Page 23 of Stolen
“Exactly what I was thinking. Is there any proof that he’s done what she said?” Malcom asked.
“There’s no proof that he didn’t do it,” Preston shrugged.
“Don’t play coy with me. Without any proof, Blossom has brought up false allegations and slandered my clients name. She should be in here for questioning too! And we will bring up charges against her! My client’s reputation can be ruined simply because of a disgruntled ex.” Chance was silent as Malcom spoke up for him. Even though Malcom was speaking, Preston was looking at Chance. The man looked like his pussy had just died. It was the look of heartbreak.
“Why did she do this?” he whispered to himself.
“Now you need to—”
“Malcom, stop it. I’m not bringing forth any damn charges. What the hell is that going to do? Furthermore, I still love the damn woman!” Chance snapped.
“All I need is proof that you didn’t kidnap her and this all goes away,” Preston shrugged.
“I mean, how am I supposed to have proof? You can question my staff if you want but of course you’re going to say that because they work for me, they can lie for me to. Hell, your damn deputy scared my security guard into thinking something illegal was going on.” Preston showed him the date on his report when Blossom claimed he kidnapped her.
“We were on a date that night. Because of my schedule, towards the end of the date I asked her if she’d move in with me. I knew that being on the road and working, it would be hard to see her but if we lived together, I could at least come home to her every night when I was in town. Like I said, she was nervous about moving in but we came to the compromise of her having her own room and visiting me any time.”
“What restaurant did you go to? Maybe they can corroborate your story.”
“The date was at my home. I had a big dinner prepared and set things up real nice for her. So no, we didn’t go to any restaurant. Your officers have seen my dining room. They can attest to it being just as nice as a restaurant.”
“Did she spend the night?”
“Yeah. We made love and afterwards she said she was willing to compromise about our living situation.”
“And the next morning?”
“The next morning what? I had to go to a meeting and she went to work. We both got dressed, left at the same time. She got off work before I did. When I got home, she was there to greet me,” Chance explained.
“Wait. She went to work?” Preston asked.
“Yes! Unless she lied to me about it. Every morning she goes to work except for the weekends when she has later appointments and sometimes, she hosts little mixers.”
“Hold on, you didn’t check her work records, did you? Or try and reach out to her coworkers? She has an assistant. Did you ask Blossom about that woman? If she wasn’t going to work then surely the assistant would become suspicious. And furthermore, if Blossom hasn’t shown up for three months or answered her phone either, the assistant would have been in here reporting that something happened to Blossom,” Malcom said. Preston couldn’t help but grunt. They hadn’t checked with Blossom’s job, or her assistant. In fact, they hadn’t done anything to investigate Blossom’s claims besides trying to get Chance in for questioning.
“Seriously? You’re ready to tarnish my name and you didn’t double check anything to make sure it wasn’t a bag of fucking lies?” Chance snapped.
“Hey. Keep your cool. This is the chief of police. Regardless if he didn’t do his job right, his title calls for respect,” Malcom scolded his client.
“Wait. I think I have more proof too.” Chance fished into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out his phone. Searching through his gallery he found various pictures.
“Look. These are pictures of me and Blossom. They’re all time stamped, you can look at them and see when it’s been taken. Does she look like I kidnapped her?!” Chance shrieked. Preston looked at the pictures. They were various kinds, all taken at different places, but the one thing Preston noticed was that Blossom was smiling in every one of them. She and Chance even took silly pictures in his home and in his car.
“The charity gala,” Malcom said.
“What about it?” Chance asked.
“There were hundreds of photographers. Plenty of people were there. The event wasn’t televised but it was featured on a lot of websites and blogs. Look it up. I’m sure there’s a picture of Blossom and my client at the event.”
“We’ll look into it.”
“Alright. Well. Me and my client will be leaving now. Even though Chance isn’t up to it right now we’re eventually going to file charges against Ms. Freeman. She’s tarnished his name and warranted an investigation into his life.” Preston looked at Chance. He was looking at his phone, his eyes seemingly withdrawn from the moment. He was daydreaming or longing for something. Preston could take a wild guess as to why. He missed Blossom.
“Let’s go Chance,” Malcom stated. Chance snapped from his daze. He looked at the chief and stood.
“Look. I don’t know why she would do this. But—if you bring her in to talk with her today tell her that I was here and that I cleared it up and I’m not holding any grudges. Tell her I love her and I will accept her back into my life, despite this. I was the one who made the mistake in the first place.” Chance smiled grimly before following his lawyer out of the interrogation room. Preston knew many things about Chance, but for the first time he sensed something human in the man. Chance always smiled and was so charismatic, people were instantly drawn to him. Preston thought that was a front put on for the cameras like any politician would have done. But seeing him throughout this interrogation made the man seem real. The question now was, why did Blossom go through all of this? Just to kick the man down? To prove a point? Either way, Preston did not like his time or resources fucked with.
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