You told me he would.”
Lauren looked at Sarah.
It was only a glance, but Theo heard the movement of her shoes.
“Who else is in the room?” he asked.
Sarah answered quickly.
“Two witnesses.”
“Names.”
“Lauren and Paige.”
Theo faced the doorway.
“Did either of you see me touch Odessa?”
Neither woman spoke.
Sarah’s ring struck the folder again.
Click.
“Their written accounts are included,” she said.
Theo nodded once.
“Odessa, find them.”
The statements were three pages deeper.
Lauren’s claimed Theo had thrown a coffee cup against the wall.
Paige’s said he had called Odessa worthless and ordered Sarah to dismiss her.
Odessa looked around the spotless suite.
The coffee cup was on the table, unbroken.
There were no stains on the cream carpet and no marks on the wall.
“These are signed,” Odessa said.
Lauren’s breathing changed.
Paige stared straight ahead.
Theo asked, “At what time did they claim this happened?”
“Eight twelve.”
“And when did your service card open my door?”
Odessa checked the small printed log clipped behind the housekeeping schedule.
“Eight forty-three.”
The room tightened.
Theo’s attorney spoke.
“Keep that card and the log.
Do not hand either to hotel management.”
Sarah’s voice sharpened.
“You cannot instruct my employee to remove hotel records.”
Theo lifted his chin.
“Your employee?”
For the first time since entering, Sarah seemed to remember where she was.
The Whitcomb Grand was not merely a hotel where Theo Kane happened to be staying.
It was one of the most valuable properties in Kane Hospitality Group.
His father had acquired it twenty years earlier and turned its penthouse into a private corporate suite.
Sarah had counted on Theo being treated like a difficult guest.
She had forgotten he owned the building.
“Odessa,” Theo said, “read the last document.”
The final page was titled as a temporary authorization.
It stated that Theodore Kane voluntarily transferred his voting authority to the company’s acting leadership until a review of his conduct and capacity could be completed.
At the bottom was a signature that looked polished, confident, and completely wrong.
Theo held out his hand.
“Guide my fingers to it.”
Odessa placed his fingertips at the edge of the signature.
He traced the ink, then moved to the lower corner of the page.
His thumb passed over the paper once.
Then again.
“There is no raised seal,” he said.
Sarah’s face lost color.
