Rise - Part Two (Rise #2)(24)
The voices I hear are coming from Gianna's suite. In my mind that can only mean one of the two things. Either she missed Gabriel's call earlier and her flight hasn't left yet or the lovely woman who let me into the room has started her daily routine of tidying Gianna's suite. If that's the case, it would only take a slight push on the door that separates the two spaces for me to retrieve the box that contains Ivy's jewelry.
It also would mean stepping into Gianna's private space, which is something I don't want to do. I'm not as anxious to get my hands on that box as Gabriel is. All I really need to do is ask Ivy to send me snapshots of each piece and I can pair them in my mind with the lingerie I think they'll compliment. I doubt that Gabriel will agree to that. The man isn't flexible especially when it comes to how he wants his business, and his events, run.
I scoop up the remote for the television in my palm, knowing that if I turn on the news that I'll be able to drown out what's happening in Gianna's suite. I'm hopeful that Gabriel is in there now, with the box in his arms. I want to get my day started.
The screen flickers on and I'm greeted with a video tutorial of the hotel. It's going to be years before my budget affords me a one night stay in a room like this, so I don't need a rundown on the thread count of the sheets or where the private elevator is that will take me to the rooftop garden.
I settle on the sofa as I press the circular button on the remote moving the channels up one-by-one. I skip past an array of children's programming including one in which a purple life-sized kangaroo is doing magic tricks. I finally find one of the morning news programs. I slide my finger to the volume button when I notice the backdrop. It's some sort of news conference.
I lean forward as a man in a suit takes his place behind dozens of microphones all situated on the top of a podium. He looks to his right before he thanks the reporters for attending and introduces himself as the head of a joint task force. I strain to hear what he's saying over the noise of a vacuum cleaner in the hotel's corridor.
My breath catches when a photograph of Frederick Beckett appears on a screen next to the man speaking. I push the volume button to its loudest setting, not caring that everyone on the floor will be able to hear the broadcast.
"Mr. Frederick Beckett was offered a plea deal in exchange for information that has helped us gather the evidence we need to bring this organization down." The man behind the podium sweeps his hand through the air towards the picture of Landon's dad.
"Within this past hour, with Mr. Beckett's valuable assistance, we served five separate arrest warrants on various members of the organization responsible for these crimes." The man pauses briefly to look over a stack of notes in front of him. "Each arrest was carried out without incident."
"Tess? What's going on?"
I turn to the left to see Gabriel, holding a box in his arms. He entered the suite through the doors from his mother's room.
"It's about Landon's dad," I say breathlessly, pointing at the television. "He's been helping the police."
"Landon's dad is dead." He inches forward to look directly at the television. "He died years ago."
"No." I shake my head slightly. "I saw him weeks ago. He's alive. He's been alive all this time."
He doesn't respond. He stands next to me, his eyes trained on the screen just as mine are.
"I'll now state the names of the individuals we arrested. After that, I'll allow a few questions." The man behind the podium announces.
I don't move from where I'm sitting as each name is broadcast along with a picture of the individual handcuffed and being taken into custody.
"Why didn't Landon tell me Frederick is alive?" Gabriel rests the box on the sofa next to me. "How long has he known his father didn't drown?"
"Not long," I say absentmindedly as I dart my eyes up to where he's standing. "He saw his father on a flight. That flight that I was on with Gianna from Milan."
"Does my mother know about this?" He sweeps his hand in the air towards the television. "Does Anja know?"
"Anja knows." I don't offer anything about Gianna's knowledge because I'm not sure. Right now, staring at the television screen and listening to the man list the names of men who are accused of everything from embezzlement to fraud, I don't know what to think.
"Joe Richter of Pittsburgh." The man at the podium shuffles through more papers as an image of a gray haired man with his face out of views appears briefly on the television screen.
"The most notable of the arrests we made this morning was that of the individual we suspect oversaw the major operations of the organization. We have obtained evidence that implicates him in these crimes. He is also considered a suspect in an open missing person's case."
A man's picture appears on the screen. He's handcuffed. His face flushed and his eyes unfocused behind the rims of his glasses.
I don't need to hear his name. I don't want to and as the man conducting the news conference leaves through the papers in front of him, my smartphone rings. I turn towards it, my eyes scanning the details of the incoming call. It's Landon. He's one of the two men I thought I could trust with my life.
The other man's name falls from the lips of the man on the television. "Otis Marlow was taken into custody this morning at his home in Los Angeles, California."