“Uh-huh. What’s your name?”
Why the fuck did he need my name? I started to hyperventilate. I could not go to jail for stealing a fucking pair of panties. “Sir, I am so sorry. Could we please work this out? I have money.” I pulled out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to the guard.
He just looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind.
“What? You don’t want my money? My money ain’t good enough for you?” I was starting to get mad, and it didn’t make things any better because he just continued to stare at me. I threw him another hundred. “See, money ain’t the issue. I’ll take the panties, ring it up, and you can keep the change.” I closed my purse and considered the matter closed. I would sit right there for him to bring me my receipt.
“You sucked the hell out those panties.” His voice was low, but I heard him clearly and understood what needed to happen before I was allowed to leave.
“Shit, you act like I tried to steal a flat-screen television.”
He shrugged his shoulders but otherwise didn’t say anything. His eyes said it all.
“Hell, I don’t know your dick. How do I know if it’s even clean?” I cried.
“Bitch, please. How do I know your mouth is clean?” Obviously he didn’t like what I’d said, but, hell, this was 2011, and there was some dangerous shit floating around. This guy wasn’t bad looking so he didn’t really have to twist my arm to give him a tweet.
“If I suck your dick, will I be allowed to leave?” I didn’t mind sucking his dick. Hell, I might even ride it, if it looked right, but I didn’t want any bullshit when it was time to go.
“Yeah, we’ll be straight.” He unzipped his pants with confidence. He knew it was going to happen even though I was still considering my options.
To my knowledge, the door wasn’t locked so I could technically make a run for it, but I would have to come out of the heels I was wearing to have any chance of getting away. However, I decided to take the easy way out and suck his dick, but I would not swallow.
“I’m not getting down on my knees.”
“You don’t have to. I just want you to wet my monkey like you wet those panties.”
My pussy twitched when he pulled his dick out of his pants. It was lovely and I couldn’t wait to taste it. He walked toward me, his dick jutting out at me like a wand.
“Don’t try no funny shit,” he warned. He didn’t have to worry. His dick looked like a chocolate pipe and I loved chocolate. I licked it as I would a Fudgesicle, but my mind was not on his dick. In my head I was making love to someone else. He, this unnamed guard, got the benefit of my love and he didn’t even know it.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
VICTÓRIA MENDOZA
“I’m not feeling this, Moses. It’s too easy. Why would the gate agent even know which hotel Tilo chose to stay at?” We were sitting in the lobby of the New Yorker Hotel hoping that the information given to us by the gate agent at the airport was correct.
“I know, it has been easy, but your girl is losing her damn mind and creating a scene everywhere she goes. The agent said he put her in a cab and told the driver where to take her. So we’ll see if she’s still here.”
I was nervous about seeing Tilo again. “So what is the plan if we see her?”
“Tonight we watch. I spoke to one of the bellhops and he said she left a few hours ago and hasn’t returned.”
“How does he know she hasn’t checked out?” I wanted to get up and walk around. All this waiting and shit was only adding to my anxiety.
“Would you relax, Victória? Didn’t you know detective work is a whole lot of hurry up and wait?”
“I’m guess that’s why I’m no detective.”
“Well, you are tonight, so sit back and act like we’re comfortable. We don’t want to be like your friend and draw any attention to ourselves.” Moses was laid back in his chair with the newspaper like he was in his living room at home.
I sat back and tried to mimic his calm persona. “Are you going to confront her?” I was thinking about best-case scenarios and it wasn’t looking good. We didn’t have any weapons, so if things turned ugly, it would be like target practice for Tilo on our asses.
“Victória, if we find her, I have to report it. I can’t go with my first instinct and shoot her. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Plus, I don’t want to go to jail for the rest of my life.”
“Humph, life behind bars wouldn’t bother me a bit,” I replied.
“Yes, it would. You’re allowing your emotions to govern your good sense. We need proof that she’s alive so the FBI can handle it. They have to know how much of a threat she is to your family and quite possibly to their organization.”
Moses had made some good points, but I wasn’t feeling them. I wanted to give Tilo a dose of the same medicine she had given me. Letting the bitch get away with killing my brother didn’t sit well, either.
“What if you can’t prove that she is alive? What then?” I was frustrating myself thinking of all the what-ifs. And, through it all, the only thing that kept coming back to me was killing Tilo and the rest of the bullshit was irrelevant.
“I’ll make them believe. I just have to get the evidence that she exists,” Moses proclaimed. His confidence irritated me.
“Have you ever asked yourself why the FBI didn’t search for her? They see some blood in her car and boom, she’s considered dead. Why wouldn’t they look for her body? They just let it go like she didn’t exist.” If my words disturbed him, I couldn’t tell.
“Truth be told, I don’t think they wanted to find her. If my theory is correct, they needed her to go away. It was that or own up to their involvement.”
“Whatever. The cat’s out of the bag and they still haven’t done anything about it,” I insisted.
“We don’t know what the hell they are doing. For all I know, they might be doing an investigation, but I was told that they believed Tilo was an innocent victim.”
“That’s another thing, why haven’t they been around questioning me to find out what really went down?” I never thought about it before, but it seemed logical to me that someone would have come around just to make sure all the loose ends were tied up.
“Damn, my bad. I still have some connections with the bureau so I stopped that from happening because Verónica said you didn’t need anyone coming around reminding you what happened.”
“Shit, your wife needs to stop babying me. I’m a grown-ass woman and the last time I checked, my mother was dead.” My voice louder, and for a moment, I completely forgot why we were sitting in the hotel lobby.
Moses reached over and shook my arm. “Victória, get a grip. You’re going to mess up everything.”
My mind was racing as it became abundantly clear to me that Moses was going to pose a problem for me. I needed to get rid of him and I knew just how to do it. “What are you going to tell your wife?”
“I, uh ...”
Moses was in my way. He wanted to hand Tilo over to the very people who facilitated her escape. Fuck that, I needed justice for me and my brother.
My heart practically stopped when I saw Tilo come through the door. Even though she’d changed her outward appearance, I knew it was her. “There she is.” I gasped. I felt my heart pounding loudly in my ears. My quarrel with Moses was temporarily forgotten. In less than a minute, I went from not wanting Moses around to being grateful he was with me.
“Where?” Moses asked. His face was rigid with emotions I could identify with.
“Over by the elevator with that man.” Seeing her with someone else inflamed me. It took everything in me not to rush toward her and strangle her until she was limp in my arms. She appeared to be enjoying herself and this made me mad. I couldn’t remember a single day of joy since she shot me, but this bitch had clearly gone on with her life.
Moses said, “Damn, if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it. She’s fierce.”
I tore my eyes away from Tilo to examine Moses. Lust was written all over his face and once again, I was questioning his relationship with her. Did something sexual happen between them? Is that why he was here, because she jilted him too? “So, are you gonna just sit there and stare?” I asked angrily. “She could get in the elevator at any moment and we wouldn’t be any closer to bringing her to justice.”
“Right.” Moses moved in closer to Tilo and snapped a few pictures. She was in her own little world and didn’t notice either of us as she openly groped the man she was with. Jealousy surged through my veins because it was clear she had gone on with her life. While I was stuck in this warped time capsule she’d left me with. Unable to move forward and in constant confusion of our past.
“Ms. Adams,” the lady at the front desk called out. She was looking right at Tilo but she didn’t respond. “Hello, April Adams.” She snapped her fingers and shook her head while coming from behind the desk. Several people were still waiting for assistance and seemed to resent having to wait while the lady sought to get Tilo’s attention.
“What the hell is that about?” Moses asked.
“Who is April?” I wasn’t paying attention. I was still checking out Tilo. The elevator came and went several times but neither of them bothered to get on it. They were so busy fondling each other, I doubted if they even realized what was going on around them.
The clerk stopped in front of Tilo, tapping her on the shoulder. “Ms. Adams, the manager would like to speak with you a moment before you go to your room.”
“Excuse me?”
If looks could kill, the lady would have withered and died on the spot.
“I’m sorry, I was calling you and you didn’t answer,” the lady defended herself.
“And that gives you the right to put your hands on me?”
The man who was with Tilo attempted to pull her back but she pushed him off.
“What kind of place is this? Let me speak to the manager.” She swayed on her feet, confirming my suspicions about her being drunk. Once again, the man with her attempted to grab her arm but she wasn’t having it. She snatched it away from him with an evil snarl on her face.
“If he expects to get some tonight, he’d be wise to stay out of whatever is going on,” Moses whispered.
I wanted to get closer so I could hear better, but I was afraid Tilo would see me. The woman appeared to use her two-way radio to call the manager.
“The manager is coming. I’m sorry if I upset you, Ms. Adams,” she apologized and walked away. She appeared to be upset as she went back behind the desk.
Moses walked over to the sofa and sat with his back facing Tilo. I didn’t realize what he was doing until he placed his phone over his shoulder. He was not only taking pictures of Tilo, he was recording the entire encounter.
“Ms. Adams, can I speak with you alone?” the manager asked.
“Alone, for what? Don’t you see I’m busy?” She was loud and belligerent.
I’d seen this side of her before, and it normally happened when she was drunk.
“Ms. Adams, it is very important.” The manager acted like he needed to borrow someone else’s balls because Tilo had him ready to shit in his pants.
“This”—Tilo grabbed the man’s dick in a serious grip and continued her statement—“is very important.”
I wanted to laugh. The manager turned so red he was almost purple.
“I see. Uh, there is a matter with your room that I need to discuss,” the manager said.
This obviously got her attention because she released her firm grip on dude’s dick. He visibly relaxed and started stepping back toward the doors.
“She won’t be riding that dick tonight,” I said, laughing.
“What did I miss?” Moses asked.
“Her man just slunk his happy ass out the damn door.”
I wanted to leap up and rub it in her face but I couldn’t. Moses and I shared a smile. I assumed he didn’t want her getting the dick either. I filed that bit of information away for later thought.
“Ms. Adams, there was considerable damage done in your room, and the neighbors are complaining of noise coming from your room.”
“What fucking neighbors? I’m in the presidential suite, and the only person on my floor is on the other end of the hall. Shit, if they could hear me inside my apartment, you have a bigger problem than a little bit of damage.”
“I have an itemized bill that must be paid before you can go back to your room. And since you are paying in cash, we will require an additional deposit if you decide to continue to stay with us.”
I waited for the explosion but surprisingly it didn’t come. Tilo stood there staring at him as if she was weighing her options. A few minutes passed before she held out her hand for the bill. I was so glad they didn’t take this conversation out of our earshot because this was better than a movie with the popcorn.
Tilo pulled out her wallet and counted out several thousand dollars and gave it to the manager. “This should handle it.”
“I’ll be right back with your receipt.”
“Have someone bring it to my room with the keys. I’ve got some unfinished business to handle.” She looked around and I had to duck to keep her from spotting me. She must have been looking for her man, but he was long gone. Shrugging her shoulders, she impatiently pressed the button for the elevator and finally disappeared from sight.
“Wow, that bitch is crazy,” I said.
“Damn. That was off the chain, and I’ve got it all on tape. Plus, we learned which room she was staying in and her alias.”
“Great, now what?” I was getting frustrated. I wanted to go catch the next elevator up and snatch the life out of the bitch.
“We take the information back and persuade the FBI to arrest her. With your testimony, she will be put away for life.”
“Fuck all that, Moses. You don’t understand what she did to me and my family. If I let her leave this hotel, it will be like saying I don’t give a fuck, and trust me: I give a fuck.”
“I’m not saying to let her go free, Victória. I just think we need to go through the proper channels. I’ve got a wife and kid and I’m not trying to lose them behind Tilo’s stank ass.” Moses’ voice turned hard. For the first time I heard the love he had for his family.
“So what happens if we leave and she checks out? We might not be so lucky in finding her again.”
“One of us has to stay here and watch her. You wouldn’t have to sit outside her room or anything like that. I could place a bug in her room to alert you of her movements,” Moses said.
“How did you go from one of us to me? How you gonna volunteer me like that, especially since you know how badly I want to kill her?”
“Victória, you can’t kill her. You just can’t. Your sister would kill me if she even thought I would get you involved like that. Promise me you won’t kill her.”
“Wait, what’s going on here? Why do I get the feeling that you’re setting me up or something?” The itty-bitty committee in my head was working overtime.
“Huh? No, that’s not it at all. I need to go back and I think someone needs to stay here in case Tilo decides to run.”
“I got all that but why all of a sudden do you need to go back? That’s what I don’t get.”
“I told you I was going to go get help.”
I could tell he was getting agitated but I didn’t care. “Why can’t you just pick up the phone and call someone? This is the day of technology so anything you can say in person you can pretty much say and do over the Net.”
A myriad of expressions crossed his face until he finally settled on one that resembled defeat.
“Verónica sent me a text that said if I didn’t get my black ass home, the next time I saw her or my son, it would be in court.”