Chapter 2 2

The Plaza Hotel was a fortress of limestone and luxury. She knew the service entrance on 58th Street. She knew the code to the keypad because Arthur used to make her wait in the kitchen while he ate dinner with his real family.

1-9-8-4. The year he made his first million.

The door clicked open.

She slipped inside. The hallway was bustling with waiters carrying silver trays of hors d'oeuvres. She grabbed a discarded gray uniform jacket from a laundry cart and buttoned it over her filth. She pulled a baseball cap low over her eyes.

She moved through the chaos like a ghost. No one looks at the help.

She found the maintenance access panel behind a stack of crates filled with champagne. She opened the toolbox sitting on top. A lighter. A can of industrial-strength hairspray.

Perfect.

She climbed the service ladder to the catwalk above the Grand Ballroom.

Below her, the room was a sea of black ties and designer gowns. Crystal chandeliers the size of small cars hung from the ceiling, casting a warm, expensive glow over the lies being told below.

She saw him. Arthur. He was on the stage, holding a microphone. He looked sad. He looked like a grieving father.

"My daughter, Edythe," he said, his voice cracking perfectly. "She is... struggling. But we are a family. And families survive."

Liar.

She saw him then. Cedric Mullen. He was at the center table, not looking bored, but tense. His face was pale, almost ghostly under the warm lights, and he held a heavy, silver-topped cane that seemed out of place with his sharp tuxedo. He wasn't swirling champagne; he was staring into a glass of water, his knuckles white where he gripped it. He looked like a predator recovering from a near-fatal wound, a deep, simmering paranoia in his eyes. He was dangerous, but fragile.

She crawled along the catwalk until she was directly above the stage. She located the heat sensor for the fire suppression system.

She taped the hairspray can to the conduit next to the sensor. She flicked the lighter.

She held the flame to the nozzle.

Whoosh.

A jet of fire shot out, licking the sensor.

It took three seconds.

The alarm didn't beep. It shrieked. A deafening, mechanical scream that stopped every heart in the room.

Then the heavens opened.

The sprinklers didn't just mist. They exploded. Gallons of pressurized water, black with years of pipe sediment, blasted down into the ballroom.

Screams erupted. The beautiful people scattered like roaches.

The crystal chandelier above the stage groaned. The water pressure hit it, and it swung wildly. With a crash that sounded like a bomb, it shattered onto the stage, sending shards of glass flying.

Sparks showered down as the electrical system shorted out. The room plunged into semi-darkness, lit only by the strobe of the emergency lights.

She saw Chantelle, Arthur's daughter, her hair, usually a helmet of hairspray, melting. Black mascara ran down her face like war paint gone wrong. She was shrieking, trying to cover her dress.

Cedric didn't run. He didn't scream. He pushed himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane. As a waiter stumbled past, Cedric calmly picked up a white tablecloth and held it over Chantelle's head like an umbrella. He looked up. Not at the ceiling, but at the catwalk.

He was looking for the cause.

She dropped the maintenance jacket. She took off the cap. She climbed down the service ladder and walked onto the stage.

She was barefoot. Her hospital gown was soaked, clinging to her body. She stepped over the shattered crystal. Her feet bled, but she didn't feel it.

Arthur was wiping sludge from his eyes. He blinked, and then he saw her.

His face went white. Whiter than the napkins. He looked like he was seeing a corpse.

She walked to the microphone. It was wet, buzzing with static.

She tapped it. Thump. Thump.

The room went silent. The only sound was the hissing of the sprinklers.

She didn't speak. She simply stared at Arthur, letting the silence and the sight of her blood-stained gown do the talking. She wanted them all to see. She wanted them to wonder.

Camera flashes went off. The press, sensing blood in the water, ignored the rain and started snapping.

Victoria, her stepmother, lunged from the side of the stage. "Get her! She's escaped from the asylum! She's dangerous!"

Two security guards rushed the stage.

Cedric Mullen took a deliberate step forward, planting his cane firmly. It looked accidental. It looked casual.

The lead guard tripped over the base of the silver cane and went down face-first into a tower of champagne glasses.

Crash.

Cedric looked at her. His eyes were dark, intelligent, and completely devoid of pity. He tipped his head, a silent, unreadable acknowledgment.

She looked at Chantelle. She was climbing onto the stage, her face twisted in rage. She raised her hand to slap her.

She didn't flinch. She caught her wrist in mid-air. She squeezed. She knew exactly where the nerves were.

She gasped, her knees buckling.

She shoved her. She flew backward, landing hard on her ass in a puddle of black water.

She leaned down, her lips close to her ear, her voice a venomous whisper no one else could hear. "Interest. That was just the interest."

Sirens wailed outside. The NYPD had arrived.

She stood center stage, wet, bleeding, and magnificent.