“I need to go to the bathroom,” Quill requested.
Seri got up and pulled her from the sofa, leading her to the bathroom right outside the door. She didn’t ask for backup from Agent Malone. Aquilla was sure she could head-butt her. She was seriously thinking about her move when Seri tightened her grip on her arm. “Don’t even think about it,” she warned.
“Are you going to take these stupid handcuffs off so I can get my pants down?” she asked once they were alone in the bathroom. Seri left the door open. Aquilla was sure she wanted her partner to be able to hear if she screamed for help. She smirked at Aquilla and moved in front of her.
“Not a chance in hell,” she replied, unbuttoning her shorts with a sneer.
Aquilla smirked right back. “What’s the matter, Seri? Having a little hint of nostalgia?”
Seri didn’t falter. She kept her cold stare on Aquilla’s eyes and slid down her shorts and panties.
Aquilla peed with Seri staring at her with a cold glare and crossed arms. Aquilla unabashedly opened her knees. “You gonna wipe my pussy for me too?”
Seri didn’t stammer a bit. She tore off a couple sheets of toilet paper and wiped her with her eyes boring into Aquilla’s. As they had a stare down, neither one of them blinked, Aquilla knew who had the upper hand. It sure as hell wasn’t her.
Aquilla looked down the long, dark hall as they made their way back to the room. She wondered where her father was, hoping that he wasn’t still lying on the cold tiled floor. Had she known she was never going to see him again, she would have hugged him and told him that she loved him before she left that morning. She didn’t feel sad. She felt angry. She was pissed. They were going to move, Julius and her were going to be together in Spain. This stupid bitch had ruined everything.
“Are you a lesbian?” she asked, looking behind her shoulder. She wasn’t sure why she asked. She was just trying to focus her attention on something else.
“Keep walking,” Seri replied with a snort. She wasn’t going to answer, Aquilla betted that she was.
She didn’t go back to sleep, instead, she stayed sitting up on the sofa as Seri sat in the chair close to her, still trying to figure her out. The sun was up, illuminating the marble floor with a bright, graceful light.
“How long have you been investigating us?” Aquilla asked.
“If I answer, will you answer a question for me?”
Aquilla shrugged her shoulders and nodded. She may as well. It wasn’t like she was going to release her hands and let her go anyway.
“Nine, very long months. Do you remember coming here?”
“Yes, it was only four years ago,” she replied. She knew that wasn’t what she was asking, but that’s how she asked it, so that’s how Aquilla answered it. She snickered.
“Do you remember coming to live with Mr. Chavez?”
“No, I have been with him since I was born, I guess.”
“Do you know where he got you?”
“Not for sure. I imagine I belonged to a chattel. He probably knew he could give me a better life or something, he never talked about it.”
“Did you ever ask?”
“A handful of times, he would never talk about it, he derailed it every time I brought it up.”
“You never asked? I mean, surely you could tell that you weren’t his flesh and blood.”
She hesitated while she thought about it. “He told me that my mother was an American. That is where I got my light skin and blonde hair.”
She saw the look of disappointment on Seri’s face when Agent Malone sat up, rubbing his face with his hands. Aquilla was talking, and he was going to ruin it. He did, Aquilla was done. She had nothing to say to her or him. She was having a hard enough time trying to figure out what the fuck was going on herself.
“Will you please take these handcuffs off?” she begged. She couldn’t take it anymore, her hands had been bound behind her back for at least twelve hours. Her shoulders hurt, her wrists hurt, and she had to keep adjusting her hands to keep the two bones from digging into each other.
“Is there coffee here?” Agent Malone asked, looking at Aquilla.
“I don’t know, I would imagine there is. I’ve never made it, we have servants. Where are they?” she asked, wondering where Hila and the other help had gone.
“We sent them away, they couldn’t answer any of our questions either.”
“That’s because they didn’t know anything. Nobody knew what was talked about in that office.”
“Yeah, and our undercover agent couldn’t seem to get in there either,” he said, giving Seri a look for not being able to achieve a major goal. “I’m going to find coffee.”
Seri pulled her to her feet with keys in hand. “I’m a black belt,” she assured Aquilla, turning her away from her.
“So am I,” Aquilla retorted, looking over her shoulder.
“I just won the national title for the LZZ Championship,” she bragged.
“So did I,” Aquilla smirked, rubbing her freed wrists and turning to face her.
Seri snickered. She knew as well as Aquilla did, she had no idea what the hell that was. She did, however, believe that she could very well be a black belt. She did kick the shit out of her men…handcuffed.
“Have you always been intimate with Julius?” she asked as they both sat.
“No, actually, you fucked him before I did.”
She was harsh. Nothing Aquilla said seemed to affect her. She was tough. Aquilla pictured herself the same if she were in her shoes; Seri was tough and held power. She could tell that she did. She wondered how she got into her profession. Since she was a F.B.I. agent, it was obvious she was older than her chattel application said she was.
“How old are you?” Aquilla asked.
“Twenty-six,” she answered. If she was going to keep Aquilla talking, she knew that she had to answer her questions. She was beautiful, and she really didn’t look like she was over the 22 year age limit to be a chattel.
Her cellphone rang, Aquilla was again intrigued by her demeanor, “Agent Strokes,” she answered. Aquilla smiled inside. Agent Strokes, she said to herself. She would use that the next time she pissed her off. Seri strokes her tongue, she chanted in her mind.
“Give me five minutes and then come in,” she ordered.
Aquilla locked eyes with her. “Will you cooperate and let us do an electronic fingerprint?”
“Why? You’re not going to find anything. I’ve never been fingerprinted, I’ve never been in trouble.”
“It’s just procedure.”
“Am I in trouble?” Aquilla asked. She wouldn’t know what she would be in trouble for. She really hadn’t done anything. She wasn’t involved in what Julius and her father had done in anyway.
“I’m not sure yet. You haven’t been very cooperative; you did send three of my agents to the hospital.”
“I wasn’t wired to lie down without a fight. Are you like the head agent or something?”
“Agent Malone and I are in charge. We’ve both been on this case for way too long, I’m ready to put it to rest,” she explained, looking exhausted and more than ready for it to be over with.
“But it’s not going to be over until you find Julius, is it?” Aquilla asked. The thought of him in prison, killed her, he would never make it. They would put him on death row for murder the first week. She knew they weren’t going to give up finding him. She also knew that Julius was an expert at hiding out. He had power, people, and money. Even if they were to seize all of her father’s money and assets, they had money in other names and places, she was sure of it.
“Yes, we want Julius,” she assured her.