Chapter 7 - The Room Without a Window
“Mother not to accompany.”
I read those words until the letters blurred.
Grant hadn't been reacting to my attempt to leave him.
He'd planned to separate me from Rosie before I ever reached the altar.
I looked at Detective Ellis.
“He knew.”
She nodded slowly.
“The records suggest this was arranged in advance.”
I thought about the beautiful wedding dress.
The flowers.
The musicians waiting downstairs.
The guests who believed they were attending a celebration.
While everyone fussed over centerpieces and champagne, Grant had been arranging to take away my child.
“Why?” I whispered.
Roman looked at the hotel security images.
“Because he needed you frightened enough to obey him.”
The detective asked us to remain in the dining room while officers verified the fourth-floor location.
I hated it.
Every instinct in my body screamed to run upstairs.
But I remembered Rosie's voice.
Aunt Beth came when the man wouldn't let me out.
My sister was with her.
And I had to believe she was trying to keep Rosie safe.
Anthony spread the hotel's floor plan across the table.
Room 4C had no exterior windows.
It was a private hospitality suite beside an unused conference room.
Its main door opened onto a short service hallway.
There was another exit through a connected storage area.
Denise explained that hotel staff sometimes used the suite for visiting executives.
Grant had booked it under his company's name.
“Who has access?” Roman asked.
“His security team, the assigned hotel staff, and management.”
Detective Ellis examined the plan.
“We'll have officers cover both approaches. No one enters until we know the child isn't in immediate danger.”
I watched her finger trace the narrow hallway.
“Rosie hates rooms without windows,” I whispered.
Everyone looked at me.
“She got stuck in a school supply closet when she was five. Only for a few minutes, but she was terrified.”
I swallowed.
“Now she won't even close her bedroom door all the way.”
Roman lowered his eyes.
I could see how much that hurt him.
He had no reason to know my daughter.
No obligation to care about her fear.
Yet he looked as though somebody had told him his own child was trapped upstairs.
“Evelyn,” he said quietly, “when we find her, she'll need to hear your voice.”
I nodded.
“She'll hear it.”
A few minutes later, the detective returned with new information.
Hotel staff had confirmed that food had been delivered to Room 4C.
Two sandwiches.
A bottle of water.
And a small carton of chocolate milk.
I began crying.
Chocolate milk.
Rosie always asked for it when she was scared.
At least somebody had given her something to drink.
The detective spoke gently.
“It's a positive sign. Someone is caring for her immediate needs.”
Then she added, “But we still need to understand what Grant intends to do.”
Roman looked at the notebook.
“He wants to destroy Nico's records and have me publicly discredit him.”
“Why publicly?” I asked.
“Because a written statement alone isn't enough. He wants me to tell everyone my brother invented the safety concerns.”
I stared at him.
“And you'd be lying.”
“Yes.”
“Would you do it?”
Roman was silent.
I watched him struggle.
I knew the answer he wanted to give.
But my daughter's safety stood between him and the truth he'd owed his brother for nine years.
Finally, he said, “I'd tell a lie to keep Rosie alive.”
My throat tightened.
“And then?”
“Then I'd spend however long it took correcting it.”
I looked at the photograph of Nico.
I thought about a man who'd died trying to protect people who worked for his family.
And about his brother, sitting beside a frightened mother in a ruined wedding dress.
“Roman, I don't want you to lose your brother all over again because of us.”
He shook his head.
“My brother is already gone.”
His voice softened.
“Your daughter isn't.”
Before I could answer, Anthony's phone vibrated.
It was a message from hotel security.
Martin Vale had requested permission to use the service elevator.
He claimed he needed to move a guest who was feeling ill.
The detective immediately contacted the officers positioned near the corridor.
“They may be preparing to move Rosie,” she said.
I stood.
“No.”
Roman reached for my hand but stopped before touching me.
“Evelyn, look at me.”
I couldn't.
“Please.”
I turned.
“We aren't going to let him take her without trying to stop it.”
I stared at him.
“I can't lose her.”
“I know.”
He waited.
Then he asked, “What does Rosie call you when she's frightened?”
The question surprised me.
“Mommy.”
“And what do you say when she has a nightmare?”
I swallowed.
“I'm right here, baby.”
He nodded.
“Remember that. When she sees you, she's going to need the mother she knows.”
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, I pictured Rosie climbing into my bed after a bad dream.
Her little feet cold against my legs.
Her hair smelling of strawberry shampoo.
The way she'd whisper, “Can I stay a minute?”
And I would always answer, “As long as you need.”
The detective returned.
“Evelyn, we're arranging the safest way to make contact. If we can get Rosie to come toward you voluntarily, it may help.”
I nodded.
Then the dining room doors opened.
Grant stepped inside.
He looked at the notebook lying beside Roman.
His eyes narrowed.
“So you finally brought it.”
Roman stood.
“Your people have my brother's records on their minds while a child is being kept upstairs.”
Grant gave a bitter smile.
“Don't pretend this is only about the child.”
“It is for Evelyn.”
Grant looked at me.
For a moment, his expression softened.
“You could have had a wonderful life.”
I shook my head.
“A wonderful life wouldn't require me to beg for my daughter.”
Something flashed in his eyes.
Then he looked at Roman.
“Twenty minutes left.”
Roman reached for the notebook.
“Bring Rosie downstairs first.”
Grant shook his head.
“You know how this works.”
“No,” Roman answered. “Tell me.”
Grant leaned across the table.
“Your brother's notebook. Your statement. And Evelyn signs an agreement that she won't challenge the arrangements for Rosie's care.”
My stomach turned.
He wasn't asking for a wedding anymore.
He was demanding control.
Roman's expression hardened.
Then Grant said something that made every person in the room go still.
“Rosie's already been told her mother agreed to send her away.”
May you like
He looked directly at me.
“If you want her to believe otherwise, Evelyn, you'd better hurry.”
