Chapter 5
I returned to the resort the next afternoon against medical advice.
Detective Quinn hated it.
My attorney loved it.
“Public control matters,” Adrian Cole said when he met me at the hospital entrance. “If Daniel controls the story, we spend months digging out.”
So I went back.
Barefoot no more.
Bandaged.
Bruised.
Wearing a black suit Priya had delivered from my private suite.
The staff lined the lobby.
Some cried when they saw me.
Some looked ashamed.
Some looked terrified.
I understood all three.
Daniel had been arrested for questioning but not charged yet.
Vanessa remained in a locked guest suite with police outside.
Marcus was missing.
I stood beneath the chandelier my grandfather had imported from Venice.
“My name is Elena Somor,” I said. “This resort belongs to the family trust my grandfather created, and I am resuming active authority today.”
A whisper moved through the staff.
“Anyone threatened under Daniel’s management may speak to my attorney or Detective Quinn. No retaliation. No silence.”
An older bellman named Tomas stepped forward.
His hands shook.
“Miss Elena,” he said, “your grandfather told me if anything happened to you, I should check the chapel wall.”
The chapel.
My pulse changed.
“What wall?”
“Behind the memorial plaque.”
We went together.
The small resort chapel smelled like wax and old flowers.
My parents’ names were carved on one wall.
My grandfather’s plaque hung beside them.
Tomas removed it with trembling fingers.
Behind it was a metal compartment.
Inside sat a sealed drive and a letter.
May you like
My grandfather’s handwriting.
If Daniel smiles too easily after I am gone, trust what I hid here.
