Life had returned to normal. At least, whatever the new normal was for Melina and her family. Her last encounter with Anthony was just a dark memory she had no wish to dwell on. What was done was done. Mac had assured her that the pall Anthony had cast over their lives was no more. The only thing that mattered now was ushering in the new transition of leadership that had to take place.
Melina wasn’t foolish enough to think that everyone would welcome Mac with open arms as the new boss. There was bound to be discontent among some, but whether that discontent would fester into something more only time would tell. Pushing such thoughts away, Melina left her office and headed to the bar at the front of The Dollhouse. Though it was only midday, business was in full swing. Only a few of the private rooms remained empty. With a practiced hand, Melina fixed a glass of rum and Coke.
She’d only taken a few sips of the heady drink when the wall behind the bar shook. Two bottles of top shelf liquor fell crashing to the floor, and Melina moved quickly in case anything else were to fall.
“What the hell?”
Melina turned just in time to see men and women in full police gear surround the bar.
“Melina Maccari, you are under arrest on charges of prostitution, and conspiracy.”
She barely had time to process what she’d just heard, when Melina was roughly dragged from behind the bar and handcuffed. The cuffs bit into her wrists, but she refused to give them the satisfaction of knowing that she hurt. Instead she focused her attention on the one who’d read the so-called charges against her.
“I’ll be sure to send a bill for the liquor you destroyed to your department.”
“If I were you, I’d be more concerned about the prison cell that awaits you.”
Melina knew that he was trying to rile her, but she refused to rise to his bait.
“We also have a warrant to search the premises, Mrs. Maccari.”
She swallowed hard as more men poured down the hallway towards her girls and the patrons they were with.
“There is no need for this disruption of my business.”
“We’re well aware of just what kind of business you run, Mrs. Maccari,” the bald, brown-eyed cop in charge said.
“You know it’s a legitimate one with all the proper permits despite these absurd charges that say otherwise,” Melina shot back.
“We’ll see about that,” the lead cop said before he followed the rest of his men down the hallway, leaving Melina alone with the female officer that had handcuffed her.
There was nothing Melina could do to stop them. Her heart had skipped a little when she noticed a few of the officers carrying metal cases. This was no fool’s errand. They expected to find something. Melina bit the inside of her lip as some of her girls were herded in front of her trying their best to shield their nakedness.
“You could have let them cover up,” Melina said sharply.
A few more officers appeared, pushing in front of them several men that were frequent visitors.
“I’ll have all of your badges for this,” one of the men yelled.
“I’d like to see that.”
Melina’s hands clenched into fists behind her back. It was one thing to be arrested, but to be humiliated was another thing altogether. She would not forget this day. The way the women looked to her with fear in their eyes. The burning anger behind the eyes of her patrons. The laughter of the cops as they antagonized the men and women in front of them.
“What now, Sergeant Masters?” the officer holding Melina asked.
“Have everyone brought to the station. The women on charges of prostitution, and the men on charges of solicitation.”
The orders came from the bald man who’d spoken to Melina earlier with such disrespect. As the women and men were marched out against their will, Melina steeled herself to be lead out behind them. She was surprised when Sergeant Masters came to stand in front of her, with a shit eating grin on his face.
“Mrs. Maccari, it appears that my officers have found something quite extraordinary here,” he said.
“There’s no doubt you’re eager to tell me.”
“Indeed. I admit I thought it strange that all of the rooms here have beds save one.”
“Sometimes furniture does need to be replaced,” Melina said.
“No doubt here you are required to replace furniture often, but there is more than that. It appears as if someone has cleaned the entire room.”
“Now it’s a crime to keep a clean establishment?”
Sergeant Masters laughed. “It is when such a thorough cleaning is used in an effort to hide evidence. I admit even I was amazed to see how the room lit up. The luminol made the room light up like the Fourth of July. I didn’t expect to see bleach all the way to the ceiling.”
He watched her now intently, as if searching for some break in her character. Some weakness. She refused to give him any. “Is that all?”
Masters smirked. “You’re a tough cookie. I’ll give you that, but every cookie crumbles one way or another.”
Melina smiled. “Not this one.”
“We’ll see about that. Irwin get her out of here.”
“Gladly, boss.”
Swallowing down the trepidation that slowly started to seep into her bones. She was being arrested. Again. From past experience, Melina knew that she could survive inside. She’d done it once before. But this time was different. This time wasn’t just some petty misdemeanor charge facing her. No. The conspiracy charge had all but proven that. The cops were after something much more substantial. Melina could only pray that bleached down or not, the last room on the right would not lead to the life she’d worked so hard for, crashing down around her.
The ache seeped into Melina’s bones.
She steeled herself so that her teeth wouldn’t chatter.
This was deliberate.
A classic cop tactic to make her as uncomfortable as possible before they questioned her.
Yes. She’d been through this before.
Melina barely looked up as the doors to the interrogation room opened. She recognized one of the men. Detective Parks. This time he was with the female cop who had arrested her earlier. The woman had changed out of her blue uniform and now wore a dark gray pant suit. Her sandy blonde hair had been pulled back in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. Her unfriendly eyes found Melina’s own.
“Mrs. Maccari, imagine seeing you again … so soon,” Parks said.
“Through no desire of my own, I assure you.”
“Good thing then that fate has brought you here once again. You’ve already met Officer Irwin.”
Detective Parks leaned against the corner of the table while Irwin took a seat directly across from Melina. She smirked at her.
“You know it’s really a shame,” Irwin said.
“What is?” Melina played along.
“That you would choose to be a martyr for an organization that cares nothing for you or your sacrifice.”
Melina shifted in her seat. “Can we please get on with whatever this is? I grow tired of present company.”
“By all means. I can admit to being most eager to see you behind bars again,” Parks said.
“Anthony Corelli.”
Melina’s eyes focused on Irwin. She lifted a defiant brow. “Am I supposed to know him?”
“Since he is a frequent patron of the whorehouse you run, I’d think you know him very well.”
So, that was what this was all about.
Anthony.
The bastard was dead but yet he’d come back to haunt her once again.
“I run a legitimate and very successful business, but I can’t be expected to know the name of every single patron that frequents my establishment.”
“Let us refresh your memory,” Parks said. He opened a manila folder and spread out an array of glossy colored photos that were date and time stamped. They were all of one person … Anthony.
“Nice photos,” Melina said.
“Anthony Corelli makes a nice subject, especially when he’s always so easy to track. Your establishment seems to be the place he prefers to spend his time,” Irwin said.
Melina glanced at the woman. “The man has good taste. My establishment is top notch.”
“So top notch that it was where he spent his last moments of life.”
Melina’s gaze shifted to find Parks watching her. His eyes narrowed as if he was sure he had something on her.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Irwin broke in. “The last time Anthony Corelli was seen he was heading into your place of business. No one reported seeing him come out.”
Rubbing her wrists, Melina noted she already had bruises forming around the tight cuffs. She took a long breath before she answered.
“As I’ve said before, there’s no way I can possibly know every single patron that may or may not frequent my establishment.”
“Well it’s a good thing we have that covered then. The last time Anthony Corelli was seen alive was entering The Dollhouse. That combined with the room we found inside bleached from floor to ceiling, with no bed leads us to believe that he was murdered … by you.”
So they’d finally played their cards.
Murder.
The prostitution and conspiracy charges were only a ruse.
A means to attempt to flush her out.
To see her crumble.
Too bad for them she wouldn’t.
Melina gave a long exaggerated sigh before she laughed. Loudly.
“Is there something you’d like to share with us?” Irwin asked. Her right eye twitched in irritation.
“Your department is ridiculous. The fact that you’re wasting tax payer dollars doing surveillance on the coming and goings of one man when there are real crimes out there being committed annoys me. It annoys me almost as much as you accusing me of murdering a man you assume that I know. I have a husband and a son that I adore and love. What woman would jeopardize that?”
Parks shook his head as he placed the pictures back into the folder. “He’s trained you well. You sound like the perfect mob wife. Denial springs from your lips so smoothly one could almost believe you’re telling the truth. Good thing for me I know better.”
“I believe I’ve said everything I have to say,” Melina said coolly.
“Suit yourself. Perhaps some time in lockup will make you reconsider the first degree murder charge we’re adding to your rap sheet,” Irwin said. She stood up and came towards Melina, motioning for her to stand up.
“I’m entitled to my phone call.”
Parks too stood. “Indeed you are, but we’ll decide when that is.”
“Up, Maccari.”
Melina glared at Irwin. They were deliberately denying her the rights that she was entitled to. But she wouldn’t let them see how much it upset her. How worried she really was about the new charge they’d just leveled. Instead, she stood up and smiled.
“Lead the way.”
Irwin grabbed her roughly around the arm and jerked her towards the door. Melina itched to knock the sanctimonious bitch on her ass, but she had more important things to worry about. Her phone call had been denied, and she had no idea if Mac even knew that she’d been arrested. Or that she was facing life in prison or worse, death, for something he’d assured her would never haunt them again. For once, her husband had been wrong.
A week.
Seven days away from her husband.
Her son.
This was bullshit.
Fucking bullshit.
It had felt as if she was swallowing sand when one of her guards had gloated about Mac showing up to see her and being turned away … repeatedly. Melina was certain that he was worried. It was one thing for her to be arrested. They’d faced that battle already. This was a whole new war. She was deliberately not being allowed to communicate with her husband and one way or another Melina vowed that there would be reckoning for all those involved. From the taunting guards, to Irwin and Parks who had taken it upon themselves to stop by her cell on alternate days in hopes that she would talk.
She hadn’t.
She wouldn’t.
Not even today.
Today the attorney Mac had hired would be speaking for her at arraignment. Despite not allowing her to call or see her husband, the pricks running the jail hadn’t been able to deny her right to an attorney. Melina glanced at the man now as she watched him walk into the courtroom. Short but stoic with sharp black eyes, Jonathan Olivera, was a man of few words, but he got things done. Her arraignment had originally been scheduled for nearly a week later. Jonathan had threatened to sue the entire police department and jail staff and had her arraignment immediately rescheduled … today. She would be the first one before the judge. A blessing and a curse. He walked over to where she stood handcuffed near a waiting guard.
“Judge Allgood will be presiding over today’s proceedings. He has a reputation as somewhat of a hard ass, but I will do everything I can to try and get you released on bond.”
Melina nodded, but dread tightened around her heart. It seemed she couldn’t catch a fucking break. Jonathan motioned for her to follow him to the podium where they would wait for court to convene. She did, looking around as the room started to fill up rapidly. The state attorney had already taken her spot at the podium across from them. Tall, thin, and brunette, the older woman stared at Melina like she was something dirty on the bottom of the woman’s shoe.
Melina pointedly rolled her eyes.
Her annoyance level rose as she noted members of the media slinking in with their cameras. They were like a bunch of damn hyenas waiting for something to feast on. In this case, it was her. Melina could see them practically salivating as they stared at her.
“Ignore them. I didn’t think they’d bother to show up for an arraignment.”
“They were at my last one. Sharks always smell blood in the water,” Melina said.
Jonathan raised a thick brow, but before he could say anything else a door opened at the front of the room, and a uniformed bailiff walked out. The courtroom immediately became quiet.
“All rise for the Honorable Judge, Theodore Allgood.”
The old, white-haired man took his seat in the front of the room and motioned for the bailiff. Melina knew the drill. The judge would look over the docket before he’d call for the first case. A minute later Judge Allgood did just that. He didn’t even glance up when they called her name.
A good sign.
Maybe.
Then her charges were read.
That made him look up from his papers and scrutinize her. She didn’t melt under his gaze, but simply stared back without blinking.
“And because of the seriousness of the charges leveled against her and the financial means Mrs. Maccari has at her disposal, the state moves to have bail denied. Mrs. Maccari is a flight risk,” the state attorney argued.
“Mrs. Maccari is not a flight risk. What she is, is a wife and mother who never was allowed a phone call upon her initial arrest, and denied visits from her husband. She has an infant son at home waiting for her. Besides that, Mrs. Maccari does not even have passport. Circumstances being what they are, I believe my client is more than entitled to bail.”
“These are serious charges. People like Mrs. Maccari pose a danger to society. If not a physical one, then definitely a moral one. It wouldn’t set a good precedent if we allowed someone like Mrs. Maccari, to be free on bail. Bail denied. Clerk, call the next case.”
Just like that, she was dismissed.
Just another case number.
Just another criminal in the eyes of the law.
Melina didn’t say anything as Johnathan placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I promise, I’ll fight this.”
“No need,” Melina said.
She turned as a guard appeared to lead her down the center aisle of the courtroom, past all the gathering onlookers.
Another calculated move designed to remind her yet again, who really ran the show. Despite the whispers, Melina kept her head held high as she walked unhurriedly through the crowd. If they wanted to look, let them. Each step seemed to take her past someone more curious about her, than the proceedings that had already started again behind her. Melina didn’t bother to hide the annoyance that boiled her blood until she met a pair of hazel eyes.
Mac.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Working to control her sudden, labored breathing, all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around her husband. His expression was grave as his eyes drank her in. Melina’s steps deliberately slowed. The guard, Johnathan, and everything else forgotten. She wanted to run to him.
To feel his arms around her.
To feel his kiss.
To get lost in his scent.
But she couldn’t. Instead she just stopped in front of him, her handcuffed hands held out in front of her. No doubt the cameras were trained on them, waiting for something to report. Some tidbit that they could turn into some salacious lie to garner more ratings for their subpar evening news.
“I’m sorry.”
Melina shook her head. “Don’t be. I …”
Her words were cut off when something caught her eye near the doors as they opened. A pair of sly eyes met hers as the door closed. Melina’s nostrils flared and her hands clenched into fists. Truth dawned. In the midst of her incarceration, she’d given a lot of thought to her arrest. The real reason behind it, and why Anthony had been under constant surveillance in the first place.
Anthony Corelli was an “alleged” crime figure, but he was hardly the highest profile Cosa Nostra member in New York. There were others that the cops could be watching more closely, but they hadn’t. Instead they’d chosen Anthony, specifically him coming and going in and out of her establishment. And there was only one reason he’d been there so frequently in the first place.
Yes.
Everything was clear now.
“Get moving,” the guard growled at Melina, grabbing her arm.
Mac made a move towards the guard, but Melina shook her head.
“Beware of those who have offered help and kind words. It was here that our ruin was already set in motion,” Melina warned.
And then she was dragged away by the guard, towards the doors and out of the courtroom leaving her husband behind. As the doors closed behind her, Melina was left with one last glance at Mac and Johnathan. She could only hope that Mac would piece together the meaning behind her cryptic words and understand what needed to be done next to save their family.