Chapter 4 - THE SECOND PHONE
I saw it hit the champagne.
A tiny silver object.
Not his phone.
Something smaller.
Preston immediately placed his hand over the glass.
I walked toward him.
“What did you just drop?”
He blocked me.
“Nothing.”
I reached around him.
He grabbed the glass.
Vanessa stepped between us.
“Stop!”
Security officer Mark Delaney glanced from me to Preston.
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes,” I said.
“No,” Preston said at the same time.
Delaney frowned.
I pointed.
“He dropped something into that glass.”
Preston laughed.
“My sister is having some kind of episode.”
That old trick.
Make the woman sound unstable.
I knew it well.
Unfortunately for Preston, Vanessa didn’t.
“Then show us the glass,” she said.
He stared at his new wife.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Vanessa—”
“Show me.”
A dozen guests had gathered around us.
Preston’s face tightened.
Then he lifted the glass.
At the bottom, beneath an inch of champagne, was a tiny black-and-silver USB drive.
Vanessa stared at it.
“What is that?”
Preston shrugged.
“A flash drive.”
“Why did you put it in champagne?”
“I dropped it.”
“On purpose?”
“It slipped.”
Nobody believed him.
Not anymore.
Delaney held out his hand.
“I’d like the drive.”
Preston’s expression changed instantly.
“No.”
The officer’s voice remained calm.
“Sir, if it’s connected to the incident—”
“It isn’t.”
“Then there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I said no.”
Vanessa stepped back.
Something had broken behind her eyes.
Her perfect wedding night was slipping away.
And her husband was helping destroy it.
The second security officer leaned toward Delaney.
“We should review the camera first.”
I nodded.
“Please.”
Delaney looked at Preston.
“You’re welcome to come with us.”
“I’m staying here.”
“Fine.”
Then he looked at me.
“Ma’am?”
“I’m coming.”
Sophie tightened her grip on my hand.
“I want to come too.”
“No, baby.”
“I don’t want to stay with Uncle Preston.”
The words landed like a brick.
Mom flinched.
I bent down.
“You can come.”
We followed security toward a staff hallway.
Behind us, Preston shouted.
“Rachel!”
I turned.
He stood beside the wedding cake, chest rising and falling.
“If you play that footage,” he said, “you’re going to regret it.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
Then I looked at Sophie.
“You are.”
We walked away.
But before the ballroom doors closed, Vanessa suddenly called after us.
“Wait!”
May you like
She lifted the champagne glass.
And inside it, the USB drive was gone.
