Page 27 of Stolen Wife
“Who are you?” He narrows his eyes at Dimitri.
“I’m his lawyer, Dimitri Stanislav.”
The detective slaps the warrant in his hands. “Read it.”
Dimitri does just that before he passes it to me. I skim through it and nearly laugh out loud. “Last known person to see Mrs. Marchetti after making lewd advances to her in front of several witnesses.”
“Interesting. That’s not good enough. I wonder how much the judge is taking,” Dimitri adds.
Detective Romo throws his hands up and shrugs. “That’s none of my business. I’m just doing my job.”
I nod. “Okay. That’s fine. Then once this is over and you don’t locate her? Maybe you should ask them why they think she didn’t just run away?”
“What makes you think she did?”
“All I know is the woman I met looked malnourished, scared to meet my eyes, and my father spoke for her. If that doesn’t say captive, I don’t know what is. Maybe she ran away.”
“You think it’s a ruse?” he questions, trying to read me.
“I don’t know. All I know is that the second she was gone, they were calling me wondering where she was.”
“That’s good to know. I already read a complaint that one of your father’s men had been on your property yesterday.”
“Well, I told you they believe I took her just hours after I met her. It makes no sense, but I never pegged my brother to be smart.”
Less than five minutes pass when three officers come down the stairs and then two come from the other direction.
The only female in the bunch says, “Sir. We’ve searched this place from head to toe. There’s no sign of her and no female personal effects except for the chef’s belongings.”
Looking sheepish, the detective says, “Very well. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
“I hope to never see you again. I don’t trust any of you.”
“I’m not your enemy, Mr. Marchetti.” Yeah, at this point, anyone who isn’t a trusted friend is my enemy.
“Says the man that searched my house with a flimsy excuse for a warrant.”
“It’s my job.” He tilts his head slightly, bidding goodbye before he walks out the door.
Immediately my staff is gathered in front of me. I type on my phone and show my staff. Run the scanners now.
Once my office has been cleared of any listening or recording devices, my lawyer and I enter it. “I had to prepare for this moment. They wasted no time. I don’t know what they think would happen. Even if she had been here, for all they know she could have ran away from that house. It’s legal for her to pick up and leave.”
“But...”
“They had her trapped,” I say, pouring a glass of scotch and bringing it to my lips. As I do, I get a motherfucking whiff and set it down. A second later, I run to my computer and bring up the security camera footage. Just what I thought. One of the officers searching distracted Martin long enough for another one to put something into the decanter.
I step out of my office and holler to my staff to come downstairs immediately.
I come back inside and Dimitri asks, “And she’s not here?”
“No.”
“That’s all I need to know. As for the other matter, are you ready to head to your office to go over the cameras from the office?” We left enough time to pass to see if any employees snuck into my office, knowing I wouldn’t be back until Monday.
“They aren’t expecting me until Monday, that’s for sure.” Dimitri reaches for the glass I set down. “Don’t drink that.” I take the glass away from him and set it on the sideboard.
My staff walks into my office sans Joey who I sent with Giada as her security although it should be me who’s protecting her. “What’s going on?" my lawyer asks.