Finding Forgiveness

“Miss, do you know him?” he repeated.

“Never seen him in my life,” I said meekly.

The officer then reached into his jacket once more and pulled out another photo.

“And him?” he asked. “Do you know this man?”

It was two pictures of Luca. One of him just driving obviously taken by some roadside camera and another of him caught by some CCTV walking through an empty looking town with a trail of blood from his shoulder.

“Goes by the name Romano D’Meritchi but we have reason to believe that his real name could be Luca. Second name remains unknown. Do you know him?”

“Yes,” I stated.

“How?”

“He’s a good friend of Leo and I,” I replied as the doorbell rang.

“Just a second,” I said to the investigator.

Expecting it to be Blair, I opened the door only to be faced by Luca.

“Go. You need to go now,” I said in Italian so that the investigator couldn’t understand.

“Why? Cato called saying Blair didn’t answer his phone and that I should come straight away because Leo’s been taken away and there’s a strange man in the house,” he replied also in Italian.

He wore a concerned looked as he sniffed the air and stepped forward.

“Luca,” I began. “It’s the police. Andrea is still alive and has called the police on Leo. They know you are involved. Leave before he or those two recognise you,” I added looking at the two officers lingering in the drive.

“I’m not leaving, Ella,” he stated. “They have no evidence and the Alpha wouldn’t want his Luna in a house with a random man.”

He then walked past me into the house and straight into the kitchen where the Inspector remained.

Detective Clarke looked down to the photo and then back up to Luca before smiling.

“Luca, I presume?” he asked.

“What is going on?” Luca asked with a twinge of aggression.

“Do you know this man?” the inspector asked pushing the photo of Andrea forward.

Luca studied it for a few moments before shaking his head.

“Never seen him,” he replied and for Luca that wasn’t even a lie.

“Okay, and on your left shoulder. Is there a wound?”

“Yes. When we went to Mexico last week, I got in the crossfire of a shooting in the street and a bullet hit my shoulder,” Luca replied.

“The vacation didn’t exactly go to plan,” I said discretely nudging Luca.

We were on vacation. Nothing suspicious here.

“So on this vacation, there was your self, your husband and Luca….” he said to me.

“Luca Romano,” he finished. “Correct.”

“And my cousin,” I added knowing that he was probably already onto Max.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“I’m going to need to get your cousin’s name,” he replied lifting up his pen.

“Maximus Megestanis. Goes by Max.”

“And Luca. Does the name Romano D’Meretchi mean anything to you?”

“… um… is he a pop star?”

“No not quite,” the officer said eying him suspiciously.

The fact that Luca has used his real second name as his fake first name made it blindingly obvious. Good job, mate.

“Look, Detective. I understand that you are just doing your job and that it is your duty to fully investigate an allegation but this is absurd. We simply took a vacation to Mexico and Luca was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. My husband is innocent,” I said. “Please, please just let him go.”

“If what you have said is true and matches what all involved say, there is no reason why he will not be released in the next 24 hours. We just need some time to piece evidence together and ensure the stories add up. Perhaps to speed up the process it would help if the two of you came down to the station. We may have more questions and that way we wouldn’t have to keep travelling,” he explained.

I exchanged looks with Luca and he shrugged his shoulders.

“I need to look after my children,” I replied.

“In order to ensure their safety and wellbeing, we will need to put them under the care of a social worker for the course of the investigation. I hope you can understand why,” he said.

“No, no, no,” I said shaking my head. “No.”

“Miss, your husband has been accused of murder, involvement with drug trafficking and abduction. If the allegations turn out to be true-”

“They aren’t true,” I stated in a deep voice.

“We have to be sure.”

“You have no right to take my children,” I said in a raised voice.

A few moments later, Silas appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Mummy, what is going on?” he asked.

“Don’t worry, bambino. This man was just leaving,” I said as Luca lifted him into his arms.

I then looked to the detective and gestured towards the door.

“A social worker will be here in an hour to discuss your children. Have a good afternoon,” he said picking up his recording device and leaving promptly.

The second the door had slammed I strode towards the stairs.

“Kids, pack a bag. We’re going to Granny’s!” I called and there was a chorus of high pitched cheers.

“Luca, could you please get Stefano and Zach ready to go as soon as possible?” I asked to Luca who had followed me up the stairs still carrying Silas.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked putting Silas down.