came from the hallway.
The door slammed shut.
Marcus rushed to it, but the electronic lock had activated.
Smoke began pouring from the ventilation system.
Claire covered Noah’s mouth with her hand.
Marcus tried the window.
Sealed.
The lights flickered.
Then a television on the wall turned on by itself.
Victoria appeared on the screen, standing somewhere inside the hotel.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Claire, listen carefully.”
Her voice trembled.
“The person who brought you into that room is not trying to expose our family.”
Behind Victoria, a shadow moved.
She glanced over her shoulder.
“They are trying to take Noah.”
May you like
The screen went black.
Then someone began unlocking the door from the other side.
