The ring tapped twice against the other side of the penthouse door.
Click.
Click.
Odessa stood over the open folder while Theo’s attorney answered on speaker.
“Theo?” the voice said.
“What happened?”
Theo did not respond immediately.
His fingers remained pressed against the bottom of the last page, moving slowly across the paper as if he were reading something no one else could see.
“Stay on the line,” he said.
“Record the time and everyone who enters this room.”
The door opened before Odessa could move.
Sarah Merritt stepped inside with Lauren and Paige behind her.
Her blonde hair was pinned perfectly.
Her red lipstick had not shifted.
The ring on her right hand struck the metal folder clasp as she reached for it.
Click.
Theo turned his head toward the sound.
Sarah stopped smiling.
“Odessa,” she said, “that folder is hotel property.
You had no authority to bring it here.”
“You handed it to me,” Odessa replied.
“I instructed you to deliver a service acknowledgment.
I did not instruct you to open confidential documents.”
Theo’s attorney spoke through the phone.
“Sarah Merritt, is that you?”
Sarah’s eyes moved to the device on the table.
“This is an internal staffing matter,” she said.
“No,” Theo answered.
“It became a corporate matter when someone placed a transfer of voting authority beneath a housekeeping form.”
Lauren shifted near the door.
Paige remained rigid beside her.
Sarah took one step toward the table.
“Mr.
Kane, you are misunderstanding what you’re holding.”
“I’m not holding anything.” Theo kept his hands flat on the arms of his chair.
“Odessa is.”
The distinction made Sarah hesitate.
Theo turned slightly toward Odessa.
“Read the first statement exactly as written.”
Odessa looked down.
Her name appeared at the bottom of the page beneath a blank signature line.
Above it was a detailed account of an incident that had never occurred.
“On January fourteenth at eight ten in the morning,” she read, “I entered the penthouse suite assigned to Theodore Kane.
Mr.
Kane shouted abusive language, seized my left wrist, and threatened to terminate every employee on the floor.”
Theo’s expression did not change.
Odessa continued.
“I feared for my safety and believe Mr.
Kane is unable to interact responsibly with hotel personnel.”
The words felt dirty in her mouth.
Sarah folded her arms.
“It is a draft.
We prepare templates when staff members report a serious incident.”
“I never reported one,” Odessa said.
“You told me he made you uncomfortable.”
“No.
