Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Luca
I decided not to take Ariana somewhere for the day for her birthday tomorrow. After her breakdown last night, it became clear to me that she needed to work on my case every second she could. With the trial being in two days, she would be a nervous wreck if I whisked her off to Montauk to celebrate her birthday. I decided it would be best to take her for a nice dinner and give her the present I bought her. That would have to do for now. But once this case was over, and if I was found not guilty, I would take her somewhere beautiful. Maybe a tropical island where it was just the two of us with no distractions. A place we could escape to and forget about everything that happened: the murder, the trial, and her family.
Not confronting Sam about knowing Gina was killing me. If that asshole had anything to do with framing me, I’d make sure he paid the ultimate price. But why would he do it? I’d never been anything but a good friend to him. The dinners at his house, the anniversary party I threw for him and Jessica, and the birthday party. None of this made sense. But I knew better. As much as I wanted to confront him, I couldn’t. It would compromise everything Ariana had found out.
After my meeting, I left the conference room and headed straight to Sheila’s office.
“Have you seen or heard from Ariana?” I asked.
“Yeah. She was here a while ago. She told me to tell you that she’d talk to you later.”
“Do you know where she went?”
“She went back to the Peninsula Hotel.”
I sighed. “Thanks, Sheila.”
I left the building and headed to the hotel. She must have found something to go back there again. As I walked through the doors, a sick feeling overtook me. I stood in the lobby and looked around with memories of that night flashing in my head. The night that sent my life down the shithole. I needed to sit down for a moment, so I sat in the lobby and rested my elbows on my knees.
“Luca?” Ariana spoke. “What are you doing here?”
I looked up, and just the sight of her made me feel better.
“Shelia told me that you came here.”
“We need to talk.” She smiled. “Let’s go grab some lunch.”
We had Jeffery take us to SoHo so we wouldn’t risk running into anyone and got a table in the corner for two at Balthazar.
“Do you know a man named Wilson Garrett?” she asked as she sipped her water.
I had to think for a moment. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“Name sounds familiar, but I’m not sure. Why? Who is he?”
“Wilson Garrett was your father’s partner.”
“You’re right. I had forgotten all about him. I remember that his old partner retired, and he was assigned to Wilson. He was new on the force. He had just graduated from the academy, and I think he was only his partner for about six months before he died. What does he have to do with this, Ariana?” I asked with concern.
“Is he being your father’s partner the only thing you remember?” she asked.
“Yeah. I think so. After my father’s death, we never heard from him again. You really need to tell me what’s going on.”
“Do you remember a client you defended about a year ago? Royce Worthington?”
“Yeah. He was accused of raping a college girl. The jury found him not guilty.”
“She was Wilson Garrett’s sister.”
“What?” I narrowed my eye and cocked my head.
“I went back to the Peninsula to view the security tapes again. Sam made a phone call in the lobby at ten p.m. to Wilson Garrett, and guess what? He walked into the hotel at ten fifteen and got on the elevator. Now you said that Gina didn’t sit next to you at the bar until ten thirty. Right?”
“Right.”
“What I missed the last time I looked at the tape was when she came down at nine-thirty, she also went back up to her room at nine-forty.”
“Where was she for ten minutes?”
“I don’t know, and we’ll never know at this point. So, she was in her room at ten fifteen when Wilson Garrett went up there.”
“He could have been there to see anyone at that hotel. The D.A. will rip that apart,” I spoke. “There’s no connection between her and Wilson Garrett.”
“But there’s a connection between Wilson Garrett and Sam Butler, who is connected to Gina Burroughs.”
“Okay, why would Wilson Garrett frame me? Or Sam, for that matter?”
“I suspect that Wilson was trying to get revenge for the murder of his partner and for his sister’s rape.”
“And Sam?” I raised my brow.
“I haven’t figured that out yet. But I will.”
Just as I was about to say something, her phone rang, and Sheila called.
“Shit. We need to get back to the firm,” she spoke as she grabbed her purse.
“Why? We haven’t finished lunch.”
“I think Sam was embezzling money from the firm.”
“That son of a bitch!” I voiced loudly as I threw some cash on the table and we headed back to the firm.