The first door on the right opened and Mona stepped out. She closed the door behind her. “That’s far enough, sugar,” she said.
Lucy had miscalculated. Mona wasn’t scared of them, she was curious. Suspicious. Shrewd. Wanted them to show their hand.
Mona was in her mid-thirties with wise eyes and a self-assured confidence that wasn’t just bravado. She was of mixed race, so Lucy couldn’t tell which ethnicity she might identify with, if any—she could have blended with almost any culture with relative ease. Her skin was slightly darker than Lucy’s half-Cuban complexion, but her eyes were green and her hair was a curly light brown. She was alluring and sharp, as if every bone in her body could cut someone in half.
Lucy wished she could warn Barry that they’d stepped into Mona’s sandbox, and Mona was in charge.
“Thank you for speaking with us, Ms. Hill,” Barry said.
“Your girl threatened me,” Mona said, sounding wholly unthreatened. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Every word out of her mouth was a contradiction. She damn well knew she had a choice, and her choice was to listen, not speak, unless she wanted to tell them something.
“It wasn’t a threat, Ms. Hill. We’re looking for a girl named Elise. We heard she works for you.”
“I don’t know anyone by the name of Elise,” she said.
She was lying.
“We know you sent her to meet with at least one of your clients,” Barry said.
“No, you don’t,” Mona countered. She was answering Barry, but looking straight at Lucy.
“We’re not here to arrest you for solicitation,” Barry said.
Mona laughed.
“But we can make your life difficult if you don’t cooperate.”
“Sugar, you don’t know the pile of shit you’re stepping in.”
“Elise is a suspect in a murder investigation,” Barry said, “and I have enough evidence to get a warrant for your phone records, property records, employee records, rental records, and bank records—and whatever else I can think of between here and the AUSA’s office.”
Mona tightened her jaw but didn’t say a word. That threat seemed to hold a bit of water. She was used to dealing with SAPD and the San Antonio criminal justice system; the federal system was not only different, but carried a mightier hammer.
Lucy spoke. “We know that Elise is new in town. Why would you protect her?”
“Who says I am?”
Mona was good. She didn’t reveal anything in her expression or body language. She was assessing them, but Lucy knew Mona would never give them any information if it didn’t directly benefit her. And Mona didn’t get to where she was by turning on her girls at the first sign of trouble.
“I’m new in town, too,” Lucy said. “I have no loyalties, no friends, no baggage. I will make it my life’s mission to make your life miserable. Or I can forget you completely.”
She hoped her expression was as serious as her voice.
Silence descended in the small entry for a good minute. No one moved.
“There’s nothing to this story you’re pulling out of thin air,” Mona said. “It’s simple. Last week a girl who called herself Elise asked for some work. She seemed to know the ropes. When one of my regulars got sick, I called her. That’s it.”
“How many clients did you send her to?” Barry asked.
“I’m not answering that.”
“What’s her phone number?” Barry asked.
Mona rattled off a number and Barry wrote it down.
“You wouldn’t take a stranger into your operation without vetting her,” Lucy said. “You’re not that stupid. Who referred Elise?”
Mona laughed humorlessly but didn’t answer.
“Agent Kincaid asked you a question.”
“Get a fucking warrant, and I still won’t tell you.”
“I think you will,” Barry said, irritated.
No, she wouldn’t. Lucy was certain this was the extent of the information Mona would share. Enough to give them a lead, not enough to put Mona or this Elise in any direct harm from the authorities. In fact, it was too easy. She gave them one thing—a way to track Elise. Why? Why even give them that? She could have lied, said she didn’t have a number. She could have told them to pound sand. But she gave them a lead.
Mona stared at Barry without blinking. “Arrest me, or leave my property.”
“We’ll be back,” Barry said. “We have more questions, and like I said, it’ll be here or at headquarters.”
He turned to the main door and opened it. As he stepped out, Lucy followed. Mona said, “Agent Kincaid?”
Lucy turned. Mona had a half smile on her lips, but there was nothing friendly about her expression.
Mona said, “I never forget a face.”
Lucy’s head spun and if Barry hadn’t touched her arm just then, she might have collapsed. She turned and walked out with tunnel vision. She didn’t really remember how she got to the car, only that she was in the passenger seat sitting on her hands to keep them from shaking.
Barry asked, “What happened back there? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Nothing,” Lucy said.
Everything.
“Talk to me.”