THE GHOST INVENTOR SON-IN-LAW

Chapter 8: The Grand Hotel

The ballroom of the Crestport Grand Hotel was the kind of place where rich people went to look at other rich people.

Crystal chandeliers hung from a ceiling painted with gold clouds. Round tables covered in white silk filled the floor, each with a tall glass vase of white roses in the middle. At the front stood a stage with a giant screen behind it, already glowing with a slow, beautiful animation: the Sentinel Systems logo, a silver shield, turning gently in the air.

I carried my fortieth box of brochures through the side door and set it down on a cart.

"Faster," Helena hissed, sweeping past me in her new green silk dress. Her diamond earrings swung as she turned her head. "The Hendersons are already here. And fix your collar. You look like a waiter."

"I'm dressed as a waiter, Helena."

"Mother," she said through her teeth, and smiled at a man across the room.

By seven o'clock, the ballroom was full and loud. Three hundred guests: bankers, hospital directors, tech company owners and half the business elite of Crestport. Reporters stood along the walls with cameras. Waiters slid between the tables with trays of champagne.

I worked my way around the room, placing a glossy Sentinel brochure at every seat. It had a photo of a smiling nurse on the cover, and the words Your Safety, Our Mission.

At the Tan family's table near the stage, Jason was already holding court.

"Two weeks ago, everyone thought we were finished," he was telling a man from a bank, loud enough for four tables to hear. "But the Tans always come back. First Pulse, now Sentinel. Our lucky days have finally returned."

"Pulse was quite a surprise," the banker said. "Who actually wrote it? I keep hearing about some Ghost Coder."

Jason laughed and waved his hand. "Oh, that. Ryan's team, of course. He's just being modest about it." He caught sight of me placing brochures and raised his glass. "Hey, Printer! Bring me another champagne while you're down there."

The banker looked at me, then back at Jason. "Is that your waiter?"

"That's my cousin's husband," Jason said, and the whole table laughed.

I put down a brochure in front of the banker and moved on.

Philip sat beside Helena, looking smaller than usual in his suit. He kept touching his inside pocket, where I knew he had the gold pen. Bernard sat on his other side, red-faced and happy, already on his third drink. Grandma Grace sat very straight at the end of the table with her jade walking stick against her chair, her sharp eyes moving slowly around the room. Once they landed on me, and stayed there a little too long. When I bent to put a brochure in front of her, she spoke without turning her head.

"You missed nothing tonight, did you, Owen?" she said quietly.

I didn't know what she meant. I just kept moving.

Mei had stayed home with a fever. Somehow, I was glad she wasn't here. Whatever happened tonight, at least one person I cared about would be safe at home, far away from this room.

And Sophia sat at the far side of the table in a simple white dress, her silver watch on her wrist. She was quiet, as she always was in crowds. She wasn't on her phone. She was watching the stage with a small line between her eyebrows, the same line she'd had when she read the yellow note.

I wondered if, somewhere deep inside, she had a bad feeling about tonight too.

Twenty minutes before the show, I wheeled my cart past the curtain behind the stage to pick up more brochures. Two men were talking in the shadows by the ropes, and I slowed down.

"Is everything ready for Monday?" a man in a blue suit asked in a low voice.

"The scanners arrive at Tan Dynamics at nine," Ryan said. "Every employee, every family member. Philip already agreed."

"Good. My people are very eager to see the results."

Ryan saw me then. His smile came back at once, bright and easy. "Owen! The boxes go out front, buddy. Hurry up."

I nodded and pushed the cart past them, my face empty. But I'd heard enough. Ryan didn't just bring the deal. Ryan knew the scans mattered more than the money.

At seven thirty, Ryan Sato climbed onto the stage in a dark blue suit and tapped the microphone.

"Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming." His charming smile filled the giant screen behind him. "Tonight, Tan Dynamics begins a wonderful new partnership. In a few moments, Mr. Philip Tan will sign the final agreement with Sentinel Systems, and together we'll bring the power of AURA to every hospital in Crestport."

Applause filled the room. Helena glowed. Bernard whistled through his fingers.

"But first," Ryan went on, "I'd like to invite Sentinel's director to the stage to show you what AURA can really do. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Dale Corbin!"

A man in a blue suit walked out from behind the curtain. I recognized his face from Sentinel's website, the smiling director in the photo. In real life, his smile was the same, polished and empty, like a shop window.

"Thank you, Ryan," Corbin said. "And thank you, Crestport."

I'd finished placing brochures. I pushed my empty cart to the very back of the ballroom, beside the sound booth, where the shadows were deepest. A helper standing by an empty cart, waiting for the next job. Nobody would look at me twice.

I took out my cheap phone and held it low against my leg, where nobody could see the screen.

Sweat ran down my back under the black waiter's jacket. My heart was beating slow and heavy, the way it used to before a mission.

I looked around the crowded room one last time, slowly.

No leather jacket. No scar through a right eyebrow. If Kat was here, she was better at hiding than she used to be.

On stage, Corbin turned to face the giant screen. "AURA," he said, his voice warm. "Good evening."

The silver shield on the screen dissolved, and a soft blue light took its place, pulsing gently like a heartbeat. A calm, friendly voice filled the room from every speaker.

"Good evening, Director Corbin. Good evening, everyone."

The guests murmured with delight. A few took pictures. I knew that voice. I'd chosen it myself, ten years ago, in a lab under a mountain, from a list of two hundred voices. Ruth had wanted something cheerful. Isaac had wanted something kind. I'd picked the one that sounded like it would never lie to you.

Corbin smiled at the audience. "As many of you know, the biggest worry in our industry is safety. People want to know their information is protected. So let's ask the expert." He turned back to the screen. "AURA, please tell our guests: when Sentinel collects a scan from a hospital worker, where does that information go, and who can see it?"

The blue light pulsed.

I unlocked my phone. My thumb found the line I'd typed earlier that afternoon and hovered over it.

Across the room, Sophia turned in her seat, as if she'd felt something. Her eyes swept past the tables and the chandeliers and the waiters, all the way to the back of the ballroom, to the shadows beside the sound booth.

And stopped on me.

I pressed send.