Betsey's heart hammered.
The question was a scalpel, precise and probing. Her mind raced, sifting through a dozen practiced deflections. Before she could answer, a sharp, electronic chirp came from the earpiece hidden beneath her hair-a pre-set alert from Chalmers, a signal that she'd been out of communication for too long. It was the perfect excuse. She feigned a flinch of surprise, pulling her hand back.
"My apologies, Mr. Franklin. That's the head of housekeeping. I'm needed for the morning briefing." She bowed her head, her posture reverting to that of a servant. "If you'll excuse me." She didn't wait for his permission, turning and walking away at a brisk, professional pace, leaving him standing alone in the manicured silence of the garden.
The red marker squeaked against the whiteboard, a high-pitched screech that made Betsey's teeth ache. It was the only sound in the cramped, fluorescent-lit housekeeping office, aside from the rhythmic tapping of Dani Perez's stiletto heel against the linoleum.
Dani stood with her back to the room, her posture rigid. She wrote "VIP: FRANKLIN" in bold, jagged letters, then circled it three times with enough force to flatten the tip of the marker. The smell of the ink-sharp, chemical, artificial-filled the small room, overpowering the usual scent of bleach and stale coffee.
Betsey stood in the back row of the gathered staff, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. She kept her chin tucked down, staring at the scuff marks on her black work shoes. Her head was pounding, a dull throb behind her eyes that had started the moment she woke up. The cold from yesterday's garden encounter seemed to have settled deep in her bones, leaving her feeling brittle.
"Mr. Franklin has requested specialized attention for the duration of his stay," Dani announced, capping the marker with a loud snap. She turned to face them, smoothing the fabric of her pencil skirt over her hips. Her eyes were bright, manic. "This is not a standard service. This is an audition for the hotel's future. One mistake, and we all bleed."
She preened, adjusting the silk scarf at her neck. The implication hung heavy in the air: I will be the one providing the attention.
Betsey suppressed a cough, swallowing the tickle in her throat. It tasted like copper. She watched Dani's performance with a detached, clinical exhaustion. It was pathetic, really. Dani was a shark in a fish tank, thinking she was the predator, unaware that there was a kraken upstairs in the Penthouse.
The phone on the wall rang.
It was the dedicated line. The Penthouse line.
The room went instantly silent. Even the hum of the vending machine seemed to pause. Dani's eyes widened. She snatched the receiver from the cradle before the first ring finished echoing.
"Ms. Perez speaking," she said, her voice dropping an octave into a sultry, professional purr.
Betsey watched Dani's face. She saw the expectation, the pre-rehearsed smile. Then she saw the collapse.
Dani's smile twitched. Her eyebrows drew together. The color drained from her cheeks, leaving her makeup looking stark and garish.
"Yes, sir," Dani said, her voice tight. "I understand. Immediately."
She slammed the phone down. The plastic rattled against the wall.
Dani turned slowly to face the room. Her eyes scanned the faces of the maids and butlers, filled with a venomous heat. Her gaze landed on Betsey and stopped. It was a look of pure, unadulterated hatred.
"He wants his breakfast served," Dani spat out. "By you."
Betsey blinked, feigning the confusion of a slow-witted employee. "Me? But Ms. Perez, I'm just scheduled for..."
"He asked for 'the one with the steady hands,'" Dani interrupted, her voice trembling with suppressed rage. "That is you, apparently."
A ripple of whispers went through the room. Thomas looked at Betsey with wide, worried eyes.
Dani reached into her pocket and pulled out a gold-embossed keycard. She didn't hand it over. She threw it.
"Don't get used to it," Dani hissed as the card spun through the air. "He probably wants to complain about the cleaning. He's going to chew you up and spit you out."
The card arced toward Betsey's face.
Betsey's hand shot up. The world slowed.
She saw the gold letters glinting under the fluorescent lights, the sharp plastic corner tumbling end over end. Her muscles, honed by years of deflecting things far more dangerous than plastic, moved without her permission.
Her fingers closed around the card, a silent, perfect catch. The impact against her palm was barely a whisper. A mistake. A fatal, revealing mistake. The room went still. Dani's eyes narrowed, a flicker of sharp suspicion in their depths.
Before that suspicion could ignite, Betsey acted. She let out a sharp gasp and dropped the card as if it had burned her, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Ow! The edge-it's so sharp," she cried out, her voice a convincing performance of pain and surprise. She bent her knees awkwardly, fumbling for the card on the floor, her fingers scrabbling against the tile.
"Sorry," she mumbled, keeping her head down. "Slippery hands today. Sorry."
Dani's suspicion flickered, diverted by the display of weakness. Contempt replaced it. "Clumsy. God, you're an embarrassment. Go."
Betsey grabbed the card and stood up, clutching it to her chest like a lifeline. She backed out of the room, mumbling apologies, playing the part until the door clicked shut between them.
She walked to the service elevator, her pace quickening. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage. Steady hands. He was mocking her. Or he was signaling her.
Inside the elevator, the metal doors closed, and the mask fell. Betsey leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. She let out a long, shaky breath.
She checked her reflection in the polished steel panel. She looked tired. Pale. Good. The exhaustion was real, but it was also a shield. Who would suspect the woman with the dark circles and the fraying collar of being a threat?
The elevator dinged. Penthouse floor.
The doors slid open.
Lars was standing there. He wasn't in a relaxed posture. He was at attention, hands clasped in front of him. When he saw Betsey, he didn't sneer like Dani. He didn't look through her like most guests.
He nodded.
It was a sharp, respectful dip of the chin. An acknowledgement of an equal.
A cold shiver ran down Betsey's spine. Subordinates of tyrants didn't respect maids. They only respected power. If Lars respected her, it was because Celestino had told him something. Or because Lars had seen something in the footage.
She stepped out, her grip on the serving tray tightening until her knuckles turned white.
"Breakfast service," she said, her voice small.
Lars stepped aside, opening the heavy double doors. "He is on the terrace."
Betsey stepped into the foyer. The air hit her first-cool, conditioned, and scented. Sandalwood. Scotch. And something else. The metallic tang of ozone, like the air before a lightning strike.
She walked toward the light pouring in from the terrace, every step a calculation, every breath a lie.
