Page 20 of The Italian Reckoning
“Not another word!” barks a deep voice as the door to the interrogation room flies open. My father, Matteo, strides in with his cane clacking loudly on the stone floor. The captain of the precinct follows and Sarah immediately lurches to her feet.
“Captain, I?—”
“Rocky,” the captain says, ignoring her, “you’re free to go. Please accept our sincerest apologies.”
8
SARAH
Matteo Barati stands in front of me, wrapped up in a three-piece pinstripe suit with a thick, dark mustache hugging his upper lip and a sleek black and silver cane resting under his right hand. I’ve never seen him in person, although his picture is constantly circulating for the numerous arrest warrants on him for criminal activity.
Arrest warrants that will never be dealt with because no one around here has the balls, or the means, to arrest him. He pays so many of the cops here that he can just waltz right into interrogation and rescue his son like he isn’t messing with a murder investigation.
“Sir!” I try to speak, but Brant silences me with a single look that threatens my entire career.
My stubbornness rises. I wassoclose to getting something out of Rocky, something that would have been concrete enough to keep him here for much longer, but fate, it seems, is not on my side.
“I said he’s free to go,” Brant repeats, arching one brow. “Release him.”
It takes me a second to move as every fiber of my being screams silently about how unfair this is. Powerful men helping other powerful men out of shitty situations. It makes my blood boil.
The smirk on Rocky’s face as I unlock his cuffs feels like a threat, and if I weren’t under the watchful eye of my captain, I’d wipe that smirk off his face with a swift punch. Unfortunately, all of this is out of my hands and I have no choice but to unlock his cuffs and watch him stand up looking like some kind of arrogant peacock.
“Thanks, love.” Rocky smirks, rubbing one of his wrists as if the cuffs were too tight. “You’re a doll.”
God, I hate him.
I step back, but Rocky chooses to walk around the far end of the table so he has to pass me to reach the door. His father grunts and swiftly exits the room, followed by my captain, and Brant’s hurried apologies fade with his footsteps.
“See you next time.” His eyes flash briefly, and he leans close enough that the spicy musk of his aftershave invades my lungs and the briefest hint of his body heat warms my folded arms.
“Stay the fuck away from my case,” I hiss through gritted teeth.
Rocky winks at me and vanishes, leaving me in the cold silence of the interrogation room.
Fuck.
All I’ve done is buy Belle’s ex some time and myself a heap of trouble.
Deep down, I know I shouldn’t have arrested him, but he was saying the worst things possible. Accusing me of letting criminals walk on technicalities cut a little too close to home, and I reacted without thinking about the consequences. But if Matteo had arrived just a second later, then I would havehad Rocky’s threat on recording, and I would have had weight behind me to dig my heels in about his release.
If only.
My walk to the captain’s office is haunted by sneering looks from those accepting Barati paychecks and worried glances from the few who are too old or useless to be of interest to the Mafia. My captain is on the warpath and one of the biggest criminals in the city just waltzed through our doors to pick up his son.
I’ll be lucky to keep my badge.
“Close the door,” Brant says stiffly as I enter his office. He stands with his back to me, staring out the window across the city toward the park that hosts its fair share of cop events. The last time I was there was the Christmas bake sale. It’s a nice distraction from the tense, tight line of my captain’s shoulders.
As soon as the door clicks, Brant explodes.
“Sarah, what the hell were you thinking?” He whips around to face me with fury blazing in his eyes. “Arresting Rocky Barati? Are you fucking stupid?”
“I had cause,” I snap back, fighting to keep the anger out of my voice. I’m not losing my job because of that asshole.
“Cause? What fucking cause? You snatched him from the street for making a shitty remark, a remark that we have to face daily from the general public. It’s petty insults, that’s all. What kind of precinct would we be if we arrested people for something as dumb as that?”
“He threatened my witness?—”
