Woman of Intelligence (Book 2 in the series)

Chapter 26

Riya parked the car at back entrance because of the protestors. John was right. It was a mission to get away from the protestors. They were also damaging the car with stones and their baseball bats. They were even damaging the police vehicles. Riya came out of the car and looked at the situation from a distance. She did not blame the protestors for going against the police because the police did not do anything when the models spoke about this situation. There were very few police officers that would take the situation seriously. The rest of the officers did not even care. The only thing they care about was to show the citizens who was the law. And get away with murder when they did not follow the law. 

Riya was not like that. She was not going to be using her position to show the citizen that she was the officer and no one could question. She was learning not to be like those officers. She unlocked her car and walked towards the back entrance. She stopped by the door and turned around her to make sure no one was behind her. She opened the door while looking behind her and entered the room. She stopped immediately when she found the room looking different. It looked like it was given a clean up. The blench smile was still in the room. Maybe they cleaned up this morning. Riya entered the building with cautious. The door closed automatically. She started examining like she always did. 

There were pictures of the models, mainly shirtless and bikinis. Riya was shock with the size of the models' bodies. The women's bodies looked like they had not eating for months. She could also tell that the men's abs were contoured. She shook her head and walked out of the room. There was a door at the corner. She opened the door and came out of the dressing room. She looked at the building. It was completely deserted. She was still cautious while she was walking. There were so many pictures of the models. These could be the models that worked in this company. While she was walking, she noticed men dressed up in red and black suits. They were standing one meter from each other with their hands by their backs. Their expressions were firm and indifferent like that night. Riya ignored them and carried on walking. 

"Good afternoon Miss Moodley, I have been expecting you.", the man said with a friendly smile. 

Riya stopped immediately in the middle of the room. She slowly turned around and found a man, probably in his late forties, standing three meters away from her. He was dressed up very casual like he was going to a tropical island. Riya stood upright and spoke professionally.

"Mr Antonio Lopze, I presume.", she said in her normal slight deep voice. 

"Yes my dear. Nice to meet you.", he was coming closer to her.

Riya stood where she was with no hesitation. "Nice to meet you Mr Lopez."

Antonio stopped one meter away from her and offered her handshake. She accepted the handshake without hesitation. There was no dark devious aspects in his eyes. But she should not be blinded by those aspects. They removed their hands from each other.

"It's really nice to meet someone who is not here to arrest me.", he spoke.

She was confused about that statement. "What do you mean?", she asked. 

"I know that you are working on my case. Let me tell one thing, I'm not involved in drugs. Yes, I did work in Pharmacies before but I don't make drugs. I also don't have connections with those modelling companies."

Riya could tell by his words that he was sort of telling the truth. "I didn't know that you worked in Pharmacies. So, you are saying that you are framed."

"I have been framed for years."

"Who might be framing you?"

"I don't know.", he was being honest. 

Riya nodded. "Then explain those men.", she pointed them. 

"Those men are my son's men. Even though he hates me for dealing with drugs, he still wants me to kept safe. I could tell he is being fifty, fifty on this case.", Antonio answered. 

Riya nodded. "We came here sometime to check this building out. We found a threatening letter is normally sent to you.", she mentioned the letter.

"I get that letter every day because that person is forcing me to confess for something I haven't done.", he spoke firmly.

"But why you?"

"Competition because I'm the biggest modelling company in the United States. Other modelling owners want to bring me down in order to become the best modelling companies in the world. But I never allow my models to take drugs against their will.", he was being about the last sentence.

Or it could be the Will and Testament. Maybe Sebastian was the one causing this in order to get the money. He was pretending to play innocent to get the money. That was the reason Sebastian's men was here to keep an eye on Antonio's works. Sebastian was probably doing that to his mother to eliminate to get her share of the money. Riya should have known that Sebastian could also be the culprit. How could he threaten his uncle who was like a father figure after his parents died? 

Riya looked at Antonio who was waiting for a response. "Since you worked in Pharmacies before. If you still have connection with your friends, can you do me a favor?", she said.

"So, you think that I'm not the culprit in all of this."

"Maybe, maybe not. I have a friend who used to be a model. He was participating in a fashion show and he was forced to take drugs. But he refused. But he kept the drugs as evidence in case there was a case like this", Riya took out three packets of different types of tablets. "I need you to examine these for me.", she handed him the packets.

"Why do you these examine?", he took them from her.

"We will know what ingredients are in those tablets and who are the suppliers. Then we will know who is this person behind this.", Riya explained.

"But wouldn't we get the same result which is me?", he made a good question. 

"It's worth trying than leaving it out."

Antonio was looking at the tablets for a moment. "I still have communication with my friends in the Pharmacies. I will ask them. Let me tell you my dear, you are going to get the same results."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Let's just wait for the results.", she was being encouraging with an indifferent expression. 

"Thank you.", he said.

"For what?", she asked.

"That you are pointing fingers at me because my name is framed for something that I haven't done.", he showed her a smile. 

"I'm just doing my job. i have to fifty, fifty on this one. Well, thank you for your time. Tell me when the results are out. You can ask your son my number."

"Okay and I'm sorry for my son's behavior.", he really meant it.

"That's okay. I will see you when the results are out. Have a wonderful afternoon."

"Thank you and you too."

Riya bowed to him and walked back to the dressing room door. She rather take the back entrance. She could see the protestors trying to break the windows to enter the building. She opened the door and walked straight to back door entrance. She walked out of the room and went straight to her car. She unlocked the car and entered it. Samantha was sitting by the passenger seat. 

"You know you at least let the windows opened for me. It's gets really stuffy in here.", she waved herself.

"At least, you are not getting the smells of teargas and other gases.", Riya was putting her seat belt on. 

"So, what did he say?", Samantha asked. 

"He told me that he has been framed for years and he has been receiving those letters everyday.", Riya answered.

"Do you really believe him?"

"Well, he is quite confident that he is not the culprit. But we will wait for the results.", Riya said. 

She switched the engine on and drove out of the entrance. She knew a way to not get caught by the protestors. Antonio was standing by the window to watch Riya's vehicle driving away from the area. He took a deep breath while watching the vehicle leave. Then his eyes went straight to the protestors.