Green Card

21 Partition (Piper)

I heard him say her name all the way from the bedroom. That was the thing about a big, echoey house, especially when all else was quiet. I took a moment to calm down and shove my suitcase, half packed, back into the closet. Then I took a deep breath, put a massive fake smile onto my face, and strode out to the foyer.

"Agent Ashley," I cried out in greeting with the most polite tone I could muster. Lucas turned to me, his eyes meeting mine. I could see the terror there. "I wasn't aware you were stopping by today."

"We like to do surprise visits from time to time," she explained, eying us both, "in these cases."

"Of course. Please, come in."

I gestured for her to entire the house, trying to make myself appear as comfortable here as I would be in my apartment in New York. This was, after all, supposed to be just as much my home as Lucas'. Agent Ashley passed us both, gazing around the house with a shrewd eye. Lucas met my gaze and raised a brow, clearly concerned about how our current fight would affect my cooperation in this investigation. I clenched my jaw and glared back at him as if to say: how dare you think I would compromise your status here just because I'm angry with you? Then I turned back to the agent.

"Agent Ashley, can we get you something to drink or—" I started.

"Tea would be lovely, thanks," she replied curtly, cutting me off and striding into the sitting room.

"Luisa!" I cried, though I hated doing it. I still wasn't used to bossing people around like servants. But I couldn't let the agent see that. Luisa came running around the corner in an instant, brushing her hands off on her apron as she always was. "Please get the agent some tea."

Luisa looked from me to the federal agent sitting on Lucas' couch, wide eyed, and then ran off to fetch the beverage.

"Look, Agent Ashley, we have complied in every way with your investigation. I'm not sure what you're expecting to find that you haven't already—" Lucas began, taking a seat in front of her and starting negotiations as his business sense always pushed him to do. I grimaced. This matter felt a bit more sensitive than that. A marriage was not a business deal. At least, it wasn't normally.

"I just have some questions," she interrupted again.

She was clearly a woman on a mission without the time or patience for pleasantries and posturing. As she busied herself with pulling out a tape recorder and a notepad, Lucas looked up at me and I lowered myself into the seat next to his. Under the surface, I was still seething with rage and, truthfully, I didn't want to be anywhere near him. But I would grin and bear it for however long this took because he did not deserve to get deported because of my anger. I, at least, had the presence of mind to understand that.

"So, Mr. Vega, I understand that you are worth a great deal of money?" She asked. She sounded almost bored. Like the idea of fabulous wealth wasn't nearly as interesting to her as it was to the rest of the world.

"Um, I suppose you could say that, yes," Lucas answered, caught off guard by her question.

"I just want to be sure we are clear that, no matter how much money you have, you are subject to the same investigation as anyone else."

"Of course," Lucas replied, clearly offended. "Why would I think—"

I placed my hand on his knee.

"Honey, I don't think she meant to offend you," I said, calmly.

"Certainly not," Agent Ashley agreed, though her tone said otherwise. She clicked her pen and crossed her legs, watching us as I removed my hand from Lucas' knee. "I'm going to ask you each generic questions about your lives, your marriage, and then we're going to get into the test, to see how well you know each other as a couple. Six years of marriage indicates that you should know a great deal about one another by now, even living so far apart."