Compared to the front staircase with its gorgeous caramel colored marble walls, ornate cut outs, and candle sconces lighting the way, this staircase was sorely in need of repair. Old plaster peeled from the walls and except for a few small windows, the staircase was dark.
Perfect for someone trying to sneak around Tristan’s hotel.
We reached the top floor and quietly entered the hallway connecting the two suites. Listening near the door to the one Tristan and I shared, we heard no noises. I pointed to the room and shook my head to let Gage know I didn’t think that’s where they were holding him.
He whispered, “Did you see the people who were staying in the other suite?”
I shook my head again. “No. How are we going to find out who’s in there?”
Gage pointed to an alcove behind two columns on the left side of the hallway. I followed him there and watched as he moved toward the suite’s door. “What are you doing?”
He raised his hand to knock on the door. “Ding dong ditch.”
I hid behind the column and peeked my head around just enough to see him knock on the door and run behind the column across from me. After a few moments, a young blonde wearing very little opened the door and looked around to see who’d knocked. From inside the suite, I heard a man with a voice that sounded much older than she looked ask who it was.
“Nobody. I guess they were looking for the suite down the hall, honey,” she answered in squeaky voice and closed the door, leaving us standing there at least knowing Tristan wasn’t being held on that floor.
“I guess we can rule that out,” Gage said with a smile.
“Onto the fourth floor,” I said as we hurriedly crossed the hall and entered the back staircase again.
The floor below wasn’t going to be as easy to search. Unlike the top floor, this one had twenty rooms instead of two suites. Thankfully, it had alcoves too where we could hide as we searched, but ding dong ditching twenty rooms seemed like a poor way to find out what we needed.
Gage held the door as we exited the staircase in the middle of the floor and hurried to the nearest alcove. Five middle aged hotel patrons stood outside a room at the end of the hall as one man fumbled with the room key. They left immediately, so at least we could guess that room wasn’t where Tristan was.
“How are we going to find out if he’s in one of these rooms? This is going to take forever, and we don’t have that kind of time,” I said in frustration as we watched them walk by us.
Before Gage could answer, I saw his eyes grow wide as saucers and followed his gaze to someone getting off the elevator. I recognized him immediately. West. He walked quickly to a room at the opposite end of the hallway and knocked.
I leaned in close to Gage and whispered, “He’s in there! We need to get in there!”
Nodding, he held up his hand to calm me. “Give me a second to figure this out.”
The door closed and tears began to well in my eyes. Hanging my head, I leaned against the pillar, devastated. “We missed our chance, Gage.”
“You didn’t think we’d just barge in there, did you?” He put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me and quietly said, “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”
“No need, buddy. I’ll get you in there right now.”
Terror raced through me, and I looked up to see West standing there with a gun to the back of Gage’s head. We were lost. Tristan would be killed and then they’d do the same to us. I’d blown it.
West led us down the hall into the room, and my first sight of Tristan nearly took my breath away. His left eye was black and blue and practically swollen shut from a beating. Blood trickled down his chin from a deep cut in his bottom lip. Even with all that, he was immediately worried about me.
“Nina, why are you here? Why didn’t you just leave with Gage?” he asked as he groaned in pain.
The man I recognized as the one from the museum grabbed my arms tightly, and when I moved to help Tristan, he roughly pulled me back, hurting me. I opened my mouth to answer, but Karl spoke up before I could say a word. “She didn’t leave because she loves you, Tristan. Now she’ll pay for that love with her life.”
“Why are you doing this?” I cried, finally needing to know what the hell I’d ever done to make this person hate me so much.
Karl turned to face me, his snake-like eyes scanning me from head to toe. “Why am I doing this? Because you’re the reason why everything fell apart. Just like your father and his fucking investigation. Because all Tristan had to do was throw some money at you to ease his guilt over your father and you would never have ended up here. He’d still have to die, but you wouldn’t be here. You’d be back in your little life serving the art world in your inconsequential way. But he didn’t do that. He fell in love with you and now we’re here at the end of the road.”