Read Online The Evasion by Adrienne Giordano - Free Book Online Page A

stored their stock. “My name is Joanna Pomeroy, I’m an attorney from New York. One of my clients is Barelli Incorporated.”
    Ellie took the business card, ran her fingers over the gold embossed letters. “Oh.”
    “I’m an intellectual property attorney. I help crack down on the sale of counterfeit items.”
    “Oh,” Ellie said again, but this time that oh was packed with a whole lot of understanding. Yes, Miss Ellie, you are running illegal items through your shop.
    Jo held her hand to Gabe. “This is Sergeant Townsend. He’s from the New York City Police Department. He’s part of the Clean Sweep task force. We’re here looking for a Donald Martinson. He allegedly runs a multi-million dollar counterfeiting operation and he’s wanted for questioning in New York.”
    “Yeah,” Gabe said. “He also allegedly conspired to kill two women by locking them in a burning building.”
    “Oh, my God!” Ellie said.
    Jo shot Gabe a look and he shrugged. “Them’s the facts, ma’am.”
    “Ellie,” Jo said, “Sergeant Townsend and I received a tip that Donald Martinson is in the area. The package that was left for us at the hotel last night, in our experienced opinion, confirms he’s here. Now we have to find him. Can you help us with that?”
    If any of what Jo said had registered in Ellie’s apparently frying mind was anyone’s guess. The woman’s partially open mouth and rapid, shallow breathing definitely indicated a level of nervousness.
    Beside Jo, Gabe tapped his fingers against his legs, that limitless, primal energy filling the empty shop. He’s going to snap . Almost a year of working with him taught her the warning signs. The stiff posture, the focused intensity. When Gabe took over a situation his already large body expanded, his presence saturating the room.
    “Ellie,” he said. Here we go . “You are going to be arrested for selling counterfeit merchandise because the bag you sold us yesterday is most definitely counterfeit. So, right off the bat, we’re talking conspiracy and trafficking charges. The conspiracy charge will get you a max of five years in prison. The trafficking? For each count, that’s somewhere around ten years. Then there’s the fine you’ll get. That could be in the millions.” He turned to Jo. “Am I right, Counselor?”
    Jo stayed silent. No sense interrupting when he was on a roll. Seriously, she could bludgeon him right now. She’d been doing fine easing Ellie into talking to them and then— wham! —Mr. August throws his mighty weight around.
    “Last guy we busted got 40 years,” he said to Ellie. “You up for that?” Poor Ellie’s face stretched long, the color fading to a putrid green. “Or—and I think you’re gonna like this option—you can be a cooperating witness and never see the inside of a cell.”
    “C-c-cooperating witness?”
    Jo crowded closer to the desk, sending Gabe the definite message that he should back off. “Yes. If you agree to provide information about the counterfeit goods we can help you stay out of prison.”
    “I have young kids. A husband. I didn’t know I was breaking the law.”
    “Copyright infringement,” Jo said.
    “I didn’t know. I swear.”
    With all the cases Jo had dealt with, she didn’t doubt Ellie didn’t fully grasp her crime. Most people who sold counterfeit goods didn’t understand copyright infringement. Or that they were literally taking money from companies that paid enormous amounts to build their brands.
    “Can you help us, Ellie?”
    She bobbed her head. Three times. “He’s new to the area. He came in about a month ago and showed me samples. He’s also working with some of the vendors at the outdoor market on Sundays. He sells me the bags wholesale and I mark them up by fifty percent. They’ve been selling like crazy.”
    Of course they have . “I’m sure. How much inventory are you carrying?”
    “I’m fresh out. You bought the last bag. I’ve been calling for three days begging