Conflict Of Interest - Part 2 (When Your Crazy Ex-Sister-In-Law...

Sense and (in)sensibility

(Note: This is a bit dark, but it will get nicer, I promise!)

Alicia placed the plate with the mini muffins on the table, pulled a chair closer to herself and sat down on it. She has barely slept since she flew back to this place, where they held Aníbal Cortés captive. She stared at the handcuffed boy sitting in front of her, tapping the table with her fingernails. 

"So... Listen to me..." she placed her elbows on the table and leaned closer to the boy. "I've heard that you still don't want to cooperate. It's ok, I get it. Probably in your palce I wouldn't want to either..." she shrugged, then reached towards the plate, grabbed a muffin and bit into it. "But I will be honest with you." she continued while chewing. "Because I am always honest with people, you know, what's on my mind, it's on my mouth." she laughed. "The thing is that I am not in your place, I am here to get information out of you. And I've never truly been good at playing the good cop." she added more sharply. "And to cite my dear colleagues, I can do this whatever it takes. But I am not a sadist either, so I am still telling you, we can do this the nice way too. I ask questions, you answer. As easy as  that." she smiled at him. "It's up to you."

 Rio just raised his chin, and looked away from her. 

Alicia sighed. "If you don't want it this way, we have other ways to make you talk, and those are not pretty. And I have to tell you, that I don't have much of a say in how far it will go. And if I am entirely honest, neither am I too bothered by it." 

"I am not scared of you." Rio said.

"But you should be..." Alicia pulled her lips to the side, then ate the rest of the muffin she was still holding in her hand. The boy looked at it with hungry eyes. "Oh, you're hungry too? I heard that the menu here is quite shitty... So I brought these myself." 

"The menu here is non-existent." Rio muttered between his teets. "And I've been here for days!"

"Right... what an impudence..." Alicia sighed. "But look. Let's make a deal! With every useful information you give me, you can have a bite." she pushed the plate just a bit closer to the boy. "What do you say?"

"That you are an idiot! I am not betraying my friends for muffins!"  

"Right..." Alicia rolled her eyes. "Touché..." She was prepared that it won't be easy to make him talk, but she has already played all the good-cop cards she was able to pull off, and looking at his smug face she was losing her patience exponentially. Resorting to extreme measures was far too soon at that point, she had to create some base for communication, but what could she ask him about if not the whereabouts of his friends?

Then as she looked into his stubborn eyes, something occurred to her. Yes... when else would I have the opportunity to do this...?

"Then let's start with something else." she said calmly, on a warmer tone. "Something what can't harm anyone." she shrugged, and raised her glance on the boy again. "Tell me about Andrés de Fonollosa."

The captive was surprised by the request. "What use would that have?" he furrowed his brows. 

"It's me asking the questions here." Alicia replied coldly. 

The boy remained silent. 

"Come on, tell me something, and you can have a bite from a muffin. This much you can do. You're not betraying anyone."

"What do you want to know?" he asked sullenly. 

"Anything." she replied as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "How did he seem to you? How did you get along?"