It’s late in the afternoon and we’re in my living room watching the camera footage on the TV above the fireplace. AJ has connected his laptop to it. He taps the keys on his device.
The footage from the hallway camera outside the balcony doors to the ballroom freezes.
“Right here in the bottom corner, you can see a shadow near the molding. Then everything goes black. The timestamp shows 8:43.”
I shift my weight on the couch, trying to ease my aching ribs. “That shadow is a person.”
“But who?” Matteo leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “Did any other camera pick it up?”
“All the cameras went down at the exact same time.” AJ checks his notes.
“Why didn’t any of the guards that were posted upstairs see this person?” Salvatore drums his fingers on the armchair.
“There was one guard stationed at the end of that hallway. His back was to it…probably because that leads to a dead end. But still no one should have gotten past him,” AJ explains.
“Bruno was upstairs the whole time. He assigned where the guards were posted. Why didn’t he see anything?” Salvatore leans forward in his chair.
“Because he went downstairs at 8:35 according to the cameras.” AJ swipes through the footage. “That left four guards covering the upstairs.”
“Why did he go downstairs?” I demand.
AJ changes the scene. “Right here, apparently somebody tried to enter your party who wasn’t on the list.”
The camera switches to the foyer. A woman stands in the entryway. Short copper curls spill around her face and a tight crimson dress hugs her frame. She seems visibly upset that the guard at the door isn’t letting her in. The guard mutters something into his walkie. Seconds later Bruno comes down the stairs.
His eyes widen when he sees the woman.
She throws up her hands in frustration.
Bruno exchanges words with her. The other four guards posted upstairs come downstairs to help. More words are exchanged. Then Bruno takes her arm and escorts her outside, followed by a few more guards.
“Go back, AJ,” I demand.
AJ rewinds until I tell him to stop and pause. I point to Bruno’s face. “Look at his face. He knows this woman. Who is she?”
Matteo and Salvatore’s faces reveal they don’t know who she is either.
I make a mental note to get this footage to Dominic ASAP.
“Where were you two when all this happened?”
“I was at the back table gambling with a few of our cousins. I was going through heartbreak at the time and needed to escape,” Matteo replies.
I roll my eyes. “And you recovered fabulously.”
“I was monitoring the bottom floor. I think I was in the living room when this happened.” Salvatore points to the TV. “It should come up. I heard the ruckus and went to help.”
I move closer to AJ who is sitting on the couch with me. Leaning over the laptop, I fast-forward the footage and see Salvatore enter the frame just after Bruno escorts the woman outside.
Something glows to my left. Looking down I see AJ’s burner phone light up with a message.
Port Shipment Reroute Reminder - all cameras are to be turned off at 9 pm.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“Nothing, it’s an automated text.”
I snatch AJ’s phone before he can take it. Thankfully AJ doesn’t keep a lock on his burner. I swipe it open to see a text from Matteo’s burner. The message instructs AJ to turn off the cameras at 9 pm on the South Port because our shipments will be entering there instead of the East Port.
