She dropped onto the edge of the hotel bed, her breathing shallow and ragged. The illusion of her perfect, loving family shattered into a million jagged pieces. She looked at the floor, then slowly looked over at the portable crib where Lily was sleeping. She realized that the brother she was defending was a man willing to destroy his own sister for cash.
She looked at me, realizing Derek was a man willing to kill a child to collect a life insurance policy. Tears spilled over Nicole’s eyelashes, leaving dark streaks of mascara down her pale cheeks. But the tears did not last. I watched the profound, shattering grief rapidly evaporate, replaced by a scorching, incandescent rage.
She wiped her face with the back of her hand, smearing the makeup, and stood up from the bed. She did not look like the compliant, high society daughter anymore. She looked like a woman who had just realized she was surrounded by predators. Nicole walked over to her designer handbag sitting on the counter.
She unclasped the gold hardware and reached deep into the zippered lining. She pulled out a heavy, black, metallic keycard with an embedded gold security chip. She walked directly over to me and held the keycard out. This is the master administrative access card to the executive suite at Derek’s brokerage firm, Nicole said, her voice dropping to a harsh, vindictive whisper.
He gave it to me a year ago in case of an emergency. It overrides the security elevators and opens his private office vault. She looked at DeAndre, a silent apology passing between them, before turning her sharp, tear-stained eyes back to me. “Take him down.” Nicole stayed behind in the secure hotel room, sitting vigil over a sleeping Lily.
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