PRESS PLAY

Chapter Two

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The next scene played without further assistance. It started with a vibrant laugh and a flash of unfocused red, but Detective Green pressed pause quickly before he could see anymore. He took a deep breath, absorbing the scene he had just witnessed out of Hailey Rolland’s young life. So this was how it started. For a moment Detective Green’s heart both sunk and soared with dread and hope. If Hailey did in fact carry this camcorder with her, maybe, just maybe, it would reveal both how she became entangled with a black-hearted criminal such as Galleretta, and where—if Hailey was still alive—she was.

            With a deep breath to calm his weak heart, Detective Green sat back in his office chair, and pressed a button he knew he would become very familiar with.

            The scene started again, a flash of red, a bright light, and then a focused image of Hailey. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a bunch of small ringlets, her make-up dramatic and dark. Behind her bodies rocked against each other to a methodic, vibrating beat silhouetted by a lusty red light. She smiled at the camera, her green eyes wide and warm.

            “Hello.” She laughed again, and took a whimsical swig of a beer, turning the camera away from herself and back to the crowd. Detective Green frowned. She was underage. “So, this is Salines.” She started moving through the bodies, the camera bobbing around and then showing her shoes for a moment as she traveled to where she wanted to go. She was wearing sharp, high heels, her toes just peaking through, and then the camera swerved back to her height as she zoomed in on some people sitting by a bar talking loudly.

            She slid onto a bar stool, and the camera was passed to another person without her complaint. A male voice reverberated through the speakers, obviously the person holding the camcorder.

            “If the video is supposed to be about you, then you shouldn’t be holding the camera.” The man rationalized, and Hailey laughed, the lens zooming in on her face. “My, my miss Hailey, you look stunning tonight.” He said, and the camera dropped to the exposed cleavage the low black cocktail dress was showing. It lingered there for a moment before zooming out back to her.

            “Why thank you, Dylan.” She smiled, sipping her beer while she waved to a friend out of view.

            “So are you changing your major to photography, or film making or some shit now?” Dylan asked, turning the camera to himself, a blonde man with extreme blue eyes, and wagged his eyebrows into the lens before switching it back to Hailey.

            She shook her head, crossing her legs and leaning against the counter. “Nope. Still an art major.” She replied, looking at him playfully out of the corner of her eyes.

            “Boring, boring.” The man sang, swiveling the camera towards a crash and loud laughter before returning it towards Hailey. “So Hails, lets cut to the chase. How drunk you planning to get tonight? I want to know if I have a chance.” He said impishly, and Hailey laughed, her long hair shaking like shivering waterfalls of gold.

            “Oh Darling,” She started, and sympathetically put her hand out to him, taking her camcorder back. “You never have a chance.” She finished, and the walked away before he could protest.

            Detective Green watched the scene for another trivial moment, looking on as she chatted with some friends, played college drinking games and flirted with random men. After thirty minutes of that, he fast forwarded another half hour, watching Hailey’s movements become blurred with the speed, until finally, just as he was leaning back in his chair, he spotted a face he didn’t expect to see so soon. Stumbling forward, Detective Green launched himself at the camera, pressing pause, rewinding, and pausing again.