Page 46 of All He Sees
"The Tiger Prince," the woman said, her voice soft and sweet.
Nicky looked at Ken, who shared a glance with her. That animal was surely illegal. Then again, with how far out from the coast they were, there was a chance this island fell under international waters.
What other "animals" might Charles have here? Maybe he kept human girls for fun, too. The thought sobered Nicky, reminding her of why she was here.
"Mr. Medina should be in the pool," the woman said as they drew closer, and then Nicky saw him: a man, floating in a pool on a red tube, wearing sunglasses. He had a beer in his hand and didn't seem to notice them at all. He just floated aimlessly in the pool, unmoving.
The woman cleared her throat once they were at the edge of the pool. "Charles?" she called out.
No response.
She cleared her throat loudly. "Charles!"
In the pool, Charles coughed and sputtered as he seemed to wake up. Apparently, he'd been fast asleep.
He sat up and took off his sunglasses, and he looked at them.
His mouth dropped open. "Who the hell are you?"
The woman cleared her throat again. "Charles, these are Agents Walker and Lyons with the FBI. They are here to speak to you."
Charles blinked and looked at the two of them. "How did you get here?"
"We flew up," Nicky said. She approached him, noticing the water of the pool was a beautiful crystal turquoise. "We came here to speak to you about some missing persons cases. We believe you're connected to them."
Charles narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.
Nicky leaned in closer. "Mr. Medina, we have reason to suspect that you have been trafficking humans--"
Charles held up his hands. He had white-blonde hair and a thin mustache. "Whoa, whoa, whoa--that's a pretty damn big accusation. You agents need to chill, man... does anyone want a drink?"
He snapped his fingers, and the blonde-haired woman came running from the pool house. She handed Charles a beer and served him some sort of green cocktail that Nicky didn't recognize. "Would you like one?" Charles asked them.
"No, thank you," Ken said.
"Suit yourselves," Charles said. "This is the life, right? Come on--I'll show you around the rest of my place--you might even want to move here, man." He laughed. "I mean it'll be fun."
"Mr. Medina," Nicky said, "we aren't here for leisure."
This guy was strange, obviously drunk, potentially high. It seemed like he wanted them to hang out and wasn't afraid at all that they were with the FBI.
"I'm sorry," Charles said, his voice slurring. "You guys are here to arrest me?"
"No," Ken said. "We just want to ask you a few questions. Other people have come forward with information, and we wanted to see if you could tell us anything."
"Tell you anything..." Charles grinned, hobbling onto the deck of the pool. "How about we all just party a bit first, ya know? You're two attractive young people... why don't we have a drink?"
"No, thank you," Ken said.
Charles frowned, but he didn't argue.
"You can't force me to answer your questions," he said, "but you can still have fun. Swim with me, Agent Walker. I know you've wanted to see my goods, haven't you?"
"No," Ken said. Nicky could hardly believe what she was hearing. How did a man like this have so much wealth? It seemed unfair to the rest of the world.
Charles laughed, his shoulders slumping. "I mean it's okay: I've seen you checking me out from across the room. You're a guy, and I'm a guy--we don't need to be coy about these things, right?"
Ken crossed his arms.
