Chapter 288 - 288: 288 | Where Is Miss Brooklyn?

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Jimmy Cooks by Drake, 21 Savage>

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By the time the first photographs from the executive center reached the detectives, two ambulances had already left the building.

The pictures showed a conference room with a broken cabinet, three bullet holes, a pistol under the table and blood on the carpet.

The gunman had survived, although the police were keeping him under guard at a different hospital.

Von, meanwhile, was sitting on an examination bed with a bandage around his left upper arm and an officer stationed outside the curtain.

The paramedics had stopped the bleeding on the way over, but his shoulder still hurt whenever he moved.

A doctor had already checked the circulation in his hand and ordered imaging to make sure the bullet hadn't damaged a bone or anything more serious.

David arrived just as the nurse finished cutting away Von's bloodstained sleeve.

"Jesus, Von."

"Yeah, that's becoming a popular greeting today."

David didn't smile. He set his phone on the bed and looked at the dressing. "The guards said you fought the man yourself."

"Didn't have much choice. Where's Emily?"

"Nobody can reach her. The police have people looking, and I've sent someone back to the hotel." He paused. "Zack's on his way. He's speaking to the detective now."

Von looked past him toward the corridor. Emily had arranged the meeting, brought him there, and left him with the man who shot him.

He could still see her turning toward the glass, close enough for him to recognize her face.

"She saw me," he said.

David pulled up a chair. "What?"

"I was shouting for her. She looked right at the room and kept going."

David's eyes moved to the dressing on Von's arm. He reached for his phone but stopped when he saw Von's expression.

"We'll find her," he said.

The doctor returned with the initial imaging results.

Luckily for Von, the bullet had passed through the soft tissue along the outside of his upper arm, missing the bone and the major blood vessels.

Von could move his fingers and wrist normally, and the doctor had found no obvious nerve damage, but the wound still needed thorough cleaning and dressing.

They wanted him observed for further bleeding before discussing discharge.

"When can I leave?" Von asked.

"We'll talk about that after we've treated the wound. You were shot less than two hours ago."

Von shut his mouth when David gave him a warning look. He'd already spent enough time arguing with doctors in Vancouver.

Detective Mara Ellis had been assigned to the case because the man in the conference room hadn't attempted a robbery.

The victim's phone, jewelry and wallet were untouched. The pistol had been fired three times at close range, and the attacker's injuries matched the security officers' account of Von overpowering him.

Ellis didn't have to guess what the gunman wanted.

She sat across from Von after his wound had been cleaned, a small recorder placed between them.

Zack had joined by video and asked to remain on the call while Von gave his statement.

"Let's start with the meeting," Ellis said. "Whose idea was it?"

"Emily's. She said someone from her old agency knew something about a bank account we're investigating."

"And you agreed to go?"

"She's my manager. Of course I went."

Ellis made a note. "Did you know Martin Shaw before today?"

"Never seen him. Emily introduced us."

"She told you to wait with him alone?"

Von nodded. "I wasn't happy about it, but she said he had records he wanted me to hear without her in the room. She asked for five minutes."

"And the security detail?"

"They were in the lounge outside. Emily wanted the meeting private. I agreed to that too." He looked at Ellis. "Those guys ran toward the shots. Don't put this on them."

"I'm not. I'm establishing who decided what." Ellis turned a page. "After Miss Brooklyn left, what happened?"

Von told her. He kept the account brief, although he had to stop once when the doctor adjusted the bandage.

Martin opening the document case. The gun coming out. The shots and the struggle. The last part took longer.

"You said you saw Miss Brooklyn through the glass."

"Yeah."

"Did she look at you?"

"She turned when I shouted. I hit the glass. Then she walked away."

"Could she see the gunman?"

"I don't know what she could see. I know she looked in my direction." Von leaned back against the pillows. "I kept thinking she'd come back with security."

Ellis let the silence sit for a moment before asking for his phone. He gave permission for the police to copy the messages relating to the meeting, and Zack asked for a record of exactly what was taken.

"Has anyone reached Emily?" Von asked again.

"Not yet."

"Then find her."

"We're trying, Mr. Varley."

Meanwhile, at the executive center, officers were comparing the visitor register with the building's electronic access history.

Emily had booked the room herself the day before and signed for the key card when she arrived.

In her message to reception that morning, she had requested the lounge for Von's security and authorized Martin Shaw as her guest.

Shaw had entered with legitimate identification. The receptionist remembered Emily greeting him by name.

On camera, she and the man entered the room together; minutes later Emily walked out alone and secured the corridor door. There was no second unknown visitor and no sign of anyone forcing entry.

The receptionist played the corridor footage for Ellis over a secure call. It showed Emily heading away from the room as the first guard began running toward it.

Farther along the corridor, Emily stopped and turned, then continued toward the elevators.

"Sound on that camera?" Ellis asked.

"No. The conference room has acoustic glazing, and the corridor camera records video only."

"Keep the original recording and the access logs. I want the guest registration and her booking emails too."

She ended the call and studied the account of the meeting again.

A manager had arranged a private room for her artist, brought an armed acquaintance to him, insisted his guards wait outside, and left just before he was shot. She had yet to offer an explanation.

Then David forwarded the documentation Zack had provided voluntarily about the tour's ongoing financial dispute.

Ellis opened the summary, saw the name on the diverted payment and called her partner.

She's heard enough from what happened.

"We need to find Miss Brooklyn, now."