Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ariana
“I decided to look at Gina’s financials, and there were deposits made monthly into her account from a wired account in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars. So, I traced the account, and guess who it belongs to?” Sheila asked.
“Sam Butler?” I smiled.
“You are correct, Ariana.” She pointed at me.
Luca rested his face on his hand and let out a long sigh.
“Tell me he wasn’t stealing from my firm,” he spoke.
“I wish I could, Luca, but he was. He was skimming money from his client’s trust funds and transferring them into his wired account. Not only was he doing that, but he also inflated his fees, paying the firm our normal fee, and billed clients for legal work that was never done.”
“That son of a bitch! I’ll kill him!” Luca angrily spoke as he got up from his chair and headed for the door.
I jumped up and grabbed his arm.
“Luca, no. You can’t say a word about this to him.”
“Ariana, let me go!” he shouted, jerking his arm away.
I threw myself against the door to stop him.
“I know you’re angry, but this will help your case. If you confront him, he’ll have time to destroy the evidence we need. We need to keep quiet. Please, Luca. Do it for me.” I placed my hand on the side of his face.
He slowly closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
“Fine. But once this is over, I’m going after him.”
“That’s fine. Please, sit down.” I took hold of his arm and led him back to the chair. “We know that Gina quit the agency three months ago, and that was around the time Sam Butler started making monthly deposits into her account. What if Sam kept her as his mistress, made her quit the agency, and agreed to pay her so she didn’t see other men?”
“But maybe she still wanted to run her own business, keeping her previous clients and hiding it from Sam,” Sheila spoke. “I bet she was playing him.”
“Then Sam found out what she was doing,” I spoke as I paced around the room, “became enraged and hired Wilson Garrett to murder her.”
“But how did Wilson and Sam meet?” Luca asked. “That’s the important question here?”
“I don’t know.” I sighed. “See what you can find on Wilson’s police career,” I told Shelia. “Sam’s a lawyer. He’s a cop. There has to be some connection there.”
I grabbed my purse and turned to Luca.
“I have to go talk to Detective Jacks. I’ll see you later.”
I stepped inside the police station and made my way down the hall to the detective’s office. When I reached it, I found he wasn’t there, so I sat and waited.
“Miss Williams, to what do I owe the pleasure of another visit?” He smiled as he took a seat behind his desk.
“Gina Burroughs was seeing Sam Butler. About three months ago, after she quit the escort agency, he started to deposit twenty-five thousand dollars from a wired account into hers. At approximately three-thirty p.m. on the day she was murdered, she called him, left the hotel, and climbed into a limo that he rented. At approximately ten p.m., he left his party and stepped into the lobby to make a phone call to Wilson Garrett, an officer for a New Jersey police department. At approximately ten-fifteen, he was seen walking into the Peninsula Hotel and stepping onto the elevator.”
“And?”
“I think he was the one who murdered Gina Burroughs.”
“Do you have proof or any evidence to support your accusation?”
“No. But Sam has been embezzling money from the firm.”
“Is Mr. Russo pressing charges?”
“Not yet.”
“Miss Williams,” he leaned back in his chair, “why are you here?”
“I believe Sam found out that Gina was still operating an escort business, and he found out she was pregnant and had her killed.”
“By Wilson Garrett?”
“Yes.”
“Who’s a cop?” He smirked.
“Yes.” I firmly nodded my head.
He let out a light chuckle.
“That’s a good theory, but you don’t have proof.”
“Could you please just do me a favor and see what you can find out about Wilson Garrett?” I asked.
“Have a drink with me, and I’ll consider it.” He smirked.
I narrowed my eyes at him and his sad attempt to take me out.
“I’m sorry, detective, but I don’t have time to have a drink with you. I’m in the middle of trying to prove my client’s innocence.”
“And I’m in the middle of trying to solve many criminal cases,” he spoke.
“Fine.” I got up from my chair. “Have a good day.”
“Call me if you change your mind,” he shouted as I walked out the door.
I took a cab home, and Luca wasn’t there when I arrived. Taking off my shoes, I lay down on the couch and shut my eyes. I couldn’t think anymore. I needed to give my mind a break. We made progress, but not enough. It was going to be brutal trying to get the jury to see that Luca didn’t kill Gina and that someone had framed him.
I was in a deep sleep, but I still could feel the warmth of lips pressed against mine and a hand gently running through my hair. Opening my eyes, I saw Luca sitting next to me on the edge of the couch with a tender smile on his face.
“How long have you been home?” I asked.
“About an hour.”
“Why didn’t you wake me as soon as you got in?”
“Because you obviously need to rest. What did Detective Jacks say?”
I let out a yawn as I sat up.
“We have no proof,” I replied.
“I figured he would say that. Are you up to going out to dinner?”
“Yeah. Let me change first.”
Luca and I went to Bellasario, a new Italian place that opened a week ago, a couple of blocks from my apartment. As the hostess led us to our booth, I noticed Sam and his wife sitting a few tables away.
“Look, it’s Sam and his wife,” I spoke.
“Shit. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“No. I think we should at least say hi. After all, he is your friend and partner at the firm.” I smirked.
“What are you up to?” he asked with furrowed brows.
“Nothing.” I smiled as I walked over to Sam’s table, and Luca followed behind.
“Ariana, Luca,” Sam spoke with surprise.
“Hi, Sam.” I smiled.
“Ariana, this is my wife, Jessica. Jessica, this is Ariana Williams, Luca’s attorney.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” I held out my hand.
“And you as well. Luca, how are you holding up?” she asked.
“I’m fine, Jessica. Thank you for asking.”
I wanted to bring up something about Gina to see if I could get a reaction out of Sam, but I was too distracted by Jessica's earrings.
“Those are beautiful earrings. I love the knot and the diamond in the middle. About how many carats each are they?”
“Thank you. Two carats on each side.” She smiled. “They were a gift from my husband.”
“How nice. For your anniversary?” I smiled.
“No. They were a ‘just because’ gift.”
“You have excellent taste, Sam.”
He didn’t say a word. He just pursed his lips together to form a light smile.
“Well, I’m starving, and Luca and I have his case to discuss. It was nice to meet you, Jessica.”
“Same here.”
“Sam. Jessica.” Luca nodded.
We sat down at our table, and Luca ordered us a bottle of wine.
“Why the hell were you commenting on her earrings?” he asked.
“I was wondering if you noticed.” I smirked.
“Ariana, you’re confusing me.”
“Those were the earrings Gina wore when she walked into the hotel.”
“How do you even know that?”
“I noticed them on the security tape. We women notice other women’s jewelry.”
“Okay. So maybe he bought Gina and his wife the same pair.”
“You’re going to hate me, Luca, but we have to go.”
“What? Why?”
“We need to go to the Peninsula Hotel and view that tape one last time.”
“Oh my God, Ariana. You can’t be serious.” He leaned over the table.
“I am.” I grabbed my purse. “If you don’t want to come, then don’t. But I have to see that tape again.”
We made our way to the hotel, and Bruce was locking up when I got to the security room.
“Ariana.” He glared at me.
“Bruce.” I smiled as I held out my hand with a donut wrapped in a napkin.
“How long are you going to be?” He sighed.
“Five minutes, tops.”
He unlocked the door, and we stepped inside.
“Bruce, this is Luca Russo. Luca, this is Bruce.”
“You must be the accused,” Bruce spoke.
“I am.”
“What time do you want to see?” he asked.
“Three o’clock,” I spoke.
“Again?” He sighed.
He pulled up the footage and forwarded it to three p.m.
“Freeze it right there, Bruce,” I said as I saw Gina enter the hotel. “Look at her earrings, Luca.”
“Okay. We already established she was wearing them,” he spoke with a hint of irritation.
“Now, fast forward to eight o’clock,” I told Bruce. “Stop! She’s still wearing the earrings. Now fast forward to nine-forty and stop. Look, she returned to her room with the earrings on.”
“Ariana, I am trying so hard to understand what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“There were no earrings found on her or in the room. The only possessions of hers the police have are a cellphone, a diamond bracelet, her laptop, and a pendant she was wearing of a diamond cross.”
“So, where are the earrings?”
“On Mrs. Butler’s ears.”
“I’m worried about you, Ariana.”
“Luca, listen to me. What if she knew about Gina and Sam?”
“So now you think she killed Gina, took her earrings, and framed me?”
“Possibly.”
“You’re grasping at straws, sweetheart, and I’m worried about you.”
“Are we done here?” Bruce asked.
“Yes. Thank you again.”
“No problem, Ariana.” He smiled.
We headed back to my apartment, and the ride was silent. Luca wasn’t saying much, and I knew he thought I was crazy, but she could have done it. That was something I wasn’t ruling out.