Chapter 3 - THE OTHER LITTLE GIRL
Sophie was taken for scans the moment we reached the hospital.
Doctors moved around her quickly.
A nurse cleaned the blood from her hair.
Another placed an identification bracelet around her wrist.
I answered questions with a voice that did not feel like mine.
“Did she lose consciousness?”
“For several seconds.”
“Did she vomit?”
“No.”
“Does she have any medical conditions?”
“No.”
“Any allergies?”
“None.”
Sophie looked impossibly small beneath the white hospital lights.
The ribbon from her neck sat inside a clear evidence bag.
Half of it had turned dark red.
Officer Mercer arrived twenty minutes later.
His expression was grim.
“Preston has retained an attorney.”
“Of course he has.”
“He now says the board slipped from his hand.”
“He claims Sophie ran into it.”
“There were two hundred witnesses.”
“Most of them are saying they did not see the actual impact.”
I stared at him.
“They were ten feet away.”
“Some work for your brother.”
“Some are investors.”
“Others are close friends of your parents.”
“He attacked a child in front of them.”
Mercer’s gaze remained steady.
“Power changes what people believe they saw.”
I showed him the anonymous messages and the photograph.
He studied the image.
The girl appeared to be around ten years old.
Preston looked younger.
The photograph had been taken at a charity event.
A printed date in the corner showed it was from six years earlier.
“Do you recognize her?”
“No.”
“Do you recognize the location?”
“It looks like one of my mother’s foundation galas.”
Mercer returned the phone.
“We recovered the hotel’s main surveillance system.”
“Recovered?”
“Someone tried to erase the recordings during the blackout.”
“Preston?”
“He was found outside the security room.”
“He claims he was looking for a restroom.”
“That hallway has no restroom.”
“I know.”
“Did he delete the footage?”
“A technician is checking.”
Mercer hesitated.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The camera you saw above the ballroom entrance was not recording.”
I stared at him.
“The light was blinking.”
“It was a dummy unit.”
“No internal storage.”
“No connection to the hotel system.”
My stomach dropped.
Preston had known.
That was why he recovered so quickly after my warning.
“He planned this.”
Mercer spoke carefully.
“We need evidence.”
The examination room door opened.
A doctor stepped into the hallway.
“Mrs. Hayes?”
I stood immediately.
“How is she?”
“She has a concussion and a deep laceration.”
“The scan does not show internal bleeding.”
Relief nearly broke my knees.
“But we need to keep her overnight.”
“She was unconscious?”
“Briefly.”
“That requires observation.”
I closed my eyes.
“Can I see her?”
“Yes.”
Before I entered, Mercer touched my arm.
“Do you know why your daughter was targeted?”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“Was there a financial dispute?”
“An inheritance?”
“A family secret?”
I looked at him.
“Preston hates being challenged.”
“That is not enough.”
“Then I don’t know.”
My phone rang.
The same unknown number.
I answered.
“Who is this?”
A woman breathed softly on the other end.
“My name is Rachel Cole.”
“Who are you?”
“The mother of the girl in the photograph.”
I stepped away from Mercer.
“What happened to her?”
Rachel’s voice shook.
“Preston accused my daughter of stealing a diamond bracelet at a foundation gala.”
“He found it in her backpack.”
“What did he do?”
“He dragged her into a storage room.”
“He said he wanted to scare the truth out of her.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Did he hit her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you call the police?”
“I tried.”
“Your father paid my husband to move us out of Illinois.”
“Why contact me now?”
“Because I saw the wedding livestream.”
“And I saw Sophie.”
Her breathing broke.
“I knew exactly what he had done.”
“Do you have proof?”
There was a long silence.
“I have something better than proof.”
“What?”
“I have the person who put the bracelet in my daughter’s bag.”
Before she could explain, someone screamed in the hospital corridor.
A nurse ran past me.
Then the fire alarm began to ring.
Rachel whispered one final sentence.
May you like
“They found me.”
The call ended.
