Chapter 3 - The Hotel Breach
The digital clock on the hotel nightstand read 4:15 AM.
Emma sat perfectly still in the dark, watching the shadows shift beneath her door.
Someone was walking softly down the carpeted hallway.
The footsteps stopped directly outside her room.
A piece of thick plastic slid into the door crack, scraping against the metal latch.
Emma backed away slowly, clutching the heavy brass lamp in her right hand.
She had already barricaded the door with a heavy wooden dresser, just as her father had instructed.
The electronic lock beeped, flashing a green light as a master keycard was swiped.
The door pushed inward but slammed hard against the heavy dresser.
A muffled curse echoed from the hallway.
It was Cody.
He shoved his shoulder against the door, the wood groaning under his weight.
Emma grabbed her phone and dialed the local police, whispering her exact room number to the dispatcher.
The dispatcher told her that a patrol car was already pulling into the hotel parking lot.
Cody heard the sirens wailing in the distance and panicked.
He abandoned the door and sprinted down the hallway toward the emergency exit stairs.
Emma let out a shaky breath, sinking to the floor as flashing red and blue lights illuminated her window.
Two police officers knocked on her door a minute later, identifying themselves clearly.
She pushed the dresser aside and let them in, handing over the lockbox and the documents.
The older officer reviewed the papers, his expression shifting from routine concern to absolute shock.
He immediately called a federal financial crimes unit.
Meanwhile, Daniel was boarding a private jet he had chartered out of Chicago.
His wife, Rachel, sat beside him, her eyes burning with a fierce, protective rage.
Daniel’s phone buzzed with an incoming call from an unknown number.
He answered it, expecting it to be the local police confirming Emma’s safety.
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Instead, a deep, raspy voice spoke through the receiver.
The man told Daniel that his father owed the syndicate a lot of money, and since Richard was now broke, the debt belonged to Daniel.
