Chapter 2 — The Camera Never Blinked
Chapter 2 — The Camera Never Blinked
The ambulance doors slammed shut.
Sophie squeezed my hand as the paramedic pressed fresh gauze against the cut above her ear.
"Will I be okay?" she whispered.
"You already are," I said, forcing a smile I didn't feel.
Behind us, flashing police lights painted the hotel entrance blue and red.
Inside the ballroom, the celebration had stopped.
No one was dancing anymore.
Officer Daniel Ruiz stepped toward me.
"The hotel manager says there's security footage."
Preston answered before I could.
"The camera doesn't cover our table."
His response came too quickly.
Too confidently.
Officer Ruiz glanced at him.
"Interesting."
"I didn't tell you where the camera was."
For the first time, Preston looked uncertain.
Hotel manager Linda Carson arrived carrying a small black tablet.
"There are six cameras in the ballroom," she said.
"One points toward the entrance."
"Another covers the dance floor."
"A third overlooks the guest tables."
Preston's face lost its color.
"I want my attorney."
"No problem," Officer Ruiz replied.
"But we're still preserving the footage."
The video began to play.
Guests gathered around the screen.
No one spoke.
The recording showed Sophie sitting beside me, coloring on the back of a wedding program.
She never left her chair.
Minutes later...
Preston walked behind her.
He glanced over both shoulders.
Reached into his jacket.
Pulled out his phone.
Then quietly slipped it into the pocket of Sophie's denim jacket.
He smiled.
Walked away.
Exactly forty-three seconds later...
He announced the phone was missing.
A collective gasp swept through the ballroom.
Someone whispered,
"My God..."
Another guest covered her mouth.
My mother stared at the screen as if refusing to believe what she was seeing.
My father looked at the floor.
Neither said a word.
Officer Ruiz paused the video on the exact frame showing Preston's hand inside Sophie's pocket.
"That," he said calmly, "is evidence."
The groom said nothing.
May you like
For the first time in his life...
No one came to save him.
