“But she never really blossomed into the person she is now until you came. Julia, you have had a profound effect on her. On all of us. I couldn’t handle any of this without you.”
“And I wouldn’t want you to,” she said with a smile. “Now, let’s go see what Alex found.”
“Oh, right. Him,” Grant said with a sigh. “Let me finish my bourbon. I need the strength.”
She snickered at the comment as he downed the rest of it before he grabbed her hand. “Okay. Let’s go.”
They left the security of his office behind and climbed the stairs, making their way to Alex’s room. He slouched over his computer as he worked on something. His screen, a canvas of light in the dim room, displayed the video footage.
Julia knocked on the door as they pushed inside. “Hey, sorry, we got sidetracked.”
Alex twisted to face them. “No worries. Though I’ve been dying to share this with you. I think you’ll be pleased.”
Julia crossed to glance at his computer screen over his shoulder. “Tell me you found someone else who went to Lydia’s after Sierra.”
“No such luck, but…take a look.”
Grant joined her, sliding an arm onto her shoulder as he studied the screen.
“I was working on our Project Protect Princess when I discovered something. This is delicate work. Previously, I’d played it on fast speed to see who showed up. But when I watched on normal speed…well, let’s take a look, shall we?”
Alex arched an eyebrow as he pressed the space bar on his computer. The video advanced forward, showing Kyle appear, followed by Grant, then Julia. Worthington arrived, followed by Alexander, and finally Sierra.
Alex slowed the video as an upset Sierra emerged from the apartment and fled down the hall. He held a finger in the air. “Wait for it…wait for it…there.”
He poked a finger at the screen before he glanced at them, his features expectant.
Julia furrowed her brow as she leaned closer. “Play it again.”
Grant narrowed his eyes at the screen, searching for the clue the man had seen.
Alex backed the video up to Sierra’s departure, then pressed play. “Did you see it?”
“Yes,” Julia answered, though Grant had yet to see anything life-changing on the screen. What were they getting at?
“So, what does it mean?” Julia asked.
“Wait, wait, what are you seeing?” Grant asked.
Alex backed up the video again and played it in slow-motion. “There.”
He froze it on what appeared to be a glitch in the video. The hall distorted at an odd angle.
“That weird shimmy?” Grant questioned.
“Yep. That weird shimmy, as you put it, is indicative of the feed having been tampered with.”
“Someone replaced the footage?” Julia asked.
“More like someone replaced the live feed with a fake one.”
Julia crossed her arms as she stared at the screen. “Allowing someone to slip into that apartment undetected and kill Lydia.”
Alex shot a finger gun at her. “Bingo.”
“Is there any way we can get the original footage? Or figure out who this came from?”
“I’m doing some digging, but the short answer is…probably not.” Alex crinkled his nose at the answer. “But I’ll see if I can find any anomalies that would give us a clue.”
