Bette simply nodded, gave Tina a hug and followed the agent to the last room on the left of the long corridor. “Bette, remember,” Alice yelled as an afterthought, “If they start questioning you as a freaking suspect, shut up and exercise your Fifth Amendment right. You have a lawyer on stand by.”

Bette waved and Agent McKinnon grinned, “I like her. She has spank. Is she always like that?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Bette replied conspiratorially. She felt a little bit calmer in the agent’s presence, knowing that she was a not a hostile enemy and might be a friend behind an enemy lines.

Alice and Tina had to wait outside so they both settled on the bench in the lobby. Alice was scrolling something on her iPhone and Tina was pacing around nervously. “Alice, what if Bette cracks under pressure? What if she tells them everything?”

“Relax, Tee. Bette is very intelligent and fiery. She will do just fine. By the way, I just googled the very hot Agent McKinnon and you won’t believe who she’s been dating.”

“I’m hoping it’s not Agent Johnson, because we both would have to reboot our gaydars,” Tina replied teasingly.

“Of course not. She’s been romantically linked to this hot Brazilian model Fernanda Silva.”

“Never heard of her,” Tina shrugged.

Alice turned her phone around and showed the model’s photo she found on Wikipedia. “Apparently, a few years ago Ms. Silva had her family heirloom jewelry stolen while she was on runway. Since she was an international star, the FBI got involved and Agent Samantha McKinnon was the head of the task force. They met in the course of the investigation and that’s all she wrote. Love from the first sight…two peas in a pod…she completes her…written in the stars…you catch the drift. They broke up a few months ago, though.”

“Well that’s too bad,” Tina looked at Alice curiously. “Are you aware that you are using a lot of clichés? Are you writing a new article for a magazine or something?”

“Ha-ha, if only. No, I’m practicing a new way of speaking. These clichés are clichés for a reason. They are predictable stereotypes and pretty unoriginal. If they haul me in for questioning it would help to sell myself as a crazy lunatic,” Alice chuckled and rubbed her hands together. “Bring it on, G-men.”