in there with me and follow my cues. You’re going to say what I tell you to say and ask what I tell you to ask. You’re not going to improvise in any way. Do you understand?”
She nodded, closing her eyes to fight back the tears I could see welling up.
“There’s no reason to get upset, Julia. I’ve been told that you are the nation’s foremost Russian expert. Isn’t that so?”
She nodded again. “Yes.”
I loosened my grip on her arms. “All you need to do is convince him to answer my questions so that we don’t have to rough him up. I want to get the information I need from him quickly and painlessly. Then we can send you both away, and everyone can go about their lives like nothing happened here.”
I was trying to tell her what I thought she wanted to hear. I was going to have Dimitri roughed up either way, and he had been already. I just wanted to get the information first, before we had our fun and taught him a lesson. Dr. Julia Danvers didn’t need to know that.
“I’m just asking questions,” she repeated, as if she was just trying to make sure.
“Right, just asking questions,” I confirmed.
“What do you need to know?” she asked.
“No. Not until we get in there. I will let you know what to ask once we’re in the room with him.”
She pulled away from me gently, taking a step forward as I squared my shoulders to block the doorway back to the stairs.
Julia turned and looked at me with stony green eyes. “I’ll do it,” she said resolutely. “I’ll talk to him for you and try to get the information you need. As long as you agree that we’re not going in there to rough anyone up or torture him for information.”
“We’re just going in there to talk to him. I hired you to talk to him and translate anything he says for me,” I assured her.
She turned back around to face the steel door and concrete wall holding Dimitri in his solitary interrogation room. We’d poured the thick concrete ourselves when we bought the property for the Kings of Hell HQ. Originally, the pit was open from one end to the other, but we needed a room where we could take people for situations like these.
“Are you ready?” I asked her after she stood for a moment staring at the door. I was afraid I was going to lose her. “Take a moment to compose yourself, because when you enter that room, I want you to be one hundred percent professional for me. Do not let him see any distress.”
She took a shaky breath. “Got it.” Her body seemed to relax suddenly. “Let’s get this over with before I lose my nerve.”
She took a step towards the door, her back straight, shoulders squared, and head held high. Her heels echoed each time they hit the floor as she walked across the pit to the steel door of our basement.
I couldn’t help but watch her walk. She wasn’t what I had expected at all, not even after I’d seen her for the first time. I walked into her office expecting to see a frumpy college professor who lived most of her life in her head or inside a small apartment filled with books and cats. Most of the teachers I’d known in school had forgotten that they were women, but not Julia. As petite and mousy as she was, she knew how to take a powerful, commanding posture when she needed to.
As a woman travelling the world and talking to other historians, digging for her own information, and convincing people to give it to her, it seemed necessary for her to be able to put on a strong front when she needed to. I was definitely impressed by her ability to command my attention the way she did. The woman I saw crossing the pit in confident strides was not the same woman who’d been on the verge of tears when we first came downstairs.
“Are you coming?” she asked me, turning back at the door, waiting on me to cross the room behind her and join her for her session with Dimitri.
She seemed to have grown a few inches
She nodded, closing her eyes to fight back the tears I could see welling up.
“There’s no reason to get upset, Julia. I’ve been told that you are the nation’s foremost Russian expert. Isn’t that so?”
She nodded again. “Yes.”
I loosened my grip on her arms. “All you need to do is convince him to answer my questions so that we don’t have to rough him up. I want to get the information I need from him quickly and painlessly. Then we can send you both away, and everyone can go about their lives like nothing happened here.”
I was trying to tell her what I thought she wanted to hear. I was going to have Dimitri roughed up either way, and he had been already. I just wanted to get the information first, before we had our fun and taught him a lesson. Dr. Julia Danvers didn’t need to know that.
“I’m just asking questions,” she repeated, as if she was just trying to make sure.
“Right, just asking questions,” I confirmed.
“What do you need to know?” she asked.
“No. Not until we get in there. I will let you know what to ask once we’re in the room with him.”
She pulled away from me gently, taking a step forward as I squared my shoulders to block the doorway back to the stairs.
Julia turned and looked at me with stony green eyes. “I’ll do it,” she said resolutely. “I’ll talk to him for you and try to get the information you need. As long as you agree that we’re not going in there to rough anyone up or torture him for information.”
“We’re just going in there to talk to him. I hired you to talk to him and translate anything he says for me,” I assured her.
She turned back around to face the steel door and concrete wall holding Dimitri in his solitary interrogation room. We’d poured the thick concrete ourselves when we bought the property for the Kings of Hell HQ. Originally, the pit was open from one end to the other, but we needed a room where we could take people for situations like these.
“Are you ready?” I asked her after she stood for a moment staring at the door. I was afraid I was going to lose her. “Take a moment to compose yourself, because when you enter that room, I want you to be one hundred percent professional for me. Do not let him see any distress.”
She took a shaky breath. “Got it.” Her body seemed to relax suddenly. “Let’s get this over with before I lose my nerve.”
She took a step towards the door, her back straight, shoulders squared, and head held high. Her heels echoed each time they hit the floor as she walked across the pit to the steel door of our basement.
I couldn’t help but watch her walk. She wasn’t what I had expected at all, not even after I’d seen her for the first time. I walked into her office expecting to see a frumpy college professor who lived most of her life in her head or inside a small apartment filled with books and cats. Most of the teachers I’d known in school had forgotten that they were women, but not Julia. As petite and mousy as she was, she knew how to take a powerful, commanding posture when she needed to.
As a woman travelling the world and talking to other historians, digging for her own information, and convincing people to give it to her, it seemed necessary for her to be able to put on a strong front when she needed to. I was definitely impressed by her ability to command my attention the way she did. The woman I saw crossing the pit in confident strides was not the same woman who’d been on the verge of tears when we first came downstairs.
“Are you coming?” she asked me, turning back at the door, waiting on me to cross the room behind her and join her for her session with Dimitri.
She seemed to have grown a few inches
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