. CHAPTER 4 — The Name Under the Collar
Security came from three directions.
Not the private men in black suits Amelia had been searching for, but hotel event guards in gray jackets. They pushed through the guests while Mr. Pike pointed at Amelia like she was a fire that had to be put out quickly.
“She grabbed Ms. Crowe,” he said. “She’s unstable.”
Amelia released Vivienne’s wrist and raised both hands. “She tried to pull something from my neck.”
Vivienne gave a breathless little laugh, already performing injury. “I was afraid she had stolen jewelry under her shirt. Look at her. Why else would she hide it?”
The accusation moved through the crowd like a spark through dry paper.
Stolen.
Amelia had heard that word before. In stores. In elevators. In rooms where she was the only person wearing a uniform. It was the quickest way to turn a human being into a problem.
One guard reached for her arm.
Amelia stepped back. “Don’t touch me.”
Mr. Pike snapped, “You’re making this worse.”
“No,” Amelia said. Her hand closed over the necklace. “I think this is exactly how it was always supposed to happen.”
Vivienne’s eyes widened slightly. “What does that mean?”
Amelia looked past her toward the far side of the rooftop, where the black-suited private guards stood near a glass doorway. One of them had turned. Older, broad-shouldered, with silver at his temples and the alert stillness of a man who missed nothing.
Daniel Cross.
Amelia knew him from the newspaper clipping.
She took one step toward him. A gray-jacket guard blocked her path.
“Ma’am, you need to leave.”
“I need to speak to Daniel Cross.”
The older man across the rooftop heard his name. His gaze locked on Amelia.
Vivienne moved quickly, too quickly. “Get her out before she causes more damage.”
Amelia felt time narrowing.
Her mother’s voice returned: Show the heart necklace only when they leave you no other choice.
This was no other choice.
With trembling fingers, Amelia opened the top button of her soaked uniform. She pulled the chain free.
The diamond heart pendant caught the rooftop lights and burned white. At its center was a tiny engraved crest: two lions holding a bellflower.
The Bellmont family crest.
Daniel Cross went pale.
He pushed past the private guards and crossed the broken glass without looking down.
“Stop,” he ordered.
The gray-jacket guard froze.
Vivienne whispered, “No.”
Daniel stopped in front of Amelia, staring at the pendant as if he had seen a ghost return from water.
“Where did you get that?”
Amelia swallowed.
“My mother gave it to me.”
Daniel’s voice dropped. “What was her name?”
May you like
“Evelyn Ross.”
The rooftop stopped breathing.
