Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Ruby pulled open her laptop. “I managed to find some footage on social media early this morning. It’s from an Amy Lincoln, who was having her birthday party last night at The Barn. The security camera footage didn’t give me much except proof that Olivia’s drink wasn’t ready when Keane was at the bar. It exonerates him entirely. He doesn’t come anywhere close to that drink. But watch this.”
She pressed a key and turned the laptop his way.
He recognized the room, and even thought he’d seen the young woman in the video. She wore a tight T-shirt and jean shorts with boots. She looked straight at the camera and smiled.
“Welcome to my twenty-first birthday!”
There was a bunch of whoops and yells and fist pumping as Amy continued to talk about everything she planned on drinking that evening. It appeared she had not, in fact, waited until she was legal since she had a vast knowledge of mixed drinks.
Then the camera pulled back to show the whole table of her smiling friends.
“There,” Ruby said, pointing to the top left of the screen.
Garrett stopped the footage. He stared at where she pointed. “Is that Miranda?”
Ruby nodded. “She’s coming from the bar and walking toward the table Olivia was at. Do you see the drink in her hand?”
Miranda carried two margarita glasses. There was no way to miss the blue and green umbrella in one of the drinks.
“That’s Olivia’s drink.” She’d only had two that night, and both had come with the umbrella to differentiate it from the regular margaritas.
“Yes. I found the footage where Miranda returns to the bar. The bartender hands it straight to her, so unless we believe Miranda suddenly decided to drug one of her best friends and have her kidnapped, we have to assume it happened between the bar and the table.”
“You think someone passing by managed to get those drugs in the drink?” Miranda had carried it, and then it was close to Olivia. He thought it would be hard to slip it in unless she was completely distracted.
“Watch.” Ruby started the video again.
Amy was partying with her friends, but a woman rushed in front of Miranda and dropped her bag, spilling the items all over the floor. It was precarious because there were a lot of people walking around. Miranda immediately put down her drinks on the nearest table and helped the brunette wearing jeans and a Western-style shirt, her hair in a high ponytail. They were out of sight for a moment but then the brunette stood and while Miranda was still picking up her things, the brunette’s hand moved over the margarita glass. It was quick. It would have been easy to miss if Ruby hadn’t enhanced the footage and managed to zoom in. He’d heard she was excellent with tech, but this proved it. She’d found a video with hidden evidence and made it clear.
“She drugged the drink.” He didn’t recognize the woman. She looked to be around Olivia’s age, maybe slightly younger. How did this woman know Olivia? “I’ve never seen her before. Why would some random woman drug Olivia’s drink? She wasn’t the one who was trying to take her out of the building. I was there. It was one man. He was short and skinny and had a cowboy hat on. I wish I’d gotten a better look at him.”
“I think they were working together.” Ruby’s hands moved across the keys of the laptop. “Whoever he is, he made a point to avoid the cameras. I pulled everything I could, and I can’t get a good view of his face. I have him walking out, dragging Olivia along. They need to have a talk with their bouncers because no one helped her. They thought she was drunk and believed this guy when he said he was her boyfriend, trying to get her home.”
“Everyone knows Olivia.”
“And everyone knows she has a new boyfriend, but they don’t know you two. From what I can tell there are rumors flying around town about Livie and her new guys. I don’t think the bouncers meant to let her go into danger, but they should have asked a few more questions,” Ruby pointed out. “You two need to meet more people in this town so they know who you are.”
“So we have no idea who this person is?” Garrett stared at the shot, trying to find anything about the man he could recognize, but he’d done a great job of making himself a ghost. Everything he wore was nondescript, from his cowboy hat to the boots on his feet. “We have to find someone who talked to him. Or the woman who dropped her bag. Surely we can ID her. We have a clear picture of her face.”
“Which is why I know she is Jessica Fellows,” Ruby announced. “Apparently she knew Olivia a few years ago. I looked into her background. She’s from Willow Fork, though I don’t think she and Olivia ran in the same circles until she was hired on at Barnes-Fleetwood.”