“Now, this doesn’t excuse him from overindulging—Juliette, either, for that matter—but it doesn’t make him the monster he is being portrayed as...”
Sam stopped talking, because she could feel an immediate change in the room. Phones were buzzing. Everyone was shifting to look at their messages.
No one was paying any attention to her.
That meant bigger news was breaking.
Good, she thought. The quicker they moved on to the next story, the sooner they would leave Richard alone.
“So if that’s all your questions...”
“Ms. Baker,” one reporter said, stopping her. “A last question. Have you seen the video?”
“I’m sorry?” Sam could feel the heat in her cheeks. “What video?”
“The video from the stairwell. Turns out there was a camera just over the door.”
A video shouldn’t matter. A video would just prove Richard’s innocence. Then, why was her gut turning over?
“Excellent,” Sam said. “I’m sure any video will corroborate my client’s story.”
No, she thought. She could see it in their faces. The glimmer of excitement as the story was about to get even worse. Which, of course, made the reporting of it better for all of them.
“Sam,” said another reporter, a woman Sam had given any number of interviews to in the past. “You’re going to want to see the video before you say anything else.”
So Sam did. She took out her phone, also buzzing like crazy with texts, and pulled up YouTube, which was showing a video of Richard Stanson clearly ripping the shirt off his girlfriend and then punching her in the face only to watch her unconscious body fall down four steps to the floor.
Copyright © 2016 by Stephanie Doyle
ISBN-13: 9781488006715
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Copyright © 2016 by Callie Endicott
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