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‘Yes,’ I replied, well aware that Dornan was still watching intently.
‘You’re going to come unarmed. Say “scrambled eggs”.’
This was ridiculous. I didn’t want to meet Lindsay downstairs. He was probably here to fucking arrest me. I couldn’t leave Los Angeles with John and the kids if I was being arrested. I couldn’t get back to my son if I was being arrested.
‘No, that’s wrong,’ I said. ‘That’s not what I said.’
I rolled my eyes at Dornan and said something into the phone in Spanish. ‘This guy’s English is terrible,’ I whispered, my hand over the receiver. ‘Go finish your shower.’
‘Don’t forget coffee,’ Dornan called, closing the bathroom door. I heard the shower start up again and returned my attention to the phone. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I hissed. ‘Are you trying to get me killed?’
‘I was about three seconds from busting into your room this morning. How’s your neck?’
I felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. Again.
‘You’re listening to us?’ I whispered.
‘Mostly watching,’ Lindsay replied.
Oh, for the love of all that is holy. Cameras!? A scarlet blush crept up my body and settled in my cheeks as I thought about what I’d been doing the night before. Putting on a porn show for an audience of one.
I hadn’t realised there was an audience of more than one. I felt like I’d been punched in the face. I mean, I had basically been punched in the face by Dornan – but this felt even worse than that.
‘Your boyfriend’s pretty violent. Seems like even he thinks you’ve got something to do with Agent Murphy disappearing into thin air.’
Boyfriend. He hadn’t said husband. So obviously they hadn’t been watching everything. He hadn’t picked up on the fact that Ms Rodriguez was now a reluctant Mrs, complete with a black and red wedding band tattoo that had started to scab over. How disgustingly delightful.
‘Watching how?’ I exclaimed, looking around the room.
‘The FBI is blessed with a generous technology budget. Trust me. We got plenty of angles.’ He seemed to hesitate for a moment. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m not okay,’ I seethed, watching the bathroom door intently. ‘Isn’t that against the law? Filming someone without their permission?’
‘It’s called a warrant,’ Lindsay said.
A warrant? Fuck me. I was ready to hang up, but something about his tone, and the mention of a motherfucking warrant, kept the phone glued to my ear.
‘He almost killed you, you know that, right?’
I wanted to throw the phone out of the window. ‘I guess I’m just lucky the FBI were watching out for me,’ I replied, my words dripping with sarcasm. ‘Thank you.’
Lindsay sighed. ‘We were in the hallway. Another few seconds and we would have been busting your door down.’
I didn’t respond. I could barely hear above the screaming in my head.
‘I’m on your side,’ he added. I snorted. ‘Mariana, I know how violent Dornan is. I understand the danger you’re in. I can help you. I might be the only one who can help you at this point. Let me help you.’
The words I’d uttered to John came back to haunt me: I don’t need a man to save me. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I did.
‘Here’s what’s going to happen,’ Lindsay said, shifting gears. ‘I’m going to send two cups of coffee up with your food. One will be drugged for your dear boyfriend. He needs to take a nap so we can talk. The drugs will last at least an hour, but I only need five minutes.’
‘What if I don’t want to talk?’ I asked. ‘What if I’d rather you just went away?’
I heard him shuffling papers. ‘You don’t have to talk,’ he said. ‘But I’d strongly suggest that you at least give me five minutes of your time, Ms Rodriguez. Do you really think you’ll be able to make it back to your son and protect him without the FBI’s help?’
‘Okay,’ I said, cutting him off before he could make any more mention of my son. ‘But,’ I added, switching the receiver from my left ear to my right, ‘Dornan’s a big guy – he needs a horse tranquilliser to knock him down. A Percocet isn’t going to cut it.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ he replied. ‘The black coffee’s for him. Don’t drink it. We want him asleep, not you dead.’
