Chapter 5: The Fugitive Groom
Chapter 5: The Fugitive Groom
The words echoed in my mind.
He was gone.
For a moment, I simply stared at Detective Brooks.
"How could he disappear?" I asked. "The officers were already there."
Brooks let out a slow breath.
"When we first arrived, our priority was your daughter. We hadn't placed Mr. Preston under arrest yet because we were still securing the scene."
"He used that time to leave."
I looked down the hospital hallway.
"He knew."
Brooks nodded.
"I believe he realized those cameras had recorded more than he expected."
An officer hurried toward us carrying a folder.
"Detective."
"What do we have?"
"The hotel reviewed the lobby footage."
Brooks opened the folder.
"The groom left through the west entrance at 7:18 p.m."
"He wasn't alone."
"Who was with him?" I asked.
"No one."
"He left his bride behind."
That didn't surprise me.
Preston had always protected one person above everyone else.
Himself.
A nurse approached me with a gentle smile.
"You can see Sophie now."
I followed her into a quiet pediatric room.
The lights were dim.
Machines beeped softly beside the bed.
Sophie looked impossibly small beneath the white hospital blanket.
A thick bandage wrapped around the left side of her head.
When she saw me, she managed a tiny smile.
"Hi, Mommy."
I sat beside her and carefully took her hand.
"Hi, sweetheart."
"Does my head look funny?"
I laughed through my tears.
"A little."
She giggled, then winced.
"Ouch."
"Don't make me laugh."
"I'm sorry."
She studied my face for a long moment.
"Are you crying because of me?"
"No."
"I was crying because I love you."
She squeezed my hand.
"I love you too."
There was a long silence.
Then she whispered something so softly I almost missed it.
"Is Uncle Preston mad at me?"
The question broke my heart all over again.
"No."
"He's responsible for what happened."
"You didn't do anything wrong."
"But Grandma said..."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"What did Grandma say?"
Sophie looked at the blanket.
"She told me that good girls don't steal."
"She said I embarrassed the family."
I closed my eyes.
Even after seeing Sophie injured...
My mother had still found time to blame her.
I leaned forward and kissed Sophie's forehead.
"Listen to me."
She nodded.
"You are kind."
"You are honest."
"You are brave."
"And no matter what anyone says..."
"I will always believe you."
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I was scared."
"I know."
"I thought nobody believed me."
"I always will."
She wrapped her arms around me as much as the IV would allow.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
We didn't have to.
Outside the room, Detective Brooks was waiting.
"I hate interrupting," he said, "but there's something you should know."
I stepped into the hallway and quietly closed the door.
"What is it?"
"The surveillance team finished reviewing the remaining footage."
"And?"
"It gets worse."
My heart sank.
"Worse than planting the phone?"
He nodded.
"Much worse."
He handed me several printed photographs.
The first showed Preston removing his phone from his jacket.
The second showed him slipping it into Sophie's pocket.
The third made my blood run cold.
"What..."
I could barely get the words out.
"What is that?"
Brooks pointed to the image.
"Five minutes before approaching Sophie, Preston was talking to your parents."
The photograph showed the three of them standing together near the ballroom entrance.
"They looked... serious."
"They were."
"What were they saying?"
"We don't know yet."
"There isn't any audio."
I studied the picture.
My father glanced around the ballroom.
My mother folded her arms.
Preston nodded.
Then all three separated in different directions.
Brooks spoke carefully.
"We can't jump to conclusions."
"But..."
"It doesn't look like a casual conversation."
"You think they knew?"
"I don't know."
"And I won't speculate."
"But we'll be interviewing both of your parents tomorrow."
Before I could respond, another officer entered the hallway carrying a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was Preston's shattered oak menu board.
Dark red stains were still visible along one edge.
"The crime lab just picked it up," the officer said.
"They found something interesting."
Brooks looked up.
"What?"
"Besides Sophie's blood..."
"They recovered fingerprints."
"Whose?"
The officer looked at his report.
"Sophie's."
"Yours."
"Several hotel employees'."
He paused.
"And one unidentified partial print."
Brooks frowned.
"Unidentified?"
"It doesn't belong to Preston."
A strange feeling settled over me.
"If Preston carried the board..."
"Shouldn't his fingerprints be on it?"
"That's exactly what the lab wants to find out."
Brooks slipped the report into his folder.
"If his prints are missing, it could mean he wiped the board before grabbing it."
"Or..."
The officer finished the thought.
"He may have been wearing gloves earlier."
I stared at them.
"At his own wedding?"
Neither officer answered.
Because suddenly...
It didn't seem impossible anymore.
Just then, Brooks' phone buzzed again.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression sharpened.
"We may have a lead."
"On Preston?"
He nodded.
"A traffic camera captured his vehicle heading north."
"Toward the interstate."
"He isn't just leaving the hotel."
Brooks closed the folder.
"He may be trying to leave Illinois."
For the first time in thirty years...
The golden child wasn't running toward his next victory.
He was running from the truth.
May you like
And this time...
The evidence was running faster.
