The Search
Chapter 06 - The Search
Elena returned to the hotel at noon because HR required her presence during the locker inspection.
She walked through the employee entrance instead of the marble lobby. Even there, people stared.
Some looked embarrassed for her.
Others looked afraid to stand too close.
Richard Cole opened Elena’s locker while two security officers watched. Noah stood near the doorway, jaw tight. Charlotte had insisted on being present, though she claimed it was only because the missing bracelet had belonged to her mother.
Elena watched Charlotte instead of the locker.
For one second, Charlotte looked exactly like Margaret.
Then the security officer reached behind Elena’s folded cardigan.
His hand stopped.
He pulled out a velvet jewelry case.
The room went silent.
Charlotte covered her mouth.
Richard opened the case.
Inside lay a diamond bracelet with a pale blue stone at the center.
Elena took one step backward.
“No.”
Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears so quickly that anyone watching would have believed they were real.
“My mother wore that at my wedding,” she whispered.
Elena looked at Noah. “That was not there.”
Richard closed the box. “Elena—”
“That was not there.”
Security moved closer.
Noah suddenly spoke.
“What time was this locker last opened?”
Richard frowned. “What?”
Noah looked directly at Charlotte.
“Because the lock records electronic entry.”
Charlotte’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But Elena saw it.
And for the first time since the accusation began, she understood something terrifying.
May you like
Charlotte was not merely mistaken.
She was afraid of what the locker records would say.
