Chapter 8 - THE FOOTAGE
Nobody spoke as the ballroom screen came down.
The same giant screen that had shown childhood pictures of Preston and Vanessa thirty minutes earlier was now connected to the hotel security system.
Delaney stood at the laptop.
Ruiz beside him.
Preston stood near the exit.
He hadn’t left.
Maybe he realized leaving would look worse.
Maybe he knew there was nowhere to go.
The footage began at 6:42 p.m.
Guests entered the ballroom.
People hugged.
Kids ran between tables.
Then Sophie appeared.
She removed her white jacket and placed it over a chair near our table.
The time stamp read 6:51.
At 7:03, Preston entered the frame.
Alone.
He looked behind him.
Then approached Sophie’s jacket.
A sound moved through the ballroom.
Not a gasp.
Something uglier.
Recognition.
On the screen, Preston reached into his tuxedo pocket.
He took out his phone.
Then slipped it directly into Sophie’s jacket.
The room exploded.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Mom sat down hard.
Dad stared at the floor.
Sophie whispered, “I told you.”
I pulled her close.
“I know, baby.”
Preston yelled, “Turn it off!”
Ruiz didn’t move.
The footage continued.
At 7:05, Preston went behind the stage.
He made a call on the second phone.
At 7:08, Eli approached him.
They spoke for thirty seconds.
Preston handed him cash.
Then something happened that none of us expected.
My father entered the frame.
He walked directly to Preston.
They argued.
No audio.
Dad pointed toward the ballroom.
Preston shoved the USB drive into his pocket.
Dad grabbed his arm.
Preston jerked free.
Then Dad said something.
I couldn’t hear it.
But I could read his lips.
So could Vanessa.
So could half the ballroom.
Daniel is dead because of you.
My lungs stopped working.
I looked at Dad.
He looked twenty years older.
“What did you mean?”
“Rachel…”
“What did you mean?”
Sophie’s fingers tightened around mine.
Dad began crying.
I had seen my father cry only twice.
At my grandmother’s funeral.
And at Daniel’s.
“Dad.”
He looked at me.
“I should’ve told you.”
The ballroom disappeared.
The guests.
The flowers.
The music.
Everything.
“What did Preston do?”
Dad shook his head.
“I thought it was an accident.”
Preston shouted, “Shut up!”
Ruiz stepped between them.
Dad looked at his son.
Then back at me.
May you like
“The night Daniel died,” he said, “Preston was there.”
And before I could process that, the screen suddenly went black.
