“I sewed transmitters into runway hems because she said they were tracking tags. They were diamonds. She moved them out with sample dresses.”

The bass upstairs stopped.

The silence that followed felt enormous.

Evelyn lifted the recorder.

“Do you have proof?”

Lila unlocked her own phone. Her fingers stumbled twice over the code.

“Messages. Shipping numbers. A recording of her telling me that if I spoke, she’d report my sister to immigration.”

A sound left Victoria’s throat, half laugh and half gasp.

“Your sister used false documents.”

“She was seventeen when a recruiter brought her here. You knew that when you hired us.”

Lila’s chin trembled.

“You kept our passports in your office safe.”

Several diners lowered their phones. Shock replaced curiosity on their faces.

Maya stared at Victoria’s necklace. The diamonds were no longer decoration. They were unpaid hours, withheld documents, and fear compressed into light.

“Take it off,” Maya said.

Victoria covered the necklace with her palm.

“You don’t command me.”

“No. But the police may want it preserved.”

Victoria looked toward the elevator.

The older security officer moved into her path.

Mr. Cole began edging toward the kitchen.

Daniel saw him.

“He’s going to the camera room.”

The manager ran.

The bartender caught the swinging service door before it struck Daniel, and the security officer spoke into her radio. Footsteps thundered in the corridor. A moment later, two guards brought Mr. Cole back with his key card clenched in one fist.

“He attempted to access the surveillance system,” one guard said.

Mr. Cole’s face had gone gray.

Victoria looked at him with naked disgust.

“You idiot.”

Something changed in him then. Perhaps it was hearing contempt from the person he had protected. Perhaps it was realizing that the room would never fear him in the same way again.

He pointed at Victoria.

“She told me to get rid of anyone who caused problems before the launch.”

Victoria stared at him.

“You begged me for access to my guests.”

“You said Bellwether’s representative might come undercover.”

Maya’s eyes narrowed.

Mr. Cole looked at her, breathing hard.

“She knew someone was investigating. She paid me to report which employees spoke to auditors.”

Victoria knocked over her wineglass.

Red wine spread across the white tablecloth, reached the scattered bills, and stained their edges crimson.

“You pathetic man,” she whispered.

The elevator chimed again.

This time, two police officers stepped out.

CHAPTER 4 – When Power Broke