Chapter 4 - The Elevator That Moved Alone
The elevator indicator changed.
The service elevator was moving again.
Roman's security team surrounded it.
Nobody touched the controls.
The display continued downward.
Evan held my hand so tightly that his fingers hurt.
Roman stared at the numbers.
"Cut power to the elevator."
His security chief spoke into his radio.
"Power is already disconnected."
Roman turned.
"What?"
"The control system isn't responding."
The elevator continued descending.
Then it stopped.
The doors opened.
Inside was another envelope.
Roman didn't move.
His security chief stepped forward.
The envelope was larger this time.
Roman looked at Trent.
"You open it."
Trent shook his head.
"I don't know what this is."
"That's why you're opening it."
Trent hesitated.
Then stepped inside.
He picked up the envelope.
The moment he touched it, a small red light appeared above the elevator doors.
Trent dropped it.
Roman grabbed him and pulled him out.
The doors slammed shut.
A mechanical lock clicked.
Then the elevator shot upward.
Everyone stared.
It went from floor 31 to 43 in seconds.
Then disappeared from the display.
Roman's jaw tightened.
"This building is being controlled by someone."
His security chief looked at him.
"From where?"
Roman looked at the mechanical room.
"Find the control source."
We returned to the room.
I stayed close to Evan.
The old control console had several dead monitors.
One suddenly turned on.
Static filled the screen.
Then an image appeared.
A hallway.
The camera angle was high.
I recognized it.
The hotel entrance.
The timestamp showed three years earlier.
A woman walked across the lobby carrying a small child.
Me.
Evan.
I stared.
I had never seen that footage.
The screen changed.
Another camera.
Another hallway.
Then another.
Every video showed me and Evan moving through the hotel.
Someone had been watching us.
For years.
Roman stood behind me.
"How many cameras?"
His security chief looked at the console.
"At least twelve."
"Who installed them?"
"We're checking."
I turned toward Roman.
"Why would someone watch my son?"
Roman didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"Maybe they weren't watching your son."
"What then?"
"They were watching you."
I shook my head.
"I've never done anything."
Roman looked at me.
"Sometimes people watch witnesses."
"Witnesses to what?"
He didn't answer.
A video appeared.
Three years earlier.
The same mechanical room.
Daniel Ortega stood beside the emergency control panel.
He was talking to someone off camera.
The audio was distorted.
Then his voice became clear.
"If something happens to Roman, the elevator must stop before it reaches forty-three."
I covered my mouth.
Roman stared at the screen.
The video continued.
Ortega turned toward the camera.
"If the child is here, teach him the button."
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Evan.
He was confused.
"Mom?"
I couldn't answer.
Roman's security chief whispered:
"Someone planned this."
Roman nodded.
"For three years."
Then Trent suddenly ran.
He pushed past the security men and sprinted down the corridor.
Roman shouted:
"Stop him!"
The guards chased him.
I stayed with Evan.
A moment later, we heard a crash.
Then silence.
Roman's security chief returned.
"He's gone."
Roman's expression hardened.
"How?"
"The service stairs."
Roman looked at the dead monitors.
Then at Evan.
"Your son wasn't supposed to be here tonight."
I nodded slowly.
"I know."
Roman looked at me.
"Neither was I."
The words stayed in the room.
Then one of the monitors flickered back on.
A new video appeared.
It showed the inside of Roman's private office.
A man was standing behind his desk.
The face was hidden.
He placed a folder on the table.
Then turned toward the camera.
His voice came through the speakers.
"Roman."
Roman stepped closer.
The man continued.
"You have until sunrise."
Roman's face became rigid.
"For what?"
The video man smiled.
"For the boy to tell you what he heard."
The screen went black.
Evan suddenly whispered:
"I know his voice."
Roman turned toward him.
"Whose?"
Evan pointed at the monitor.
"The man in the video."
May you like
Then he said a name.
And Roman's face went completely white...
