Page 80 of Entangled

It was possible that the cops were there because of her accident weeks ago. Her rib was healed and no longer sore, as was the gash on her hairline. Thankfully, that had healed with a scar that wasn’t noticeable, due to skilled stitching by a doctor.

“Is this about the accident?” Cara asked. “I answered all the questions I could at the hospital the next day, and then another round the next week when detectives came with pictures of vehicles for me to look at. I don’t know what more to tell you.”

The officer still didn’t answer.

Now, Cara was just getting peeved.

She didn’t have to wonder for long, as the door to her floor was pushed open. From her spot way down the hall, she could plainly see evidence boxes and bags resting along the wall outside of her apartment door. Inside a few of the clear, plastic bags with red tape sealing the tops, rested items that belonged to Gian.

A shirt of his.

A book.

An empty bullet clip for his favorite Berretta.

Wait, where in the hell had he put that damn thing?

“You’re raiding my place?” Cara shrieked, heading down the hall fast. “What fucking reason do you have to justify a search warrant on my apartment?”

She dropped her bag and the papers from her university, uncaring about the items. Inside her apartment, it looked like a hurricane had ripped through it. An officer identified her and Cara confirmed it, before another paper was shoved into her hands. She barely glanced at it, seeing what it was and only getting more irritated.

A search warrant.

Signed by a judge.

“Nice to see you again, Miss Rossi,” said a familiar detective. The man walked toward Cara with a small stuffed animal in his hands. A tiny elephant that had managed to survive the accident weeks before and Cara had put on the baby’s dresser as a decoration. “Cute little thing, this is.”

Her baby’s nursery?

Cara’s rage spiraled out of control, and she pushed past the detective, heading for Marcus’s room. Sure enough, even it had not gone untouched by the search. Each and every one of the baby’s dresser drawers had been pulled open. Carefully folded, tiny clothes spilled across the room in piles, while cute knickknacks and decoration items had been upended in a messy search.

The closet, a space Cara had kept a few boxes of Lea’s remaining things, was open. The boxes of her twin’s belongings had also been ransacked and searched through.

“We have reason to believe you or your apartment, is a regular stop for Gian Guzzi,” the detective said behind Cara, “and so, here we are to check for any information related to recent investigations into his business.”

Disbelief swept through Cara.

“And what did you hope to find in an unborn baby’s nursery?” she asked.

“Oh, we didn’t expect to find much in this apartment at all.”

“Then why?”

She had been the victim just weeks ago. She had been the one nearly killed by a hit and run driver. And now it was her that needed to be treated like a criminal?

Why?

“Gian will understand exactly why,” the detective said smugly.

Cara’s hands balled into tight fists, her fingernails cutting into her palms. “Where is my purse and cell phone? I want to call Gian and my lawyer, now.”

“As soon as we’re done taking a look through the bag, Cara.”

Fuck him.

“Cara, just consider—”

“Gian, it’s fine. I’ve almost got the apartment back to normal. The baby’s room is all organized and ready again. There’s really no need.”