Chapter 4
Maya arrived at my office before nine.
She did not bring her father.
“I want to ask you something without him listening,” she said.
I showed her into the conference room.
“Go ahead.”
“How long have you known I’m your sister?”
“Since you were born.”
She gripped the edge of the chair.
“I found out last night.”
“I know.”
“Did you ever want to meet me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“I was a teenager when you were little. I asked Elijah to introduce us. He said it would hurt his family.”
“My family,” she said.
“He meant the household he lived in.”
She sat down.
For a moment, she looked less like the woman who had laughed outside the hotel and more like someone trying to remember every family photograph she had ever seen.
“My mother knew?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Elijah says she did.”
“Then you’ll have to ask him what he told her. I wasn’t there.”
Maya looked at me.
“You recognized me at the entrance.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me make a fool of myself.”
“I answered your questions. You never asked who I was.”
“I asked if you were the valet.”
“That was the problem.”
She winced.
“I came to apologize,” she said. “I spoke to you with no respect. Andre heard it. Other guests heard it. I owe him an apology too.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I’m not asking you to make it easy for me.”
That was the first thing she had said that morning I trusted.
She stood, then hesitated.
“What was your mother like?”
I glanced at the photograph on my desk.
“Funny. Stubborn. She worked too much and never let anyone say work made her less than them.”
Maya studied the picture.
“She’s beautiful.”
“She was.”
I wanted to tell her more. The timing felt wrong. We had another problem in front of us.
“Victor has a financial interest in a renovation contractor,” I said.
Her face changed.
“Does Dad know?”
“I’m telling him today. Simone is checking the records.”
“I approved some event charges Victor gave me. I didn’t examine the contractor.”
“Keep the originals. Don’t confront him alone.”
“I won’t.”
She reached the door, then looked back.
“I wasn’t raised to think people in uniforms were beneath me.”
“I’m glad.”
“I still acted that way.”
“Yes.”
She left without defending it.
That afternoon, the auditor began work. The hotel released payroll records, shift logs, and event schedules. Andre’s notes helped identify dates worth examining without his name appearing in the first report.
The records showed a pattern. Staff hours had been changed after supervisors approved them. Valets, cleaners, and banquet servers were affected.
Victor said the changes were part of a software correction.
The auditor requested the edit history.
I met Elijah in his office.
“Did you approve Victor’s contractor?” I asked.
“He told me we needed a specialist for the west wing.”
“Did he tell you he had an ownership interest?”
“No.”
Elijah looked suddenly older.
“He’s been with me for fifteen years.”
“That isn’t an answer to the records.”
“I know.”
Maya came in while we spoke.
“I’ve asked my event managers to keep their own copies of closing times,” she said. “I should have done it when Andre wrote to me.”
Elijah nodded.
“I should have listened too.”
Neither of them looked comfortable saying it. I was glad they said it anyway.
Simone called with an update. Meridian Facilities Group had billed the hotel for services on nights the west wing was closed. The invoices had Victor’s approval.
“We’ll need an independent review of those charges,” she said. “I recommend suspending Victor’s access while it happens.”
Elijah agreed.
When Victor was informed, he demanded a meeting with all three of us.
He entered the boardroom carrying a folder and a smile that did not reach his eyes.
“You’re trusting a stranger over me?” he asked Elijah.
“He’s my son,” Elijah said.
Victor’s smile fell.
Maya looked at her father. I had not expected him to announce it that way. Neither had she.
Victor recovered quickly.
“Then this is a family takeover. You bring in a son no one knew about, and suddenly my work is under investigation.”
“Your invoices are under investigation,” I said.
“You have no authority here.”
“I haven’t invested a dollar.”
He turned to Maya.
“You signed the event approvals. If there’s a problem, it won’t stop with me.”
She went pale.
“I signed what I could verify,” she said. “I’ll give the auditor my records.”
May you like
Victor closed his folder.
“You should look carefully before you do.”
