Page 13 of Finding Home at Hearts Hotel

Darius frowned slightly, his fingers tapping a slow rhythm against the edge of the folder. He was curious to discover their timeline. "When exactly did you examine the hotel property? As far as we know, the owner has not granted permission for any outside surveys."

"Oh, no," Hyrum corrected quickly, waving a dismissive hand. "I had already reviewed that specific site many years ago, and I can assure you that what is laid out in those two independent reports is accurate."

"These two 'independent' surveys?" Darius asked, fanning the individual report covers across the table for Hyrum to view.

"Yes, those are the ones," Hyrum stated confidently, offering a firm nod. "I verified the data myself."

"Good to know," Darius said, his even, level tone suggesting it was anything but good.

"Mr. Wayne," Debbi began, her brow furrowing as she eyed him with a hint of growing suspicion. "Is there a problem? I'm getting the impression from your tone that you're not particularly happy with the results of the reports we submitted."

"Oh, it's not me," Darius told her, his voice cool and calm as he held out his hand to Baxter once again. "It's theother independent survey companies we asked to conduct two additional surveys of the property."

"And then there is this," Baxter said. He didn’t hand the document over to Darius; instead, he placed it flat on the mahogany table himself. "It seems that the two companies you used for the surveys weren’t as independent as you claimed."

Darius watched as Debbi’s eyes widened the moment she saw the document.

"In fact," Darius said, leaning forward to rest his hands on the polished wood. "Those two companies are subsidiaries of South Coast Holdings."

"Which happens to be the umbrella company for..." Baxter pulled out the other documents, laying them out in a neat line to link the two survey companies and South Coast Hotels directly to South Coast Holdings. "...for these three companies." He tilted his head, his gaze moving sharply between Debbi and Hyrum. "Are you going to tell us that you didn’t realize this?" Sarcasm laced his low voice.

"What are you implying?" Hyrum’s voice turned as icy as his eyes.

Debbi’s gaze flicked toward Rory, her eyes flashing with panic as the realization hit her that the young assistant was no longer on their side.

"We’re not implying anything," Darius told him, his fingers moving quickly across the screen of his phone as he sent a brief text. "But..."

The door swung open with a sharp click, and Gill walked into the room. She was flanked by two professionals in neat, tailoredsuits. Even before their badges were visible against their jackets, their steady, commanding presence made it clear they were law enforcement officers—federal investigators, to be exact.

"What is she doing here?" Debbi hissed, her eyes narrowing as her gaze locked onto Gill. "You can't tell me you got your information from her. She's a plagiarist."

Hyrum's face flushed a mottled, angry red as his eyes fixed on Gill and the two federal agents flanking her.

"She's a plagiarist?" Baxter scoffed, his eyes flashing with anger as he tapped his fingers against his briefcase. "Maybe you should rethink your wording."

"Why on earth would I do that?" Debbi lifted her chin defiantly.

"Why?" Darius asked, raising a single eyebrow as he pointed to the documents Baxter had arranged on the table. "Because inside that briefcase is the complete, unredacted paper trail of your industrial sabotage, including the falsified environmental and structural hazard reports for both our property in South Carolina and Hearts Hotel. If you doubt the authenticity of those files, you can ask your errand boy."

He pointed toward the far corner of the room. "We also have his full confession, along with access to all of his devices."

Debbi and Hyrum's eyes snapped toward the corner. Rory shrank back further against the wallpaper, sweating under their venomous glares.

"You pathetic little traitor," Debbi hissed, her voice trembling with unadulterated fury.

"I had to!" Rory cried out defensively, his hands wringing together. "They have the wire transfers." His throat bobbed as he swallowed in panic. "They have everything!"

Hyrum slammed his palms down onto the mahogany table, leaning forward with a snarl. "You have nothing that'll hold up in court! You're bluffing!"

Before Hyrum could finish his sentence, Gill stepped forward, her posture ramrod straight, her expression a mask of cold, academic vengeance. Beside her, moving like silent shadows, the pair of sharp-suited federal agents identified themselves as being from the corporate fraud division. Everyone's attention shifted as the door opened once again to admit two local law enforcement officers.

"Sorry we got held up," the first officer said politely, stepping up beside the federal agents.

The color drained from Debbi's face, her mouth parting in a soundless gasp as she stared at the badges.

Gill walked right up to the mahogany table, stopping directly opposite Debbi. She didn't look at Hyrum, and she didn't look at Darius. Her sharp, intelligent eyes locked onto Debbi’s, holding her gaze with a terrifying, unblinking intensity.

"You thought you could sweep your dirty little footprint across the whole southeastern coastline, didn't you?" Gill's voice was low, steady, and dripping with a decade's worth of suppressed pain. She dropped a thick stack of documentation onto the table right in front of Debbi's laptop. "These federal agents have audit logs covering your firm's fraudulent manipulations across seven different states, detailing every business you've maliciously targeted, sabotaged, and illegally forced into distress."