Chapter 3 - Forty-Three Empty RoomsJonathan Pierce arrived in the lobby smiling.
That smile bothered Ethan more than Richard’s rage.
At forty-six, Jonathan looked exactly like the kind of executive investors trusted with impossible amounts of money—silver-trimmed hair, navy suit, perfectly measured movements, a face trained never to reveal surprise.
He kissed Claire on the cheek.
Then he turned toward Walter.
“Welcome back.”
Walter did not return the greeting.
“You accessed the accounting archive.”
Jonathan’s smile remained.
“I access accounting files every day. I’m the CFO.”
“Two minutes after Claire came downstairs.”
Jonathan looked toward Marcus.
“Is routine work now evidence of conspiracy?”
Marcus said nothing.
Claire stepped closer to her husband.
“Why did you access Crown Meridian?”
Jonathan finally stopped smiling.
“Who said I did?”
Walter answered.
“I did.”
He pushed the photocopied invoice across the marble counter.
Jonathan glanced at it.
Too quickly, Ethan thought.
A man seeing a shocking accusation should have needed longer.
Jonathan looked back up.
“This again.”
Claire froze.
Walter’s voice became quiet.
“Again?”
Jonathan realized what he had said.
“I mean vendor concerns generally.”
Walter watched him.
“You have seen this invoice.”
“I’ve seen thousands.”
“It contains your approval.”
“I approve thousands.”
“And Richard was copied.”
“That is normal for property-level expenditures.”
Richard nodded quickly.
“Exactly.”
Walter ignored him.
“Then you will not object to an independent forensic audit.”
Jonathan did not answer immediately.
Claire noticed.
“So do it,” she said.
He turned to her.
“Claire.”
“If there’s nothing wrong, authorize it.”
“This is not how responsible governance works.”
Walter almost laughed.
“Responsible governance?”
Jonathan’s tone sharpened.
“You disappeared from operations eight years ago. Claire rebuilt this company after your health scare. Now you walk in wearing thrift-store clothes, humiliate her management team, wave photocopies from an anonymous source, and demand a forensic investigation in the middle of the lobby.”
Walter’s eyes did not leave him.
“Why does that frighten you?”
“It doesn’t.”
“It should not inconvenience you either.”
Jonathan looked toward the surrounding guests.
“Can we at least move this upstairs?”
Claire agreed.
“Boardroom.”
Walter pointed toward Ethan.
“He comes.”
Richard objected.
“He is a suspended receptionist.”
“He is a witness.”
Jonathan studied Ethan for the first time.
The attention made Ethan uneasy.
“Mr. Cole,” Jonathan said pleasantly, “you should probably go home. This is a corporate matter.”
Ethan looked at Walter.
Then Claire.
Then Richard.
Richard’s expression carried a silent command.
Leave.
Ethan had spent three years obeying people who wore better suits than he did.
He was suddenly tired of it.
“I’ll stay.”
Jonathan’s smile returned.
“Of course.”
They crossed the lobby.
As Ethan stepped toward the elevator, Assistant Front Office Manager Lily Chen caught his sleeve.
She was thirty-one, usually calm, always precise.
Now she looked terrified.
“Ethan.”
He stopped.
She whispered, “Don’t go home alone.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
Richard turned toward them.
“Problem?”
Lily released Ethan immediately.
“No.”
Richard’s eyes lingered on her.
Ethan entered the elevator with the executives.
On the thirty-first floor, the boardroom overlooked Manhattan through glass walls.
Walter refused the head chair.
Instead, he sat beside Ethan.
Claire stood.
“Marcus, lock down financial systems relating to Crown Meridian. No deletion, modification, or external transfer without dual authorization.”
Jonathan said, “You cannot unilaterally freeze the CFO.”
“As CEO, I can preserve company records.”
“This is absurd.”
Walter looked at Marcus.
“Do it.”
Marcus hesitated.
His eyes moved to Claire.
Claire said, “That is an order.”
Marcus nodded.
Richard sat at the far end of the table, sweating.
Ethan noticed him texting beneath the tabletop.
Walter noticed too.
“Phone.”
Richard looked up.
“What?”
“Put it on the table.”
“You have no authority to confiscate my phone.”
“Correct.”
Walter leaned back.
“But if you send another message during this meeting, I will assume you are warning someone to destroy evidence.”
Richard slowly placed the phone down.
Jonathan gave him a look.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But Ethan caught it.
Claire opened a laptop.
“Crown Meridian Services was hired in February three years ago.”
Walter asked, “Who recommended them?”
Jonathan answered.
“Procurement.”
Claire scrolled.
“No.”
She looked up.
“You did.”
Jonathan’s face remained calm.
“I introduced several vendors.”
“Crown Meridian had existed for eleven weeks.”
“They offered competitive rates.”
Walter said, “At first.”
Claire kept reading.
“Year one: nine hundred thousand dollars.”
Jonathan nodded.
“Approximately.”
“Year two: two point one million.”
No one spoke.
“Year three: three point four.”
Claire’s voice changed.
“Jonathan.”
“Hotel costs increased.”
“Not that much.”
“The property needed deferred maintenance.”
Walter said, “Show us the work.”
Jonathan frowned.
“What?”
“Six point four million buys a great deal of maintenance.”
Walter looked around the pristine boardroom.
“Show me the purchase orders. Equipment. Labor reports.”
Jonathan answered too quickly.
“Richard would have property records.”
Everyone looked at Richard.
Richard’s eyes widened.
“Operations has them.”
“Good,” Walter said. “Bring them.”
Richard stood.
Marcus said, “Sit.”
Richard glared at him.
“I need to retrieve the files.”
“I’ll send security.”
Richard sat again.
Claire’s phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
“What?” Walter asked.
Claire turned the phone around.
A message from the hotel’s outside accounting firm.
URGENT: Documents requested for Crown Meridian review are unavailable. Vendor supporting records appear to have been deleted from shared storage at 2:47 p.m.
Ethan checked the wall clock.
2:53.
Six minutes earlier.
Jonathan stood.
“That does not prove anything.”
Claire stared at him.
“Who can permanently delete those records?”
“IT.”
“Who authorized access?”
Jonathan said nothing.
Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His gaze moved slowly toward Richard.
“Security found the login source.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
Marcus said, “Deletion was initiated from the general manager’s office.”
Richard stood so fast his chair rolled backward.
“That’s impossible.”
Walter remained seated.
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
“I wasn’t there.”
Marcus nodded.
“I know.”
Richard froze.
Marcus continued.
“The office camera shows someone entering at 2:42.”
“Who?”
Marcus looked toward Jonathan.
“Your executive assistant.”
Jonathan’s expression finally cracked.
Only for half a second.
But Claire saw it.
“Why was your assistant in Richard’s office?”
Jonathan replied, “I don’t know.”
Walter folded his hands.
“I think you do.”
Claire stared at the man she had been married to for sixteen years.
“Jonathan?”
He met her eyes.
And lied without blinking.
“I have no idea.”
Ethan suddenly remembered Lily’s warning.
Don’t go home alone.
He turned toward the glass wall.
Thirty-one floors below, the Grand Aurelia’s entrance looked tiny.
Then his phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
THEY ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS YOUR FAULT. CHECK YOUR LOCKER BEFORE SECURITY DOES.
Ethan’s blood went cold.
He stood abruptly.
Marcus looked at him.
“What is it?”
Ethan showed Walter the message.
Walter read it once.
Then he looked at Marcus.
“Where are employee lockers?”
“Basement level two.”
Walter stood.
“Then we go now.”
Richard’s face changed.
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Ethan saw it.
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