11. Claire

CHAPTER 11

CLAIRE

OVER THE WEEKEND –PREPARING FOR THE BAIL HEARING

E xhaustion loomed heavy, my eyes were sore and dry, my mouth stale. God only knew what my breath smelled like. I’d been here for hours, and the few cups of coffee I’d had to counter the effects of the alcohol at Marcie’s party had long worn off.

“Well, at least that part is over. I’ll meet you at court on Monday afternoon for the bail hearing,” I said, stuffing my notepad in my bag and trying to mask the weariness in my voice.

“Thanks, Claire. I really appreciate this,” Luca replied.

I nodded, unsure how else to respond. I’d agreed to help, and I believed in Luca’s innocence. But still… being dragged into this mess was exactly what I’d been trying to avoid. The gnawing frustration crept back as I thought about it. I hadn’t wanted to do this, yet here I was.

My head throbbed with the familiar warning of a hangover. I needed water—gallons of it—some painkillers, and sleep. Lots of sleep. Especially since I had another bail hearing before Luca’s on Monday and had to prepare for both. As I walked away from the interview room, I couldn’t ignore the feeling of Luca’s eyes on me. The intensity of his gaze lingered, burning into my back as he was led in the opposite direction, back to his holding cell.

I hated the idea of him locked up all weekend. Trapped in that cold, sterile cell. But there was nothing I could do—not until Monday. The only small comfort I had was that I would get him out then.

As I rounded the corner, Miki and Vlad were waiting for me in the reception. A flicker of warmth eased through me at the sight of Miki. He hadn’t needed to stay, but he had. Concern etched into the lines of his face, and it was clear he wanted to know how Luca was holding up. His worry for Luca was palpable—both a best friend and a boss.

“You look exhausted,” he said.

“I am,” I replied, stifling a yawn.

Vlad handed me a bottle of water and I smirked when he very nearly forgot himself and smiled as I thanked him. Vlad always seemed very serious, but I’d caught a sparkle in his eye now and then and figured, deep down, the man was hiding a soft heart under a serious facade. A bit like me.

“He’s been charged, I take it?” Miki asked.

I nodded, taking a long swig of water.

“We’ll talk in the car,” Miki said, glancing towards the cluster of officers behind the desk.

In the SUV, the silence hung heavy between us until we pulled away from the station.

“So, how’s he doing?” Miki asked, turning his head towards me.

“Okay, bored and upset about Julie, but holding up,” I replied, resting my head back.

Miki nodded, his jaw tight. “And the charges? How bad is it?”

I sighed, rubbing my temples to ward off the impending headache. “Honestly? On the face of it, it looks bad. His ex, a woman obsessed with him, found dead in his bed? Spread-eagled, needle in her arm, throat slit? The police find him covered in blood? It’s a hell of a picture to paint.”

A beat of silence passed between us before I added, “But we know he’s innocent. We’ll figure this out. Right now, we need to focus on getting him out on bail. Once we have a proper time of death and the autopsy report, we can work on establishing his alibi. One step at a time.”

Miki exhaled slowly, the tension easing just a little. “I know what happened between you two, Vlad told me. I don’t know what’s going on with you both, but thanks for helping us out.”

“There is nothing between us,” I told him a bit too sharply. He raised an eyebrow, obviously not fooled. “But like I said, I’m happy to help until you can arrange someone else.”

“I’ll see you at court on Monday then,” he said when we pulled up outside my place.

“Yeah, I’ll prep over the weekend. See you then,” I replied. As I opened my door, I turned and gave him a little wave before I went inside.

Dropping the files on my bedside table, I chugged more water and swallowed some painkillers. The exhaustion finally overtook me as I changed into my pyjamas and crawled into bed.

I closed my eyes, pushing thoughts of Luca, court, and work aside. Tomorrow would be another day to deal with the chaos. Tonight? Tonight, I just needed sleep.

I slept well into Saturday evening, the remnants of last night’s drinks weighing heavily on my body. Ordering a greasy, cheesy pizza was my attempt at damage control, followed by a glass of red wine—because ‘the hair of the dog’ was always my go-to fix.

As I chewed through several slices, I tried to shake off the guilt that hung over me, matching my hangover. I re-read the charge sheet, then scrolled through the emails. As expected, the police report was there, a grim summary of everything collected so far—evidence that didn’t do Luca any favours.

But it wasn’t until Sunday morning that my head cleared enough to focus. Feeling guilty for wasting the previous day, I woke early, opened my laptop, and started making notes. Even though I wouldn’t be handling Luca’s defence beyond the bail hearing, I couldn’t just leave things half-done. Anything I pulled together now might help whoever took over, be it Miki’s lawyer or someone else. They needed to hit the ground running.

Julie Wilson—the woman at the centre of this nightmare—had been a part of Luca’s life briefly, more than a year ago. He’d told me about her issues, her stint in rehab. Miki had kept tabs on her afterward. She’d landed a job, seemed to be doing well. So why was she found dead with a needle in her arm?

Was she back on heroin? Or was this part of a setup? Why inject her? Why the needle at all? Had she willingly gone to Luca’s apartment, or had someone else brought her there? Too many questions, none of them easy to answer.

The autopsy hadn’t been done yet. These things took time. Still, the preliminary report put Julie’s death somewhere between ten and midnight. Oddly enough, that was exactly when the police had shown up at Luca’s, after receiving a report of a disturbance.

Luca said he’d arrived at the party around nine-thirty. He left forty minutes later, just after I had stormed out. He went for a drive, then headed home—just in time to find her body and have the police barge in behind him. And just like that, he didn’t have an alibi.

It was likely my fault. He hadn’t said it, but I knew the truth. He’d left the party because of me, to clear his head after I’d rejected him. If I hadn’t run off, would things be different? Would he have stayed at the party, in plain sight, with an alibi? I could’ve been his alibi.

The guilt crept into my chest, tightening like a vice. The guilt crept into my chest, tightening like a vice. I set my pen down, rubbing my temples as a wave of nausea hit me. My rejection had led to this, hadn’t it? God, I was a cow.

Stop it, Claire. This wasn’t helping. Luca driving around didn’t automatically damn him. If we could pinpoint the time of death, then maybe we could find an angle, some way to account for his time. Failing that, he would need to go to trial, and proving his innocence would be much harder.

Right then, I vowed to help. I couldn’t handle his defence personally beyond Monday, though, because doing so would create a conflict of interest, considering I was part of the reason he’d been driving around in the first place.

We hadn’t known that, of course, when Miki had asked me to represent Luca and I’d only ever promised to represent him for the initial stages. But I couldn’t step aside completely now. I’d assist the lawyer in charge of his case, whoever they were, and together we’d clear his name.

First things first, there was a bail hearing to get through—routine, simple. So why was my gut twisting like it knew better?