4
I stared at my dad in disbelief, my entire body trembling as my breathing became shallow and rapid.
How could this be happening?
Why was my dad pointing his finger at me?
Did he really see something?
But I’d spent the past seven days in detention. I hadn’t done anything!
No, it couldn’t be–it was impossible!
What the hell was going on?
The crowd erupted again.
“That’s Zach Sullivan’s dad?”
“Even his own father is stepping forward to accuse him! He’s definitely guilty! What else is there to say?”
The bystanders became even more agitated, their voices growing louder and more hostile.
“Zach, stop pretending! You selfish, heartless bastard, how much longer are you going to keep up this act?” Hannah shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos.
I yelled back at the top of my lungs, “I didn’t do it! Why should I confess to a crime I didn’t commit?”
A thought suddenly struck me
3:05 PM
<
“That’s right–I’ve been in the detention center for the past seven days! I want the surveillance footage! It’ll prove my innocence!”
I turned to the officer behind me, who looked just as confused as I felt.
He knew I’d been in custody for the last week. But now, with the crowd so certain of my guilt, with the video evidence and my father’s testimony, doubt clouded his expression.
As the crowd grew more unruly, the officer quickly pulled out his phone and made a call.
“I’ve sent someone to retrieve the footage. Everyone, calm down!”
The officer’s reassurances did little to quell the mob, but after a few tense minutes, another officer arrived with the surveillance tapes from
the detention center.
If the previous video had been fabricated, the detention center’s camerast be faked.
I glanced at Hannah and Liam. I had intentionally stayed in detention for this very
Let’s see how they explain themselves now.
ason–I’d been waiting for this moment.
Hannah’s expression faltered, a flicker of unease crossing her face. Liam, who had been loudly shouting moments ago, suddenly furrowed his
brow.
The officer inserted the footage and began fast–forwarding through it.
Sure enough, the video clearly showed me inside the detention center, behaving just as I should.
“Now what do you have to say, Hannah?” I demanded, my voice rising with anger.
Hannah hesitated, unable to respond.
But Liam suddenly shouted, “Wait! Something’s not right!”
He pointed at a section of the footage.
N
“Look! That person leaving the detention center… doesn’t that look like Zach?”
The grainy footage showed a figure in a yellow coat walking out of the detention center. Though the image was blurry, the coat was identical to the one I’d been wearing when I was detained.
I froze.
Hannah’s lips curled into a triumphant smile.
“Zach, are you seriously going to deny that’s you? You must’ve bribed someone to let you out! You left to commit the crime and then snuck back in–didn’t you?”
Her words sent the crowd into another frenzy, and they turned their attention to the officers.
“What’s going on here? You said you weren’t covering for him, so who’s that in the footage?”
The officer, visibly flustered, glanced at me. He remembered my yellow coat–it was hard to forget. I’d chosen it specifically because it stood
out
I stared at the screen, my scalp tingling as a cold chill ran down my spine.
“That’s not me,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’ve been here the entire time! It’s impossible for me to have left, even for a second!”
Hannah, sensing the shift in momentum, doubled down.
“Zach, you’re a disgusting excuse for a human being. You killed a pregnant woman and her child, and now you’re trying to worm your way out
3:05 PM
<
Liam, emboldened by the crowd, screeched, “Yeah! You’re a piece of trash who thinks money can solve everything. You deserve to burn for this!”
The victim’s family, already overwhelmed with grief and anger, had reached their breaking point. One of them quietly picked up the knife that had fallen to the ground earlier.
His eyes burned with hatred as he stared at me. If the officers so much as blinked, I knew he’d plunge that knife straight into my chest.
“Damn it, it really is him! What’s the point of all this talking? He’s guilty!”
“He must’ve bribed one of the guards to let him out for a few hours. He committed the crime and then snuck back in like nothing happened!”
The victim’s husband, knife in hand, pushed past the officers protecting me.
“Give me back my wife and child, you bastard!” he roared, lunging toward me.
Another family member followed close behind, their fury blinding them to reason.
I was frozen in place, panic surging through me. There was no way to escape.
But then, just as I thought it was all over, a voice rang out behind me.
“Stop right there! I can prove Zach Sullivan is innocent!”
Hearing those words, I finally exhaled, relief washing over me.
The person I’d been waiting for had arrived.
