When the hotel manager saw Yvonne walk back through the lobby, her face went pale as a sheet. "Princess Yvonne, you''re not here to ask for security again, are you? I swear, our security cameras really are down-no joke."


    Just remembering the way Yvonne and her sister had stormed in that morning was enough to make the manager want to drop to her knees right then and there, even though Yvonne hadn''t said a word yet.


    Yvonne didn''t bother hiding her irritation. "Enough about the cameras. Just pull up your guest records."


    The manager''s face drained of color, if that was even possible. Yvonne arched an eyebrow. "What? Don''t tell me your reservation system''s crashed too?"


    The manager stammered, "Well, uh, the thing is, I..."


    "Don''t even try to pull that on me," Yvonne cut in, her tone sharp. "Even if the system''s down, byw you have to keep handwritten records. No excuses."


    She was right. Guest information was no joke-regtory agencies did spot checks all the time. If anything shady turned up, every hotel in the city coulde under fire.


    The manager shifted ufortably. "It''s just that..."


    "What now?" Yvonne snapped, her patience wearing thin.


    With a stiff, awkward smile, the manager finally blurted out, "Well, the guest records... someone deleted them."


    "Deleted?" Yvonne echoed, her voice low and dangerous.


    The manager nodded, sweating. "Yeah, that''s right."


    Yvonne pressed on. "Who deleted them?"


    The manager looked ready to burst into tears. "We don''t know them! This morning, they just showed up at the front desk with a gun and-" Her voice wavered. "They scared everyone half to death."


    Yvonne''s expression darkened even further. She was almost certain now-the person who deleted the records was the same person she''d spent the night with. "Who checked into Suite 808 on the 66th floorst night?" she demanded.


    The manager shook her head helplessly. "The info''s all gone. We have no idea."


    Yvonne''s eyes narrowed. So, the records were wiped. "Let me guess-those guys are behind the broken cameras too?"


    The manager couldn''t even bring herself to answer. She looked like she was about to faint.


    "Princess Yvonne, please," she whimpered, tears starting to flow. "We''d never lie to you. Please, just let us off the hook."


    Yvonne was silent for a moment, watching the woman fall apart in front of her. Was it really appropriate for a grown woman to cry like this? Well, whatever. With the cameras and records both deleted, she wouldn''t get any answers here, no


    matter how hard she pushed.


    Reluctantly, Yvonne decided to let the hotel staff off the hook-for now.


    Back outside, Yvonne, Julia, and


    Aileen walked out into the bustling


    city street. Julia looked


    guilt written all over her face.


    "Yvonne, I''m really sorry. I swear,


    when I brought you upst night, the room was totally empty. I had an emergency to deal with. never


    expected this."


    Yvonne took a long drink from her water bottle, watching the rush of taxis and delivery trucks on the avenue.


    this person is, they had the cameras


    Think about it-whoeven et


    wiped and the guest record cameras


    deleted. That''s not something just anyone could pull off in Ferrond."


    Aileen nodded in agreement. "Yeah, from the look of it, the hotel staff were


    terrified to give you anything. Ask one more question and that manager would''ve fallen to her knees."


    Yvonne let out a heavy sigh. "Someone with enough power to scare an entire hotel out of their wits... That''s not just anybody."


    The three women fell silent, the weight of the mystery pressing down on them as the city buzzed on around them.