"My bank verified again that the money was transferred to Tyler Stevens," James said. "The account number was from a Bank of America in New York City."
"Mr. Stevens said he banks at WSFS. Whatever that is," Officer Daugherty said.
"It's a bank in Wilmington," I said. "He grew up in Delaware like me. I use the same bank. When I talked to him earlier today, he didn't mention anything about the money. He would have brought it up if it just suddenly appeared in his account. Maybe Isabella just opened an account under his name?"
"You can't just open an account under a random name that isn't your own," Officer Daugherty said. They'd want verification. That would be breaking all sorts of laws."
"Which Isabella doesn't seem to care about," I said.
"Either way, we're going to need to bring Mr. Stevens in for questioning."
"I'm not sure he's even in New York anymore," I said. "He said he was moving this morning."
Officer Daugherty leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "You must see how that looks."
"It looks like I hurt him and he can't stand to run into me in the city."
"No, it looks like he's fleeing with 20 million dollars. Look," Officer Daugherty said. "If you want my honest opinion, all the facts point to him being your guy. If you want me to open this case, he will be one of the key suspects."
"I don't want him to be a suspect."
"That's not how it works..."
" Officer Daugherty," James cut in. "We don't want Tyler to be a part of the investigation. We're just worried about Isabella. That's it."
"Okay. We'll look into it as best we can. If we can't find the money, though, you don't mind if Mr. Stevens just...keeps it? Is that what you're saying?"
James looked at me. "Yes. Because I know Isabella has it."
Officer Daugherty sighed. "Okay. We'll try to track the cell phone and emails. And we'll work on fingerprints from the notes and pictures you'll be giving us. If that leads to a dead end, we'll have to drop the case, though."
"That's fine," James said.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Officer Daugherty said as he typed something on his computer.
"We'd also like to file a restraining order against Isabella Hunter. For both of us."
Officer Daugherty looked up at him. "Even before you know she's guilty?"
"She's guilty," James said.
"Okay. Well, restraining orders take one to two days to process. We should be able to get you a court hearing within a few weeks. Let me get the paperwork for you."
"Two weeks? Officer, this is kind of an emergency," James said. The calmness was gone from his voice.
"We can look into having the hearing later this week, but that's the earliest we can do it."
"I'm worried about the safety of my fiancée. Isn't there anything you can do?"
"Has Isabella made any threats against your person?"
"No, but..."
"Then as far as the state of New York is concerned, she is not an imminent threat."
"She just stole 20 million dollars from us!" James slammed his fist against the desk.
"James." I grabbed his arm.
"If you would please calm down," Officer Daugherty said.
"This is ridiculous," James said as he stood up.
Officer Daugherty stayed completely calm. "Officer Kemp will be by your residence within an hour or so to pick up the evidence."
"Thanks a lot," James said. He started to walk away. "New York's finest, my ass," he said under his breath.
Officer Daugherty looked angry now. "What did you just say?"
"He didn't mean that, Officer," I quickly said. "We really appreciate all your help. And we'll have the evidence ready when Officer Kemp arrives." I glanced back at James who was pushing through the door. "Thank you so much," I said and stood up.
"We need a signature if you want to file the restraining order, and a little more information," Officer Daugherty said.
"That's okay, I think we're going to pass on that. But thank you," I said again.
"No problem. I'm sure you'll have plenty of experience filling out those forms soon enough," Officer Daugherty said coolly.
"What?" I turned back toward him.
"I just mean, with his list of priors I don't doubt you'll be filling one against him in your near future."
Fuck you. I didn't lose my temper as easily as James, but I wanted to punch this guy in the face. "You know, I'm pretty sure James donates a lot of money to the New York City police department. He might reconsider that now."
Officer Daugherty laughed. "Great. We'll make sure to put your blackmail case with missing suspects at the top of the priority list," he said sarcastically and turned back to his computer.
I should have kept my mouth shut. "I hope you have a great weekend," I said as nicely as I could muster as I walked after James. He wasn't in the waiting area. I walked outside and blinked from the bright sun. James was pacing on the sidewalk, yelling something into his phone. I ran over to him.
"James."
He put his finger up. "No, not in half an hour. Now." He hung up his phone as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Are you okay? James, I don't think there was anything he could do. That's just how restraining orders work."
"That guy was an asshole."
"Yeah, maybe. But you can't call him an ass to his face. He's a police officer."
"Freedom of speech, Penny."
"No. That's insulting a police officer. He probably could have arrested you for that."
He lowered both his eyebrows.
"Take a deep breath, okay?"
He laughed.
"James, this isn't funny. They don't believe Isabella did it. They think it was Tyler. I don't even know if they believed us."
"Because they're fucking idiots!" He gestured rudely to the building.
"Get in the car before you get us arrested." I shoved his shoulder.
When I climbed into my side, James had his forehead resting on the steering wheel. I gave him a second to calm down before I touched his arm. "So, what now?"
He lifted his head and ran his hands down his face. "I called my security detail."
"You really think she'd try to hurt us?"
"I have no idea. All she cares about is status. And as soon as we get married, her status goes down."
"Didn't it go down when you two got divorced?"
"She played the whole divorce card really well. The whole, 'woe is me' thing really worked in her favor especially after everyone found out I was dating a student. The press ate it up."
"I didn't think people actually believed her."
"People believe whatever they want to believe."
I looked out the window. I knew that. That's why I had to transfer to NYCU in the middle of college. I could feel James' eyes on me. I knew what he was thinking. He didn't have to say anything. "He didn't have anything to do with it, James."