Chapter 2 - The DeputiesAt seven-thirty the next morning, urgent pounding shook my front door.
I checked the foyer monitor and saw two uniformed Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies standing on the porch. Their cruisers were parked across my driveway, red and blue lights cutting through the morning fog.
I opened the heavy front door wearing a crisp silk robe and holding a fresh mug of black coffee.
"Mrs. Priya Ashworth?" the senior officer asked, touching the brim of his hat with a grave expression.
"Yes, Deputy. Is something wrong?" I replied calmly.
"Ma'am, we need to speak with you regarding your husband, Desmond Ashworth, and a young woman identified as Bianca Reyes," the deputy said, opening a state dispatch incident notebook. "At approximately four-fifteen this morning, Nevada State Highway Patrol intercepted a black Mercedes-Benz AMG registered to your corporate entity, speeding at over one hundred and ten miles per hour along Interstate 15 near the California border."
The deputy explained what had happened after I froze Desmond's cards. His luxury resort charges were immediately declined. When the hotel concierge tried to collect a forty-thousand-dollar balance covering the high-roller suite and casino line of credit, Desmond panicked. He and Bianca attempted to leave the resort without settling the bill, damaging a parking security gate with my company-owned vehicle in the process. About an hour later, highway troopers pulled them over. Desmond became belligerent, shouting that he was an untouchable executive and physically resisting the officers.
A standard inventory search of the Mercedes uncovered three duffel bags containing stolen designer watches, several pieces of my personal diamond jewelry that Desmond had secretly removed from our master safe before leaving, and more than eighty thousand dollars in unauthorized cash withdrawals taken from his corporate operating account.
"Both subjects were taken into custody and booked into the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas," the deputy continued. "Mr. Ashworth is currently facing felony grand larceny, interstate transport of stolen property, commercial fraud, and felony evasion of law enforcement. Ms. Reyes was charged as an accessory after the fact for actively concealing the stolen jewelry in her luggage. Furthermore, Clark County judicial records indicate Mr. Ashworth attempted to execute a marriage license while still legally married to you, adding felony bigamy to his state docket."
May you like
I nodded slowly and handed the officer copies of our prenuptial agreement and the sole-ownership title for the impounded Mercedes.
"Thank you, Deputy. I will have my legal team cooperate fully with the Nevada District Attorney's Office."
Related Stories
