CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Hours. We spent hours talking with the son of a bitch, working him to get what we needed.
It was deeply satisfying when he recoiled at the sight of Mia walking in—a woman half his size. After that, it was mostly exhausting. We got some really good info—he was nothing short of a singing bird. But he was still reluctant to reveal anything regarding Pablo and the ambush.
I noticed something interesting, though. When you work with a partner, you need to learn how to work in pairs. You strategize for two, you fight and defend for two.
Interrogations are especially tricky. People often let their egos speak up, they want to be the ones to break the unsub, the ones to have the breakthrough. It was common to have two agents fighting against each other for the information. It takes time and trust until you can find your groove with another person.
To my utter surprise, Mia and I didn’t have that problem. We conducted the interview in tandem. We coordinated our questions as if it wasn’t our first time doing so together. We respected each other’s turns, knowing when to press and when to back off.
I almost forgot I could start barfing at any moment. I glanced at the trash can again, just in case.
Mia was sitting in front of Tequila , watching his every move.
I walked leisurely behind him, making him uncomfortable for not knowing who would attack him first. “So, about today. I couldn’t help noticing you have a rather big operation going on. That compound was impressive.”
He shook his head at me. “That’s not my operation. I just help with whatever they ask me to.”
“Really? It didn’t seem like it. I was under the impression the men who attacked me and my team were following your orders. ”
“No, sir. We were just defending ourselves from your attack.”
“Oh, so you’re saying,” I palmed his shoulder, “that it was my fault?”
He cringed. “No, no, no, sir. We were just surprised, that’s all.”
“Surprised enough to hide a bunch of girls inside a truck. I was wondering if you could tell me more about it.”
“W-what do you want to know?”
I pulled a chair to sit down close to him, dragged it even closer, and draped my arm on his chair back, getting into his personal space. “Why would one want to keep those girls in a truck? Were you taking them somewhere?”
“T-they’re family, sir. My c-cousins. We were just bringing them on a road trip so they could be with a…an aunt.”
“And you needed all those men to make the transportation? You must really care about them.” He nodded without looking at me. I leaned my arm on the table and rested my face on my hand, cornering him even more. “Then why did Maria say you were raping her? That’s what I’m struggling to understand.”
“Maria’s a b—”
“Now,” I palmed the back of his neck and squeezed in a warning camaraderie, talking calmly, “there’s no need for bad words. ”
“I’m sorry, sir. Maria was lying. We didn’t rape her.”
“So, you never had sex with her? I mean, I saw the girl. She was prime meat.” Bile rose from my stomach, and I wasn’t sure if it was Mia’s poisoned coffee or what I was saying. “Come on.”
He fidgeted in his chair, trying to get away from me. “I fucked her a few times, but it was always consensual.”
“Haven’t you ever noticed she’s underage?” Mia asked.
“She wanted it, I swear. And I wasn’t the only one. We all fucked her and the other girls.”
She nodded in understanding. “Oh, so it’s only a problem if one person does it, but since you all did it, then it’s okay.”
“Yes!”
I slapped his shoulder. “You’re not the sharpest tack, are you?”
“Look, I’m the victim here.”
“How do you figure that?”
He looked at me. “That b—girl came after me with a gun and shot my leg. Then…” he glanced at Mia.
She eyed him regretfully and leaned over the table. “I’m sorry about that.”
He looked at her in surprise, and I had to school my features to hide my own.
She took off her glasses to rub her eyes. “I shouldn’t have done that to you. It’s just…I’m under so much stress. People are right. Some jobs just aren’t meant for women. I can’t control my emotions; how could I deal with something so important as an investigation?”
I got up from my chair and stood against the wall trying to understand what was going on. I still wasn’t sure if I had to give her space to deal with him or intervene. If she was trying to be vulnerable, I shouldn’t make him feel uncomfortable anymore, so he would weaken his defenses. But if she was having a breakdown, maybe she shouldn’t be interrogating him.
She shook her head and smiled apologetically. “It’s been a bad day for you, huh? First, the crazy girl followed you with a gun, and then I lost my cool and shot you as well. The DEA is on your back. No wonder you opened fire against him,” she said, pointing at me. “I’m so sorry.” She sighed and put her glasses back on. “Are you sorry as well?”
He seemed taken aback. “I am. I’m really sorry.”
She leaned her head to the side. “What are you sorry about?”
“Well…For what the girl said, and then you arrested me…”
“So, you’re sorry she told us you raped her and you’re sorry that you got caught.”
“No! That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean? ”
“I meant…that bitch was lying! I didn’t rape her, I fucked her—”
“Her and her friends, all underage, as we already established. So, we have statutory rape covered.” She tipped her head at me. “How about the attack on his guys?”
“We didn’t attack them.” She raised one eyebrow. “I mean, we did, but we didn’t want to attack them. We thought…they were someone else.”
“Got it, you didn’t mean to kill a bunch of feds. You intended to kill someone else.”
“Yes. No!”
“Who did you plan on killing? You seemed awfully prepared.”
“I didn’t want to kill anyone; we were just protecting our property!”
“Sure. So, you could take your underage, sexually active cousins on a road trip.”
“That’s not…it isn’t…”
“So, you stuffed a bunch of little girls you fucked into a truck—to take them across the roads to God knows where—then ambushed and killed several federal agents—”
“I didn’t say—”
“Don’t interrupt me! But you also wanted to kill someone else. So, I think it’s safe to say if you’d been successful in your quest, we’d have several raped girls being transported, a lot of federal agents murdered, and God knows how many civilians killed on your turf.”
Tequila cleaned the sweat over his forehead with his arm—since his hands were handcuffed to the table—and held his breath wincing when Mia stood up. She walked to the door and locked it, then turned off the room microphone. She strode back to the chair as if she had all the time in the world, leaned over her elbows on the table, and clasped her hands. “Now I’m curious. When you implied you wanted to kill someone else—”
“I didn’t—”
“ Shush . Did you mean you wanted to kill your Alacráns brothers? Or did you mean the Dublin Brothers ?”
The man paled, and I had to keep looking at his ugly face to keep my erection at bay. Who would’ve thought an interrogation could be so hot?
She opened the folder she brought and proceeded to place the photos my CI had taken, one by one, on the table. She tapped one of the pictures. “I particularly liked this one. Look at you, all happy, smiling at Ian McAlister. One wouldn’t even think you’re from rival cartels.”
My phone started vibrating like crazy inside my pockets. I was sure the people in the other room—and by that, I meant Mr. Dawson—weren’t happy to be locked out of our interrogation and with no ears inside. But I wasn’t about to break her spell.
“That’s not me!”
“Are you sure? Because I can see your tattoo quite clearly in this one.”
“I don’t know that man!”
“Then why are you both smoking and bonding in this other picture? By the way, is this line of coke from the Alacráns or from the Irish?”
His hands started shaking. “That’s not what it looks like.”
“What else could it be? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re two-timing both cartels. Or maybe you’re just betraying the Alacráns . I’m not exactly their favorite person, but I think, I think they might not be happy about it.”
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I’m not betraying my family, I just met Ian by chance, I—”
She raised her hands. “Now, calm down. There’s no need to freak out. You have something in your favor.” She cupped one side of her mouth to whisper and waved a finger between me and her. “Ethan and I are the only ones who know about your side dish. I mean, it was safe to assume the Alacráns have ears in the agency. We don’t want this information getting in the wrong hands, do we?”
Tequila turned sickly gray and looked back at the mirror before turning to her, hyperventilating. At his reaction, she glanced at me with worried eyes, then stared right back at him, schooling her features.
He’d just confirmed our suspicions. There was a traitor among us.
“What do you want?”
She stared him down until he squirmed. “We want Pablo Salazar.”
“I don’t know where he is.” At Mia’s raised eyebrow, he shook his head in desperation. “I swear, I don’t know. He’s not telling anyone, especially with Matias in hiding.”
She nodded. “But you know how to contact him.” He hesitated and glanced over his shoulder at the mirror. “They can’t hear you. It’s just the three of us.”
He gulped. “I do.”
“That’s great—”
“But I’m not saying anything until I get something in return.”
He spoke with confidence, convinced he finally had the advantage. After all, he held the information we needed. Mia studied him briefly before nodding, but the suppressed smile hinted that she had anticipated this all along.
“Very well. Let’s play math. Based on the girls we saw today, and your admission of having… fucked them, as you so gallantly put it, we have at least sixteen statutory rapes to be served consecutively. Twelve federal agents were murdered today, in what was clearly an ambush against Ethan and his team, and while you were planning to transport sixteen raped, kidnapped, and underage girls. So, you have at least murder in the third-degree. But let’s face it, it smells a lot like aggravated murder. So, you get life without parole—or even death. You also have possession of drugs with intent to distribute—yes, we found your stash—illegal possession of firearms and ammunition,” she stuck her fingers up as she counted, “organized crime. Should I go on? The thing is, you have zero chance of ever living in freedom again… Unless you cooperate.”
His hands shook so hard that they were rattling the handcuffs. “I can get you to talk to El Segador . But I need to be compensated.”
Mia rubbed her left arm and hand as she studied Tequila . “Six months.”
His eyes rounded like saucers, and I was sure mine did as well. It was a good thing people in the other room couldn’t hear us. What the fuck was she doing?
She raised her index finger. “You tell us exactly how to reach Pablo, and you do only six months of prison time. After that, you’re free as a bird. Well, a bird on parole.”
“I want the one in the south of the state.”
Mia pondered. “That makes sense, it’s dominated by Alacráns ; it’ll be like being home.”
“And you can’t send them these pictures. ”
Great, so he’ll have everything he wants and not pay for what he’s done. What the hell is she thinking?
She bit the inside of her lips and looked down at the photos. “Deal. Now sing.”
“There’s this game. Cruzada de Caballeros . It’s a medieval game for PC. We play in teams so we communicate with other players. We also have a chat room. That’s where Pablo talks to us.”
“Who does he talk to the most?”
“It used to be Matias. Since he’s in hiding, Salazar has been trying to reach his son, but he also communicates with us.”
“What’s his handle?”
As they talked about the game, I was torn between finally having a way to find Pablo, but also pissed she was letting Tequila off the hook so easily. She wrote down the terms of the agreement and handed it to him to sign. Since I was the agent inside, it’d be my name under what seemed to be the worst agreement to have ever existed.
“I appreciate your cooperation.” Without any warning, leaving me even more confused, she fished one of the photos from the table—the one where Tequila was partying with the Irish kingpin—turned around on her chair, held the photo beside her smiling face, and took a surprise selfie of the three of us. “Say ‘ life with no parole.’ ” Click . “Congratulations! You’re our unsub of the month.”
“ What the fuck? ” He shouted.
“Today was so big for all of us. We needed to record this moment. The day Tequila negotiated with,” she pointed at me, “a fed and,” then pointed at herself, “a Bryant.”
“What? But he…the man…the Prodigy is dead!”
“I can assure you I’m not. Why don’t you talk to Pablo about it? He and I go way back. Who do you think arrested him in the first place? Make sure to tell your brothers I’m very much alive.”
He paled. “They can’t know I was talking to you.”
“Yet, I’m sure they will.” She waved her phone. “Once I send them this picture.”
“ You can’t do that! We agreed you wouldn’t show them the photos.”
“Noo! We agreed I wouldn’t send them these photos. And I stand by that. I’m sending your brothers only our lovely selfie.” She tapped the pictures on the table. “These will go to the Dublin Brothers . Again, with our lovely selfie.”
“You son of a bitch, you can’t do that! They’re going to kill me!”
Mia stood up from her chair, putting the pictures back in the file. “Coming to think of it, six months will be way more than you need. It’s been a pleasure to interrogate you, Mr. Tequila .” She held his jaw up to look at her, squeezing his face, and winked. “Good luck staying alive.”
She unlocked the door, and we left the room and a screaming Tequila . As soon as we closed the door, Mr. Dawson was in our face.
“This isn’t your playground! You can’t just play as you wish, with no rules or supervision.”
She shrugged. “We also can’t throw tantrums, yet here we are.”
He pursed his lips and his face turned an unhealthy shade of red. On instinct, Danny, Ben, and I took a step closer to her and in his way, while Aaron intervened.
“What did you get? And why is he freaking out?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “He’s not very happy with our agreement, although he signed on it. We found a way to contact Pablo.”
That seemed to get Mr. Dawson out of his fit. He took a step back and stared at us in surprise. “What else did he say? Did he mention someone else?”
I squinted at him, studying his reaction. “No, he just talked about the operation and Pablo.”
He nodded slowly. “You spent hours with him, and he only mentioned Pablo?”
Mia walked towards the door to leave. “We also made plans for the summer. Let me know if you feel like joining us.”
“Where are you going?” Mr. Dawson demanded.
“To find Pablo.”
Ben and Danny followed her while our superiors talked among themselves.
Aaron slapped my shoulder. “Good job inside.”
I rubbed my stomach. “It would’ve been better, had Mia not poisoned me.”
He scoffed. “What?”
“She put something in my coffee and informed me about it only right before we got in.”
He nodded slowly. “Let me ask you something. At any point did you feel like throwing up?” I shook my head. “Are you feeling anything other than anxiety and tiredness from our jobs?” I shook it again as a shadow of a grin formed on his lips. “Is it possible all she gave you was regular coffee and was just messing with your head?”
I stopped rubbing my stomach abruptly and cursed through gritted teeth. “That Spitfire is a phony little witch!”
Aaron inspected each side of my face. “Would you look at that? I can already see the white hair growing.”
He chuckled at my annoyance as the other men went with him after Mia.
I stayed behind to take a breath. There were so many things happening at once, and I was unable to deal with and dissect each one the way I liked.
I chose the one that was bothering me the most.
“Edna?”
She turned on her heels and walked into the room again so we could talk in private.
I looked around, trying to find the right words. “I know you missed some of the interrogation—”
She snorted. “I hate that I missed the best part of the show. But seeing Robbie freaking out was the highlight of my day.”
I could only imagine. “Mia was…nothing short of impressive. Earlier today, she jumped right into our mess and took charge. And just now, the way she dealt with Tequila ? It was…” I shook my head. “Why did you tell me she was the DEA’s biggest mistake? I just don’t get it.”
She clicked her tongue. “Hiring her wasn’t the mistake, Ethan. Letting her go was. One I fought hard against. Mia cares too much, and that’s her greatest quality.” She frowned. “It might also become her biggest demise. After everything she went through with her brother…it’s honorable she’s still fighting this hard. I just hope it won’t be in vain. Or at her cost.” She touched my arm. “Don’t make the same mistake this agency did.”
After that, she turned around and walked out of the room, leaving me with more questions than answers. And a craving to know the little Spitfire better.