Page 269 of Cara & Gian: The Guzzi Duet

Cara handled the news with grace. “I had not known.”

“I suppose you’re also unaware that the man is also now dead,” Seeley said quieter.

“I did know that but only because his funeral was plastered in the news. Seems to be a big thing in the city lately—organized crime, I mean. I’m not sure why the man’s death should matter to me, though.”

“You don’t think the two are connected?”

“I—”

“You’re not that stupid, are you?” the other detective interrupted. “Someone distributes racy, compromising photographs of you that effectively ruins you, and suddenly they show up dead.”

“Again,” Cara drawled, “I’m not sure why the man’s death should matter to me. I wasn’t aware he distributed the pictures. I didn’t know him at all.”

“Seems he knew you.”

“Well, his daughter might,” Cara replied carefully.

“She was the one who had been given the photographs in the first place,” Seeley said as though the information were nothing. “All though, clearly she used the items for a purpose we did not intend, after pulling the files from Gian’s phone.”

It wasn’t nothing to Gian.

It was everything.

He hadn’t considered Elena having anything to do with the photos of Cara being distributed, because he’d known without question she hadn’t had his phone. At least, not long enough to get inside the device. He even locked his fucking bedroom door when he was forced to sleep at the mansion.

Cara was quiet for a long while before she said, “You pulled my photos from Gian’s phone.”

“His first arrest included warrants for electronic devices, and we found some images. He was arrested again after the shooting at the shelter—”

“All charges dropped,” Cara interjected with heat in her tone, “and for good reason.”

“Nonetheless, he was taken into custody again and the phone was removed from his person. I can’t help if a few image files were removed from the device at that time, too.”

“That’s fucking illegal! How dare you?”

Marcus whined at his mother’s high shriek.

“It’s standard procedure in a case like that for any electronics on a detainee to be searched,” the detective said, “which is exactly what happened.”

“But not for you to remove images, thank you very much. Not to mention, my images. And what business is it of yours—what effect would it have on Gian’s previous arrest or the arrest after the shooting—to take my private photos and … why in the hell would you take my fucking photos off his phone like that?”

“We had proof he was in a relationship with you, clearly.”

“But why? What did you need that information for and what good would it do you? It wasn’t exactly a goddamn secret. Those images did nothing but hurt me, and other people. That was it—nothing more.”

Gian knew exactly why.

He had never considered that it was the detectives who had removed his photos of Cara from his phone. Only because, like Cara, there was no real benefit to doing so for the police. He didn’t use his phone to do any real business that would get him in trouble, and so he had never had an issue with handing the device over to cops during his arrests.

Clearly that had been a mistake.

While taking more photos off his phone after the shelter shooting had been … borderline illegal, it wouldn’t matter if the detectives never intended to use those images as pieces of evidence they needed to legally obtain. It would only matter to them if the images could help them in some way.

Like for someone on the inside of Gian’s life.

Someone they could hurt.

Someone they could use.