Chapter 3 - The Threat in the Lobby
My blood turned to ice water. The air left my lungs in a sharp gasp, but years of instincts—years of running a corporate negotiation department before my retirement—forced my body to remain still.
I looked at Leo. He saw the shift in my posture and immediately stood up, stepping toward the bathroom to guard Lily.
"Evelyn," I said, my voice steady, cold, and stripped of all panic. "You're supposed to be in Australia."
A light, mocking laugh rustled through the receiver. "Oh, Eleanor. You always were a bit too trusting. Australia was such a convenient narrative, wasn't it? It kept you quiet in your little Atlanta house for three whole years while I restructured the Vance estate."
"Where are you?" I demanded, moving toward the window and peering through the edge of the velvet curtains down toward the street.
"I’m sitting in a very comfortable leather armchair in the lobby of the Marshall House," Evelyn replied smoothly. "Marcus is standing right beside the front desk elevator doors. You have five minutes, Eleanor. Bring Lily down to the lobby, hand her over to Marcus, and we will let you walk back to your car unscathed. You can go back to your quiet life, weep for your dead son, and pretend this afternoon never happened."
"And if I don't?" I asked, my grip tightening on the receiver.
"If you don't," Evelyn lowered her voice, the cultured warmth vanishing, replaced by a razor-sharp threat, "Marcus will come up to Suite 214. He has a master keycard provided by a very well-paid front desk clerk. He will enter the room, reclaim my daughter, and your son—who is officially a deceased fugitive wanted for parental kidnapping—will suffer a very tragic, fatal overdose right in front of you. Do you understand me, Eleanor?"
The line went dead with a soft click.
I set the phone back on the base. My heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird, but my mind was operating with terrifying clarity.
Leo rushed to my side. "What did she say? Was that Evelyn?"
"She’s in the lobby," I said quickly. "She has a man named Marcus with her at the elevators. They have a keycard to this suite. We have less than three minutes."
Leo’s face went dead white. "Oh God... Marcus... Mom, he carries a suppressed firearm. He’s a professional!"
"Calm down!" I snapped, grabbing his jacket. "This is an old historic hotel, Leo. Built in 1848. I chose this place specifically because I stayed here ten years ago for an architectural preservation conference. Every suite on the second floor connects to the old servant fire stairs behind the linen closet!"
I ran to the heavy wooden wardrobe in the corner of the room, pulling open the double doors. Behind the hanging laundry bags was a small, brass-latched utility door used by maintenance staff to access the historic plumbing stacks.
"Lily!" I called out.
The little girl stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed in my cashmere sweater, her eyes wide as she sensed the sudden, electrifying danger in the room.
"Grandma, are the bad people here?" she asked softly.
"No, sweetie," I said, kneeling down and looking into her small face. "We are playing a game of hide-and-seek. I need you to be as quiet as a little mouse, okay?"
Lily nodded solemnly, grabbing her rag doll tightly.
I turned to Leo. "Take Lily through this utility door. It leads down a spiral iron staircase directly into the hotel's laundry kitchen on the basement level. Out the back delivery door, there is an alleyway that empties onto Houston Street. My rental car is parked right near the pharmacy corner."
I reached into my handbag, pulled out the digital rental car key fob, and pressed it into Leo’s palm.
"What about you?!" Leo begged, holding my hand. "I can't leave you here with Marcus!"
"I am a sixty-two-year-old grandmother, Leo," I said, a dark, fierce smile touching my lips. "Evelyn wants a show. I am going to give her one, but I’m going to make sure the entire hotel watches it."
"Mom—"
"Go!" I ordered, pushing him toward the wardrobe door. "Drive to the safe house property I inherited from your father in Tybee Island! The address is on the car registration in the glove box! Do not stop for anything!"
Leo looked at me for one long, agonizing second, then scooped Lily into his arms and slipped through the small utility door into the darkness of the historic staircase, pulling the latch shut behind them.
I closed the wardrobe doors, smoothed down my coat, and walked over to the suite’s main door.
I took a deep breath.
Click.
The lock engaged. I flipped the heavy brass security latch into place.
Ten seconds later, heavy, deliberate footsteps stopped outside in the hallway.
A keycard swiped against the electronic reader—beep, green light. The door handle turned, but the heavy brass latch held the door firmly in place, leaving a two-inch gap.
A large, suited man with a shaved head and a sharp, scarred jawline looked through the crack. Marcus.
"Mrs. Vance," Marcus said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp. "Open the door. Don't make this difficult."
"I think you have the wrong room, sir," I shouted at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing down the historic hotel corridor. "HELP! FIRE! POLICE! THERE IS AN ARMED INTRUDER TRYING TO BREAK INTO ROOM 214!"
Marcus’s eyes widened in sudden fury. "Shut up, old woman!"
"HELP! HE HAS A GUN! FIRE! FIRE IN THE HALLWAY!" I screamed with everything I had, picking up a heavy brass desk lamp and smashing it violently against the wooden door frame.
The noise rang out like a gunshot through the carpeted hallway. Instantly, doors down the corridor began to unlatch. Guest voices shouted in confusion. Panic erupted in the hall as tourists began spilling out of their rooms.
Marcus cursed loudly under his breath, realizing he had lost the element of surprise and silence. He stepped back from the door, pulled his jacket over his face, and bolted toward the main stairs as hotel security guards came rushing up from the lobby.
I stood behind the latched door, my heart pounding, a cold smile on my face as I listened to the chaos in the corridor.
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Evelyn thought she was playing a quiet game of chess in the shadows.
She had no idea I was about to turn on every light in Georgia.
