Page 17 of Stolen Christmas
“The chief will be with you in one minute.”
“Thank you.” I nod and step away. I take a seat in the waiting area, being patient while doing my best to lift the corner of my lips up just enough to give Fields the tiniest smile. His face hardens, so my smile stretches wider. Then, as he goes to point it out to another, I relax my expression and pull my face back,waiting a few more minutes for the chief. I’m greeted by the station chief and friend of mine, Chief Sal Mendez.
“It’s good to see an upstanding man of the force working hard,” I state.
“Mr. D’Antonio, please come this way,” he says with a scoff.
“Are you trying to rile up Fields?”
“I’d like to do more than that, but for now, that will do.”
“Do you know he’s seeing someone that’s not his wife?”
“That’s nothing new. I probably have about five other officers who are banging someone else. Unfortunately, I’m too short on officers at the moment to kick their asses.”
“Damn,” I mutter.
“The irony is that you care about fidelity, given your situation.”
“My father always said if you can’t show loyalty to the one person closest to you, how would those who serve you ever trust you and give you their loyalty?”
“I suppose that’s fair. I’ve been married for a long time, and my wife would rip my balls off if I looked at another woman.” He shakes his head, and I know he’s right.
My father isn’t the kind to play that damn game. I don’t know about his life before my mother because he thinks it is disrespectful for his past to ever be brought up, but he wasn’t a saint. He had his women before her, but the day he met her, that ended. Maybe that’s why I don’t want to settle down just yet.
“I’m not married and have no intentions of going through that trouble.”
“Don’t speak so fast; it comes out of nowhere. The right beautiful, fiery woman will knock you on your ass, even a man like you.”
I scoff, “Well, show me the little prick.”
“What’s up with this kid? Everyone seems interested in him.”
I stop him and grab his arm. “Everyone?”
“One of the officers arrested the kid about two weeks ago, and the store manager called before you arrived, wanting to drop the charges. Now you. It’s rare.”
I know the store manager planned on dropping the charges. “He planted the bracelet on me.”
“Whoa, are you serious? Tell me you aren’t going to pop this boy? I can’t let you take him out of here. He’s a kid, an orphan, a dumb kid living with his sister who is barely legal herself from what I learned.”
“I asked the manager to drop the charges so I can have the boy do some charity work for me.”
“Charity work?” He cocks his brow, crossing his arms. “I’m supposed to believe that?”
“I won’t kill the little fucking shit, but he needs to be taught a lesson about theft and framing a man like me. Besides, I need to find out if I was set up or if he was that unlucky to use me as the patsy.”
“He has to have some seriously bad luck. Let me take you to meet Noah Scott.”
They lead me into the room where the fucker is being questioned about the piece, and I stand against the door.
“Ah fuck. Don’t tell mehe’sa fucking cop, too.” The kid slams his eyes shut, shaking his head.
“No, Mr. D’Antonio’s the guy you don’t want to meet after the cops let you go,” Chief Mendez says. “Now, tell us where’s the bracelet, and you’ll get off with a light sentence.”
“I didn’t take shit. Why are they assuming I did anything?” he lies. We all know he did it, but he doesn’t know the charges have been dropped and he could technically walk out of here, but then again, I could have him charged for assault.
“We caught you on camera,” Sal informs him.
