Chapter 3 - The Name on the Phone
The ringing continued.
Nobody moved.
It came from the mechanical room.
Not the corridor.
Not the elevator.
The room where Evan had broken the panel.
I pulled him behind me.
Roman motioned for everyone to stay back.
His security chief entered first.
A second later, he called out.
"There's a phone."
Roman entered.
I followed despite myself.
The phone was lying beneath an old maintenance table.
It was an outdated model.
Dust covered its case.
But the screen was lit.
Someone was calling.
Roman looked at the display.
His face changed.
"What?"
I could barely hear myself.
Roman didn't answer.
The security chief looked at the screen.
Then he looked at Roman.
"Sir..."
Roman finally spoke.
"The caller ID says Michael Black."
Trent stared.
"That's impossible."
Roman slowly turned toward him.
"Why?"
Trent's lips parted.
Then closed.
Roman stepped closer.
"Why is it impossible?"
Trent looked down.
"Because Michael Black died eight years ago."
The room seemed to lose its air.
I looked at Roman.
For the first time, the controlled businessman looked genuinely shaken.
He didn't answer the call.
The phone stopped ringing.
Then a message appeared.
YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHO BETRAYED YOU.
Roman stared at it.
Evan whispered:
"That's not the person who called."
Everyone looked at him.
Roman crouched.
"What do you mean?"
Evan pointed at the phone.
"He didn't call."
"How do you know?"
"Because when people call, the phone makes the other sound."
"What other sound?"
"The little clicking."
Roman's expression changed.
The boy was right.
The phone wasn't connected to a normal call.
It was being remotely triggered.
Roman stood.
"Who has access to this room?"
Trent answered.
"Maintenance."
"Names."
"Several."
"All of them."
Trent hesitated.
Roman stepped closer.
"Now."
Trent pulled out his phone.
Before he could open it, another sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Fast.
A hotel employee appeared.
She was breathless.
"Mr. Black."
Roman turned.
"What?"
"The west service elevator is moving."
"Who is inside?"
"We don't know."
Roman's security team rushed out.
I grabbed Evan's hand.
Roman looked at me.
"Stay here."
I shook my head.
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"Meera."
I was surprised he knew my name.
"My son stays with me."
Roman studied me for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Fine. Stay behind me."
We moved into the corridor.
The service elevator display was descending.
Then 40.
It stopped.
The doors opened.
Nobody was inside.
But a small envelope lay on the floor.
Roman picked it up.
His name was written on the front.
No stamp.
No address.
Only:
ROMAN.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
I couldn't see the picture clearly.
Roman did.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
"What is it?"
He turned the photograph toward me.
It showed the hotel's mechanical control room.
Taken from inside.
The picture was dated three years earlier.
That was the year I started working there.
And in the corner of the photograph stood Evan.
He was only three years old.
I stopped breathing.
Roman looked at me.
"You knew he had been here?"
"No."
I stared at the photograph.
"I swear I didn't."
Evan stepped forward.
"That's me."
I pulled him back.
Roman examined the photograph.
There was another person standing behind the child.
Their face had been scratched out.
But the clothes were visible.
A hotel maintenance uniform.
Roman looked at Trent.
"Who wore that uniform three years ago?"
Trent didn't answer.
Roman grabbed his collar.
"Who?"
Trent finally whispered a name.
"Daniel Ortega."
I felt relief.
"Mr. Ortega?"
Roman's face remained hard.
"Where is he?"
Trent swallowed.
"He disappeared."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
I looked at Evan.
He had started crying silently.
I knelt beside him.
"What is it?"
He pointed at the photograph.
"Mom."
"What?"
He touched the scratched-out figure.
"I remember him."
My heart stopped.
"You do?"
Evan nodded.
"He gave me candy."
Roman crouched beside him.
"What did he look like?"
Evan wiped his eyes.
"Like Mr. Trent."
Trent's face went white.
Roman stood slowly.
The entire corridor fell silent.
Then Evan looked toward the ceiling.
His expression changed.
"Mom."
"What?"
"The sound is back."
A deep metallic vibration traveled through the walls.
Roman looked up.
May you like
The lights flickered.
And somewhere above us, an elevator began descending without anyone inside...
