CHAPTER 4: The Doors Opened Below

The main doors of Vistion Hall opened before anyone could call for security.
Cold night air moved across the marble floor.
Five men stepped through the entrance in black suits, not hurried, not confused, not asking permission.
At their center was Leonard Bennett, Ava's father.
He was seventy-one, silver-haired, and famous for never raising his voice in rooms where his signature already did the damage.
The guests parted for him without being told.
Celeste saw him and frowned, as if trying to place an old photograph in her memory.
Grant recognized him immediately.
His face changed.
Ava saw it from the stair where she sat: the color leaving her husband's cheeks, the soft collapse of a man remembering who had paid for the foundation beneath him.
Leonard looked once at his daughter on the steps.
Then he looked at Grant.
Leonard carried no umbrella, though rain darkened the shoulders of his overcoat. He looked less like a grieving father rushing inside and more like judgment arriving after taking its time.
The men behind him did not scan the room for status. They scanned it for exits, witnesses, cameras, and threats.
'Why is my daughter on the floor of my hall?' he asked.