Chapter 4 - Behind The Silk Curtains
Ethan moved quickly, shielding the four girls inside the deep alcoves of the service corridor.
The service hallway smelled of bleach, roasted garlic, and industrial floor wax.
Catering staff in black aprons hurried past, carrying silver platters laden with caviar blinis and champagne flutes.
Nobody paid attention to a scruffy man carrying two flower girls while two others hurried close behind, their dresses rustling against the mop buckets.
Ethan knew luxury hotels like The Grand Palisades better than anyone; his father’s company had financed its construction twelve years ago.
He knew that behind every grand ballroom was a network of private management corridors, dumbwaiters, and subterranean mechanical tunnels.
"Maya, stay on my left hip," Ethan instructed in a calm, decisive whisper.
"Lily, hold Chloe's hand, and neither of you let go for any reason."
"If someone in a security suit speaks to you, do not answer."
"Just point at me and keep walking."
Sophie rested her damp cheek against Ethan’s neck, her small thumb stuck firmly in her mouth.
"Are we going to find Mommy now?" the little girl asked softly, her innocent voice echoing faintly in the concrete stairwell.
"We’re going to get Mommy right now," Ethan promised, kissing the crown of her messy floral wreath.
They reached the landing for the lower mezzanine, where the boathouse access tunnel connected to the hotel’s historical wine cellars.
Suddenly, a side door banged open on the landing above them.
Clara Davenport strode out onto the metal catwalk, surrounded by three frantic tailors and her personal assistant.
Clara looked like an ice queen carved from crystal.
Her custom designer gown was covered in thousands of hand-sewn seed pearls, trailing an eight-foot silk cape behind her.
Her diamond earrings caught the harsh fluorescent lighting of the maintenance stairwell.
"Where on earth are those useless Lin children?" Clara shrieked at her assistant, clutching her diamond necklace.
"The photographer from Vanity Fair is setting up the grand staircase shot right now!"
"Julian said they ran toward the coastal terrace!" the assistant stammered, flipping frantically through an iPad schedule.
Clara stopped dead on the metal catwalk, her sharp eyes scanning downward through the grated floor.
She saw the hem of an ivory organza flower girl dress disappearing around the corner of the concrete stairwell below.
"Stop right there!" Clara’s voice echoed off the concrete walls like a whip crack.
Ethan pulled the girls behind the heavy fire doors and locked the magnetic latch with a manual turn-latch.
Clara’s high heels clattered furiously on the metal steps above them as she descended with her security escort.
"Security, breach on stairwell four!" Clara yelled into her diamond-studded walkie-talkie.
"The children are being taken by a trespasser!"
The heavy steel fire door rattled violently as security guards slammed their shoulders against the exterior lock.
"Open this door immediately!" a guard roared through the reinforced glass window.
Ethan looked around the basement corridor.
To his left was the hotel laundry room with running industrial steam presses.
To his right was the dark, brick-lined entrance leading directly into the 19th-century wine vaults that extended under the marina.
"Cover your ears, girls," Ethan told them calmly.
He grabbed a heavy iron fire extinguisher mounted to the brick wall and jammed it under the handle of the steel door.
The door groaned under the pressure from outside, but the metal handle jammed tight against the iron canister.
"Ethan, look!" Maya shouted, pointing toward a glass-cased master key ring hanging near the maintenance breaker box.
The brass key tag read: BOATHOUSE WINE CELLAR - RESTRICTED ARCHIVE.
Ethan smashed the glass with the heel of his leather boot and snatched the brass key.
He took Lily and Chloe by the hands, while Maya held Sophie tightly against her side.
"Follow me into the cellar, girls," Ethan ordered, his voice steady and resolute.
May you like
"Whatever you hear, don't look back."
They ran into the damp, shadowy mouth of the brick tunnel as the security team began using crowbars against the jammed door behind them.
