Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ariana
My little meltdown last night wasn’t one of my finer moments. The stress of this case was getting to me more than I thought it ever would. The more I couldn’t connect the dots, the more I felt like a failure. The possibility of him going to prison for the rest of his life for a crime he didn’t commit terrified me because I was in love with him. I couldn’t let him down. I had to keep fighting to prove his innocence, even if it killed me.
Tomorrow was my twenty-sixth birthday. With the trial starting in two days and the mess I was in with my family, my birthday didn’t matter. It was the last thing on my mind and the last thing I even wanted to think about. When I climbed out of bed, I found Luca making a pot of coffee in the kitchen.
“Morning,” I lazily spoke as I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Good morning. Up early to start work?” He grinned.
“Luca, listen, I’m sorry about my behavior last night.”
“Don’t be.” He kissed my forehead. “You had every right.”
I kissed his lips and gave him a small smile before sitting on the couch and picking up the papers containing Sam’s phone records.
“One thing I noticed last night was that Sam made several calls to this one number.”
“Whom does it belong to?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I will find out.”
“If you need any help, let me know. I need to get to the firm.” He walked over and handed me a cup of coffee.
“Thank you.” I smiled up at him.
“You’re welcome.” He bent down and kissed my lips. “I’ll talk to you later.”
As soon as he walked out the door, I called Sheila.
“Hey, I was just going to call you,” she spoke when she answered.
“Did you find anything last night?” I asked.
“No. I suspect that Sam isn’t stupid enough to keep anything secretive in his office.”
“Great. I need you to trace a phone number for me.”
“Sure. Give it to me, and I’ll look it up while we’re on the phone.”
I rattled the number off to her as I heard the clicking of keystrokes on her computer.
“That number belongs to a man named Wilson Garrett. He’s a police officer in Jersey.”
“Why would Sam be in contact with a cop from Jersey?”
“I don’t know. I’ll try and dig up some information on him and get back to you.”
“Thanks, Sheila.”
I set my phone down and took a shower. As I was shampooing my hair, his name kept playing repeatedly in my head. How did I know that name? Then it hit me. I jumped out of the shower with my hair in a shampoo lather, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around me. Running to the living room where my bag sat, I pulled out Luca’s juvenile file, threw it on the table, and began spreading out all the papers. I frantically thumbed through them until I found what I was looking for. Holy shit. Wilson Garrett was Luca’s father’s partner on the force. Realizing that I still had shampoo in my hair, I hopped back into the shower, rinsed it, washed my body as quickly as I could, got dressed, and flew out the door to the firm.
When I arrived at Russo, Greggs, & Butler, I went into Luca’s office, only to find he was in a meeting in the conference room, so I went to Sheila’s office and shut the door.
“Is Sam in the office?” I asked.
“No. He’s in court.”
“Good. Wilson Garrett was Luca’s father’s partner on the police force.”
“I know. I just found that out when I searched for him in the database, and Luca’s father’s name came up. Also, and you won’t believe this, but a year ago, Garrett’s sister accused a man named Royce Worthington of rape. The family is an upstanding influential part of the community. Royce’s dad owns one of the largest tech companies in the country. They’re filthy rich, and guess who defended him?”
“Luca?”
“Yes, and he got him off. The jury found him not guilty.”
“So this could be revenge for Wilson Garrett. First, Luca murdered his partner out of self-defense and then got the man accused of raping his sister off. I do believe Mr. Garrett has a motive for wanting to frame Luca.”
“But how is he connected to Gina Burroughs and Sam Butler?”
“I don’t know yet, but they are. Sam made numerous calls to Wilson Garrett, including one that occurred on the night of the murder at ten p.m. Do you have a picture of him?”
“Yeah. I’ll print it.”
She pulled the picture off the printer and handed it to me.
“Thanks. If Luca asks, tell him I’ll talk to him later.”
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the Peninsula Hotel.” I smiled.
I made a stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way to the hotel. After all, it was the least I could do for bugging Bruce again. I lightly knocked on the security office door, and a wide smile graced his face when he opened it.
“Ariana. You’re back.”
“I am, and I brought donuts!”
“Let me guess, you want to see the same tape again,” he spoke as he took the box from me.
“Yes, please. This will be the last time. I swear.”
“No problem. Have a seat. Want a donut?”
“Sure.” I smiled as I took the chocolate frosted one from the box.
“Is there a specific time you want to look at?” he asked.
“From ten o’clock on.”
“Didn’t you already look at that time?”
“I did, but now I’m looking for a specific person.”
“Ah. Okay.” He bit into a glazed donut.
I nervously sat there, biting into my donut as I watched the footage.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” I shouted. “That’s him.”
I sighed in relief when I saw Wilson Garrett enter the Peninsula Hotel at ten-fifteen and step onto the elevator. I watched and patiently waited for him to return to the lobby. Sure enough, he did, with a timestamp that read 12:40 a.m.