Chapter 2 - The Floor That Didn't Exist
Jackson reached the stairwell before hotel security could stop him.
He took the stairs two at a time.
“Emily!”
No answer.
The elevator had disappeared somewhere between the seventeenth and eighteenth floors, but according to the manager, there was nothing unusual there.
Jackson knew better.
Nothing about tonight was normal.
On the eighteenth floor, he burst through the stairwell door.
Empty corridor.
Soft music.
Gold sconces.
Closed guest-room doors.
Then he noticed something on the carpet.
A white lace ribbon.
Jackson picked it up.
It matched Emily's uniform.
“Emily?”
A faint metallic sound came from behind a service door.
Jackson opened it.
A narrow maintenance corridor stretched into darkness.
At the end stood the elevator.
Its doors were open.
Empty.
Jackson's stomach tightened.
Then he saw a second object on the floor.
Emily's employee badge.
He picked it up.
EMILY CARTER.
So she hadn't changed her name.
Someone had hidden her in plain sight.
Jackson heard footsteps behind him.
He turned sharply.
The hotel manager stood there, breathing hard.
“Mr. Reed, you shouldn't be here.”
Jackson studied him.
“How did you know Emily saved me?”
The manager hesitated.
A mistake.
Jackson stepped closer.
“I never publicly released her identity.”
“I heard—”
“From whom?”
Silence.
Jackson's voice dropped.
“Who told you?”
The manager swallowed.
“A man came here two weeks ago.”
“What man?”
“He showed us her photograph. He said if anyone asked about her, we were supposed to contact him.”
Jackson felt cold.
“Did you?”
The manager looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you entered the hotel.”
Jackson grabbed his phone.
“Give me the number.”
“I don't have—”
“Give me the number.”
The manager finally complied.
Jackson called his security chief, Marcus Hale.
“Marcus, lock down every exit.”
“What's happening?”
“I found Emily.”
Silence.
Marcus knew what that name meant.
“Where?”
“Whitmore Hotel.”
“I'll be there in eight minutes.”
Jackson disconnected.
Then another sound came from the dark corridor.
A woman's gasp.
Jackson ran.
He found a door partly open.
Inside was a housekeeping storage room.
Emily sat against the wall.
Alive.
Jackson rushed toward her.
She recoiled.
“No!”
“Emily, it's me.”
“You have to leave.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“They weren't trying to scare you that night, Jackson.”
“They?”
“The crash wasn't an accident.”
“I know that now.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
Jackson crouched in front of her.
Emily looked into his eyes.
“Your brakes didn't fail.”
She reached into her pocket and removed a tiny flash drive.
“Someone cut them.”
Jackson stared at it.
“And I know who ordered it.”
A door slammed somewhere behind them.
Emily's face changed.
“They're here.”
Jackson stood.
“Stay behind me.”
“No, Jackson—”
Heavy footsteps approached.
Jackson searched the room.
No weapon.
No second exit.
The footsteps stopped outside.
The handle slowly turned.
Jackson positioned himself in front of Emily.
The door opened.
Marcus appeared.
Jackson exhaled.
“Marcus.”
But Emily didn't.
She stared at Jackson's security chief in absolute terror.
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
“Jackson…”
Marcus looked at her.
May you like
Emily's hand closed around Jackson's sleeve.
“He was there the night your car crashed.”
