Mafia Fall-Out

Chapter Thirteen

Luca

As we sat in the hotel lobby being questioned by the Aruban police, I kept toggling between infuriated with Charlotte and insanely proud of her. It was a feeling I often had when it came to my wife.

One of the things I loved the most about her was her tenacity and the way she so fiercely loved and wanted to protect our family. It was one of her most endearing qualities, and under normal circumstances, I found it adorable. Right now, as I was watching the suspicions of the police officers grow, I wished she didn't have to be so stubborn and would follow my orders for once in her life. Obedience wasn't in her DNA, though. I'd known that for a long time and I learned to love her for it, but it certainly wasn't making the fight to bring Lucy home any easier.

Angelo sat on one side of Charlotte, acting as our interim lawyer until Stone could get here, and I sat on the other side of her. I knew every move we made was being scrutinized, so we had to be exceptionally careful.

"Now, tell me again, Mrs. Catalano. You were out on the patio with friends, but returned to check on your daughter several times throughout the evening?" An officer asked, continuing to rehash what we had already been over. They were trying to look for inconsistencies in her story or get her to slip up, but I could see through that from the very beginning, and so could Charlotte.

"I don't see any point in going over this again. I already told you and the security officers this. I checked on her several times and each time she was sound asleep in her bassinet, nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary." Char kept her cool remarkably well, and I was probably the only one who could see how flustered she was. She didn't want to deal with the police at all, but we had to play nice. I couldn't have them breathing down our necks if I was going to bring Lucy home, so for now, we had to answer their questions and let them go through their own motions. I was itching to launch my own investigation, and every second we sat here was a second we were losing.

"Right." The officer nodded. "I'm sorry if this seems repetitive, but sometimes details escape us when we're under extreme stress." He glanced down at his notes. "I just have one more question."

"When was the last time you actually saw Lucy?"

Charlotte's eyes widened as she considered the question. "The last time I went in to check on her."

"Yes, but do you know the approximate time?"

Charlotte paused, chewing on her lip. "I... I mean, I think it was around 1? 1:15 maybe?"

She was starting to panic and lose her cool, and Angelo glanced at me quickly, both of us recognizing that we needed to end this quickly.

"Officer, obviously tonight has been very traumatic, and it's 3 o'clock in the morning. Do you think we could continue this after my wife gets a little rest? She's already answered all of these questions." I said.

"Of course. Our commander wanted to speak with the two of you for a few minutes, if you don't mind. And then you can be on your way."

He didn't wait for an answer, but got up quickly and returned to a group of cops who were congregated around a table. Supposedly they were pouring through evidence, but they seemed pretty incompetent to me.

"You did great, Charlotte." Angelo coached. "Just remember that we need to keep them on our side. I know this is frustrating, but we have our own things going on behind the scenes. The most important thing you can do right now is play your part right with the cops."

She nodded, twisting her hair anxiously. I squeezed her knee reassuringly. "He's right babe. Marco and Seth are working on getting security footage and running the DNA they found in the room right now. We just need to be patient."