Chapter 5 - The Order to the Corridor
Roman took a slow, deep breath, forcing the violent surge of emotion back beneath his formidable mental armor. The rigid control that made him a feared crime boss locked back into place, though the paleness of his face revealed the depth of the shock he had just received.
He slowly straightened up, rising to his full six-foot-two height. The bright overhead lighting caught the crisp line of his black suit. He did not take his eyes off the little girl sitting on the bench, clutching her purple backpack.
“Find her. Now,” Roman commanded.
His voice was lower than a whisper, yet it carried an undeniable weight of absolute authority that made the air vibrate. There was no need to specify who "her" was. Daniel understood implicitly.
“Understood,” Daniel replied instantly.
Without asking a single question, without seeking clarification on why the name of a low-level hotel employee had thrown the most powerful man in New York into a quiet tailspin, Daniel turned on his heel. He gestured sharply to the two security officers near the pillar, signaling one of them to cover the front entrance and the other to fall back toward the main reception desk.
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Daniel marched with heavy, deliberate strides toward the east service corridor. He pulled open the heavy, polished brass-and-wood service door that separated the grand, public luxury of the main lobby from the sterile, fluorescent-lit world of the hotel’s subterranean operational network.
The heavy door swung shut behind Daniel with a soft pneumatic hiss, leaving Roman alone in the vast, bright expanse of the lobby with the child.
