Part 2

Dominic tried to close the door. Madison pressed her hand against its edge; I asked her to step back and let him decide whether he would keep talking. No one raised a hand. The silence did more damage than an argument could have.

He invited us into the room, keeping the towel fastened and taking a robe from the wardrobe. On the desk sat a folder bearing the name of a company I recognized: Vale Hospitality. Madison had told me she was negotiating a management contract for the Langford. Dominic had told me her company was no longer involved.

“I ended it,” he said. “The relationship and the talks.”

“Then why am I here?” Madison asked. She showed him his message: Come to the hotel. I have the documents and the explanation you asked for. The timestamp was today. His face changed before he could produce an answer.

I picked up the photograph beneath his shoe. Behind his shoulder, reflected in a mirror, was the signature page of an agreement. The signature was mine. I had not signed anything for Vale Hospitality.

Dominic said the picture was unclear. I enlarged the digital version on my phone. The date was clear enough: the week I had been in hospital with my mother. No meeting had taken place with me present that week, and my attorney knew it.

Madison looked from my phone to the folder. “He said you had approved the deal,” she said. “He said I could stop asking questions.”

Dominic reached for his phone again. I asked him not to touch the papers. “If that signature is genuine,” I said, “you have nothing to hide from an independent review.”

He put the phone down. Neither Madison nor I believed that meant he was finished.