Chapter 5 - SOMEBODY TOOK IT
Everyone started talking at once.
“It was right there.”
“Who touched the glass?”
“Check the floor.”
Vanessa looked beneath the table.
Nothing.
Delaney shut the ballroom doors.
“Nobody leaves.”
Preston exploded.
“You can’t lock my guests in here.”
“I’m not locking anyone in,” Delaney said. “I’m asking everyone to remain until we understand what happened.”
“I understand what happened. My niece stole my phone.”
I laughed.
“You’re still sticking with that?”
His eyes flashed.
“What else happened?”
“A flash drive vanished the second everybody looked away.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“Then why were you trying to destroy it?”
“It was champagne, Rachel, not acid.”
Vanessa turned on him.
“What’s on it?”
“Nothing.”
“You carried an empty flash drive in your tuxedo pocket?”
He said nothing.
Vanessa’s voice trembled.
“On our wedding day?”
That hit him.
He softened instantly.
“Vanessa, sweetheart—”
“Don’t.”
The room went still.
She removed her hand from his arm.
“Don’t call me sweetheart right now.”
I almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
Then Sophie squeezed my hand.
“Mom.”
I looked down.
She nodded toward a waiter moving slowly along the back wall.
Young guy. Maybe twenty-five.
He kept touching his left jacket pocket.
“What?” I whispered.
“I saw him.”
“Saw him what?”
“He took the little thing.”
I crouched.
“When?”
“When everyone yelled.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“He put his towel over the glass and picked it up.”
I stood.
The waiter saw me looking.
He froze.
Then ran.
“Hey!”
Delaney took off after him.
The waiter shoved through a service door.
A tray crashed.
Guests screamed.
I handed Sophie to Vanessa without thinking.
“Stay with her.”
Then I ran.
The kitchen was chaos.
Chefs shouted as the waiter sprinted between counters.
Delaney followed.
I was twenty feet behind.
The waiter kicked open a metal door leading to the loading dock.
Cold night air hit my face.
He made it three steps outside before another security guard tackled him.
They hit the pavement hard.
The USB drive skidded across the concrete.
I stopped.
Breathing hard.
Delaney picked it up with gloved fingers.
The waiter struggled.
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Then why run?”
His eyes found mine.
He looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
“I was paid.”
My heart slammed.
“By who?”
He swallowed.
Then looked back toward the hotel.
“Your brother.”
Before I could ask another question, tires screamed nearby.
May you like
A black SUV shot out of the parking garage.
And for one terrifying second, it was heading straight toward us.
