Chapter 45: Leonardo’s POV
Chapter 45: Leonardo’s POV
Claire is shaken by this ordeal but I lead her through the process carefully. We give our identification and I let speak. I know talking was her way of coping in this scenario. She had questions and I wanted her to ask for the answers she needed while I mentally juggle through the possibilities of what could’ve happened.
Matthew has been arrested for possessing narcotics and is being charged with some very serious felonies. But this is where I’m stumped. If Matthew really was distributing and dealing drugs, he would’ve never came to Claire and 1 for money for past gambling addictions. What Claire doesn’t know is that I knew every single time that she had given him bush money. She had tried to keep him from extorting money from me and she paid him personally out of her own funds.
I also know that Claire has a bad history and fear of drugs but she’s never felt comfortable talking about it so I’ve never pushed her to open up. I had done research about the death of her parents when she told me they were deceased and found that her dad had been heavily intoxicated on opiates at the time of their deaths. I assume Matthew lived through that ordeal as well.
I can’t imagine that he or Claire would ever succumb to the appeal of drugs after the loss they’ve suffered. And to my personal belief, Matthew had always been of sound mind and body when I’d seen him. No clues or evidence would point me to believe that he was taking anything.
But if he didn’t do this then who did?
And why would they go through all this trouble to frame Matthew? It just didn’t make sense.
After exhausting every mental avenue, I watched Claire patiently as we waited to be called for visitation. I knew I’d have to lead her in this moment and nothing I could say would ease her mind.
I could see how much this was affecting her. Her hands were shaky, her vision was tunneled in and hyper -focused on the clock and her body was tense. I hear a call for us to proceed through search to move into the visitation are and I carefully grab Claire’s hand to lead the way. If I had left it up to her, she may have stayed frozen in place or bolted for the door.
I know she’s in shock but if we’re going to need answers, we need to get to Matthew. Especially if someone else already has.
“You ready?” I ask cautiously as a way to show her I would be right here.
She stays silent and by the reluctance to move forward, I could tell her answer would have been no.
Just as we move forward, a thought crosses my mind. What if they weren’t trying to get to Matthew? What if, whoever is doing this, is trying to get to Claire
I pause in place and look over at Claire who seems confused by the expression on my face. I was sweating and dumbfounded.
Why hadn’t I thought of this before?
