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“I hope this won’t interfere with your regular job.” I grimaced and said, “I’m sorry I got you dragged into this mess.”
“It’ll be fine, and I didn’t get dragged in. I offered to help.” Aiden patted my forearm gently. “I’ll take a personal day off tomorrow. Goodness knows I have a lot of those saved up.”
“What can we do to help?” Julia asked resolutely. No matter how bad the situation looked, Julia was convinced that Annisa didn’t harm Trevor.
Aiden shook his head, “Not much right now. Like I said, I need to talk to Annisa first, and I don’t know when that will be.” He looked down at his wristwatch. “It’s almost five o’clock.”
“Really? I can’t believe we’ve been here this long.” I calculated in my head that we probably got to the precinct before noon, and my stomach growled again, confirming the length of time we spent at the police station.
Julia heard it and suggested a plan that made a lot of sense.
“Why don’t we get something to eat? On the way here, we passed Fratelli’s.” She looked at me and added, “It’s the same one that you and I ate at when we visited Monterey several years ago. Do you remember?”
My eyes lit up in recognition. “Fratelli’s? How could I forget? Don’t you remember me talking about it nonstop for weeks after we got back from our trip?”
Julia chuckled at the memory. The thought of the warm soup in a bread bowl sounded comforting after waiting at the police station.
I placed my hand on Aiden’s arm in excitement. “I can’t wait for you to taste it. It’s the best clam chowder.”
“It sounds good, and ordering clam chowder should be fast, so I can come back here after we eat. And Claire, you can head back to San Francisco with Julia and Tristan.” Then Aiden walked over to Jessica and said, “Excuse me?”
Jessica looked up from her typing and said, “Yes?”
“My friends and I are going to get something to eat, but I’ll be back soon. Could you let Officer Frankel and Officer Shin know that I’ll need to talk to my client as soon as possible?”
Jessica nodded as she started to write down the information but stopped when she saw Officer Shin.
“Alex, I was taking down a message for you, but since you’re here, you can hear it for yourself.” She pointed her pen at Aiden.
Officer Shin looked at Aiden expectantly. “What did you want to tell me?”
“I told the receptionist that my friends and I are going to get something to eat, but I’ll be right back to talk with my client,” Aiden replied.
Officer Shin shrugged. “That’s up to you, but if you want, you can meet with Ms. Choi now.”
Aiden looked at us, and Julia made a shooing motion with her hands, indicating that he should see Annisa now. He looked at me, and I gave him an encouraging smile.
“All right, I’ll talk to my client now,” Aiden said.
The officer nodded and motioned for Aiden to follow him.
“Wait!” I called out, and the police officer stopped in mid-stride to pivot around. “Can we talk to Annisa, too?” I asked hopefully. I figured the sooner we could find out what she knew, the sooner we could leave this mess behind.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t see her today. Perhaps tomorrow.” Although Officer Shin seemed sympathetic, his curt tone left no room for argument.
Disappointed, I wanted to protest, but I didn’t know what the rules were. Neither did Julia because she stood next to me with her arm crossed.
“I guess I’ll have to skip dinner,” Aiden said and came over to give me a quick hug.
“Will you tell me what’s going on?” I whispered as I hugged him back.
“I will if I can,” he whispered back and smiled at me before jogging to catch up with the police officer.
Julia linked her arm through mine. “I’m sure Aiden will help.”
“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled absently. I was sure Aiden would, but I doubted that Annisa was completely innocent.
“Do you still want to get chowder?” Tristan asked us.
