Page 19 of Savage Boss
I lean back, crossing my arms and meeting the gazes of both detectives. Dean looks furious.
“In short, you don’t have a case against me because my actions were legal. Nor do you have a case against the corporationor any of those youdetainedbecause the warrant was invalid. Youarrested dozens of innocent employees, interrupted major global business operations, and violated rights based on what I strongly suspect is manufacturedprobablecause.”
I check my watch, a purely theatrical gesture.
“You have detained me for nearly seven hours without charging me. This is an unlawful deprivation of liberty. Release me now, or I willfile a writof habeas corpus first thinginthe morning, along with a motion to suppress all seized evidence, and a civil suit for false imprisonment and punitive damages. Decide.”
Miller looks at Dean with a desperate expression but Dean doesn’t see it because he’s too busy glowering at me, his face a mask of furious hatred.
“Fine,” Dean finally hisses. “Process her release. She’s free to go.”
He practically spits out the last words. I stand up, surprised at how steady my legs are and how slow my heartbeat is; it isn’t pounding like I thought it would be.
I step out of the interrogation room, grateful to be leaving Dean behind and gratified by the way I took him down in a manner he won’t be able to recover from anytime soon. I head straight to the water cooler to wash the feeling of desert-dry sand from my mouth, which is when, my senses still heightened with adrenaline,I overheara couple of officers talking. I sip my water as I catch snippets of the conversation above the din of the bullpen.
“—trying to press him on the money transfers. No counsel yet.”
“Just us and the brass?”
“Yep.”
“Good. He’s tough, but without a lawyer, he’ll surely slip up.”
“Even he can be broken if we work hard enough.”
No counsel yet.
My blood runs cold. They have to be talking about Dmitri. I know Dean is up to something if the head of the Smirnov Corporation is alone in there on the exact day most of the legal team is tied up. It’s a low, manipulative move that reeks of my ex.
I don’t hesitate as I movepast the water cooler and stride to the door from which I can hear the distinctive, deep rumble of Dmitri’s voice. My mind snaps into lawyer mode again. I’m not just Clara Benson, the newly hired counsel for the Smirnov Corporation, I’m Clara Benson, the only thing standing between a billionaire CEO and a lengthy stay in federal prison.
I open the door without knocking, ignoring the shouts of officers behind me. But they’re too late. The three men in the room look up when I enter, and the conversation freezes. The captain of the unit, an older man I recognize as Assistant District Attorney Henderson, and Dmitri.
I don’t miss how his eyes widen before he masters his expression to cold indifference again.
“I apologize for the interruption,” I announce, stepping firmly into the center of the room, “but this interrogation is over.”
Henderson looks surprised, then annoyed. “Excuse me? Who are you?”
“Clara Benson, in-house counsel for the Smirnov Corporation. An attorney now represents Mr. Smirnov, and this interrogation is immediately finished.” I look at Henderson, then the unit’s captain, whose name I’ve forgotten, probably on purpose. “Any further questioning must be deferred until I have time to confer with my client, review the materials seized, and establish the scope of your inquiry. I trust you are aware that any statement taken from Mr. Smirnov from this moment forward, without his expressed, advised, and written consent to waive counsel, will be considered inadmissible.”
Dmitri is watching me with a glimmer of surprise, amusement, and appreciation in his eyes, along with something else sharp and ravenous.
“He hasn’t asked for a lawyer, Ms. Benson.” DA Henderson recovers quickly. “He was cooperating.”
“Regardless, he has one now, DA Henderson,” I counter, turning to the captain. “Under what charges is my client being held? Do you have an arrest warrant separate from the original search warrant, or is this still a holding action based on the initialprobablecause?”
The captain hesitates, glancing at DA Henderson. “We’re currently processing the information gathered under the warrant.”
“The executed warrant that was constitutionally flawed,” I clarify for them, every word ringing with all the professional contempt I can muster. “Since youfailedto secure a statement and given the dubious legal foundation for this morning’s operation, I demand Mr. Smirnov’s immediate release.”
“We’re not going to release—” the captain begins.
“If youhadsufficient evidence to charge Mr. Smirnov, you would have already charged him,” I interrupt sharply. “The fact that you are still here, fishing for a confession without counsel, confirms what I established in my own interrogation, and that is, you have nothing.”
DA Henderson narrows his eyes. “We have until later tonight to?—”
“I am cutting that time short,” I tell him, giving him a polite but dismissive nod. “Mr. Smirnov and I are leaving, along with whoever else you’ve detained. You may serve us with formal charges or subpoenas when you have probable cause. Until then, you are exceeding your authority. Mr. Smirnov, let’s go.”
