Ding!
The elevator arrived at the floor where the IAB's offices lay. Mina put her hand lightly on Natalia's elbow and led her out of the elevator, just to make sure everyone realised she was the main investigator in the case. Horatio took her lead ( for now) and followed the two women down the long corridor to Mina's office.
Mina opened the door to her office, and indicated the chair right in front of her desk for Natalia, and a chair on the side of the room for Horatio. To her chagrin, Horatio promptly dragged the chair much closer to her desk, in part to have a better view, but also to make sure everyone in the room remembered he was still the boss.
Mina sat down on her side of the desk, and looked down on her closed drawer to find strength and comfort.
Horatio had noticed a band of beads hanging on the top drawer, similar to a rosary, but not a rosary. He made a mental note to research the item later. Know thy enemy.
Mina secretly felt very strongly for the woman in front of her. Mina looked like your perfect American cop on the outside, but her heritage was mixed, and she knew a thing or two about suffering. Mina had been born in Teheran in 1967, her maternal grandfather had survived the Turkish genocide of Armenians, and had been in the group that had made it to then-Persia, and her father was a muslim Persian. With the revolution in 1979, their existence had become unbearable, and her mom & dad had packed up, and they fled the country ironically over Turkey, and had arrived a year later in the States. She'd then been 13, and had nearly become used to wearing a veil at all times outside, but as soon as they arrived, her mother had thrown away all their veils. Now she only wore one on special occasions, like on big holidays when she went to the mosque.
She'd always felt a bit like an outsider, though. There had been only two other Iranian families in the small Miami suburb when they arrived, and her black braids and olive skin at the time had made her stand out. Now she dyed it a discreet dark brown, and most people just assumed she was of Greek or Hispanic decent.
Mina was hoping the woman in front of her was innocent, because she really felt for her, and then this was her first IAB case after just 2 weeks in the Miami office, and getting Natalia freed would be a good move for everyone.
She took a deep breath, hoping the experienced Lt. Caine wouldn't see her nervousness under her tough as nails facade and said:
"Before we start, would you like to make a statement? We've found some very strong evidence against you, but I'd like to hear your side of the story. After reading your file, I understand your husband was not exactly going to be made a saint anytime soon?"
Mina looked straight at Natalia, who had not looked up even once during the entire time they'd been in her office.
Natalia swallowed hard, trying to keep her tears at bay. She felt so desperate, so humiliated, and a small part of her still hoped this would all go away.
She held Horatio's handkerchief in her still trembling hands, and came to a decision. She was going to deal with finding the photos later, and now just telling most of the truth.
Inwardly she'd imagined Ryan looking at those pictures, or Eric.
Eric.
NO way was she going to risk that. He'd never look at her again. She still missed his company, he'd been her first boyfriend after her divorce, and they had been very good together. Sex had been fantastic. But it had been to early, and she'd not been very good at handling the relationship and now they'd been developing a solid friendship.