Chapter 6 - THE MONEY IN THE APRON
Maya reached the loading dock as two catering workers rolled empty carts inside.
She slipped past them, circled through the garden, and returned to the ballroom.
Leaving quietly would have been easier.
But Lena was still inside.
Maya spotted her near the dessert table, stiff-backed and pale.
Before she could reach her, Beatrice tapped a spoon against her glass.
“Can I have everyone’s attention?”
The room settled.
Maya stopped.
Beatrice stood beneath a screen displaying their senior class photograph.
“I had a little surprise planned tonight,” she said. “Something to remind us where we all started.”
The photograph changed.
Rosa appeared on the screen.
She was younger, standing outside the old Arden hotel with a laundry cart.
Someone had circled her face in red.
Maya felt the room tilt.
A second image appeared.
A staff warning notice.
ROSA SANTOS — NO LONGER AUTHORIZED ON PROPERTY.
Whispers spread.
Beatrice gave a soft, practiced sigh.
“We all face challenges. Some families just have more to overcome.”
“Turn it off,” Maya said.
Beatrice pretended not to hear.
“And when Maya arrived dressed for work, I thought, why not give her an opportunity?”
She gestured toward a tray of used champagne glasses.
“Go ahead. We’re all friends here.”
Maya walked toward the small stage.
“Turn. It. Off.”
Victor appeared beside the sound technician.
The screen went black.
Then Cal stepped in front of Maya.
“We have a problem.”
He held up a small velvet pouch.
“Mrs. Vale reported missing cash from her handbag.”
A woman near the front touched her purse uncertainly.
“I said I couldn’t find the envelope.”
Cal ignored her.
“May I check your apron?”
The silence became absolute.
Maya stared at him.
“No. You can call the police, and we can do this properly.”
Beatrice spread her hands.
“If you have nothing to hide—”
“Then you won’t object to waiting.”
Cal stepped closer.
Maya caught his wrist before he reached her pocket.
“Don’t touch me.”
Two phones rose in the crowd.
Good, she thought.
Keep filming.
Lena pushed forward.
“I saw him.”
Cal turned.
The girl’s voice shook, but she kept going.
“He put something in her pocket outside the laundry. When she passed the carts.”
Beatrice snapped, “Lena, stop.”
“No.”
It came out small.
Then louder.
“No.”
Cal reached into Maya’s outer apron pocket before she could stop him and pulled out a folded stack of bills.
A hundred people watched him hold it up.
Victor shook his head sadly.
“Just like her mother.”
May you like
Then, from the open terrace doors, came a sound that swallowed every whisper in the room.
Helicopter blades.
