Chapter 8: The Practice Run
Chapter 8: The Practice Run
The room froze.
No one blinked.
No one breathed.
The video continued playing.
Sophie laughed as she ran across the playground.
She couldn't have been more than eight years old.
She chased a bright red ball.
She waved at another little girl.
She had no idea someone was secretly filming her.
From behind the camera...
Preston's voice remained calm.
Almost cheerful.
"She trusts everyone."
The image zoomed closer.
Too close.
The camera followed Sophie's every movement.
"When the time comes..."
"...she won't even know what happened."
Detective Morales immediately paused the video.
The digital evidence technician slowly leaned back.
"That isn't a family video."
"No."
Morales' voice was firm.
"That's surveillance."
Lauren covered her mouth.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I married him."
Her voice cracked.
"I married a man who stalked a child."
Nobody tried to comfort her.
There were no words.
The technician opened the next file.
Another video.
Another date.
Two months before the wedding.
A neighborhood ice cream shop.
Sophie sat outside with me.
We laughed together.
Neither of us noticed the camera hidden inside a parked SUV across the street.
The image zoomed in again.
This time...
On Sophie's little denim jacket.
Preston whispered into the recording.
"Same jacket."
"Perfect."
My blood ran cold.
The jacket.
The one he used at the wedding.
He had chosen it long before that night.
Detective Morales looked at me.
"Did Sophie wear that jacket often?"
I nodded slowly.
"It was her favorite."
He wrote something in his notebook.
"So he already knew exactly where he'd hide the phone."
I couldn't answer.
Every new piece of evidence made the nightmare worse.
Back at the Carter family estate...
Eleanor paced nervously across the living room.
Her husband, Richard Carter, watched from his leather chair.
"You've worn a hole in the carpet."
She ignored him.
"The police know."
Richard sighed.
"So?"
She stopped walking.
"So?"
"Our son could go to prison."
Richard calmly folded his newspaper.
"If he stays quiet..."
"He won't."
Eleanor stared at him.
"You don't know Preston."
Richard looked up for the first time.
"No."
"I know him better than anyone."
His voice was colder than usual.
"And that's exactly what worries me."
At police headquarters...
The digital technician continued searching the flash drive.
A folder labeled Wedding Budget appeared.
Inside...
There were invoices.
Vendor contracts.
Decoration plans.
Nothing unusual.
Then one spreadsheet caught his attention.
A hidden column.
He clicked it.
Additional rows appeared.
Every payment had handwritten notes beside it.
One line stood out.
Custom Titanium iPhone Case – Duplicate Device Test
Detective Morales frowned.
"Duplicate device?"
The technician enlarged the invoice.
Two identical titanium cases had been ordered.
One for Preston's real phone.
One for another phone.
My heartbeat accelerated.
"Another phone?"
The technician nodded.
"It appears he bought two identical devices."
Morales leaned closer.
"So the phone found in Sophie's pocket..."
"...might not even have been the one he was actually using."
The room fell silent.
The technician searched deeper.
Another receipt appeared.
Purchased three weeks before the wedding.
Disposable prepaid smartphone.
Cash payment.
No registration.
No name.
Lauren whispered...
"So he planned for someone to 'find' it."
Morales nodded.
"He wanted the evidence to look convincing."
Meanwhile...
Emily Sanders sat inside another interview room.
She had finished her official statement.
She thought she was free to leave.
Then Detective Collins walked in carrying a small tablet.
"Emily..."
"We have another question."
Emily looked nervous.
"What is it?"
Collins played a short video clip.
It showed Emily walking past the groom's suite.
Coffee tray in her hands.
She froze outside the door.
The timestamp matched the conversation she overheard.
Collins paused the footage.
"You stopped here for twelve seconds."
Emily nodded.
"I heard them talking."
"You also looked inside."
Emily hesitated.
Then quietly answered.
"Yes."
"What did you see?"
Emily swallowed hard.
"I saw Preston."
"And?"
"He wasn't alone."
Collins waited.
Emily finally whispered...
"Your surveillance camera doesn't show the whole room."
"It only shows the doorway."
My stomach tightened when Morales later heard the report.
"What are you saying?"
Emily looked directly at the detectives.
"There was someone standing behind Preston."
"A woman."
Collins asked softly...
"Can you identify her?"
Emily closed her eyes.
She had hoped she wouldn't have to.
When she opened them again...
She nodded.
"Yes."
"It was Eleanor Carter."
At the forensic laboratory...
The recovered microphone recording underwent voice comparison.
Artificial intelligence matched every syllable.
Every pause.
Every vocal pattern.
The computer processed thousands of voice samples.
A green notification appeared.
Voice Match Complete
Speaker One: Preston Carter
99.97% Match
The technicians nodded.
Then the second result appeared.
The room fell completely silent.
Speaker Two: Eleanor Carter
99.94% Match
Detective Morales slowly exhaled.
The evidence was no longer circumstantial.
It was scientific.
He reached for his phone.
"Prepare two arrest warrants."
Before he could press the call button...
The digital technician shouted from across the room.
"Detective!"
"You need to see this."
Morales hurried over.
Another hidden folder had just finished decrypting.
Its name appeared in bold black letters.
Phase Two
He clicked it open.
Inside was only one document.
One page.
One sentence.
And one date.
May you like
The date was...
Tomorrow Morning.
