Chapter 4

Present Day…

Brielle

“Here's your badge, Miss Atwick. Do you have your schedule?” The cleaning manager, Carlo Rossi asked me, handing over a badge that displayed my ID and granted me access throughout the building of Mario's Inc headquarters.

It's the largest building I've seen in Italy and that's saying a lot considering the sizes of building around here.

“Yeah, I do.” I smiled, pulling out a paper that contained a detailed layout of the building and the areas that I was supposed to clean.

After the initial shock of seeing Marcello's face on the brief, I decided to go through with the mission and treat it like any other one.

Since it was decided that an undercover op was needed, I decided to go through the cleaning section, hoping that I can hear or see things that would give me insight to what kind of illegal operations Marcello is running.

I've learned that the best way to find out something is by being a fly on the wall. If you train yourself to become invisible, people around will spill their secrets without noticing you.

My new boss, Carlo cleared his throat, forcing my thoughts back to him. “All right, then. Let me know how your first day goes, huh?”

“Of course.” I say even though I have no intentions of telling him anything.

He nods and walks away, leaving me to pick up my cleaning supplies and trudge down the hall.

I take a glance at my schedule realizing that the first place I get was the employee's toilet.

I squared my shoulders and went right to work but after an hour swings by and I'm moving to my next location, I'm starting to have a rethink.

Surely, there are other things I can do as an undercover agent to get to the truth. This is horrible!

Time crawled by slowly as I went through my tasks, exhaustion dragging my limbs.

Throughout the whole thing, I kept my ears peeled for office gossip, hoping I could catch details of the suspicious illegal dealings that were going on but all I heard were mundane pieces of information.

I moved to the first floor which was the VIP restroom were and set up my supplies to get to work but then the front door burst inwards.

My eyes widened and my reflexes kicked in.

I picked up my work tools as fast as I can and ducked behind the nearest stall door. According to the rules here, we the staff (cleaners) aren't supposed to be seen by guests or high ranking individuals especially on the top floor.

I didn't know who it was but I couldn't risk getting fired on my first day so I gently locked the door, praying under my breath in hopes that I don't caught.

“You know you're not supposed to be in here, Arlo.” A feminine voice hissed seconds before I heard a door slam closed.

“I know, I know…” another voice grumbled out but this was a masculine voice which made me freeze.

This was a female restroom, he wasn't supposed to be in here!

Especially if it seems like he's harassing her!

“I wanted to get your opinion on something-” he continued to say but the woman cuts him off.

“Before you ask me for the twentieth time, Arlo, your shirt looks just fine!” The woman snaps out, sounding quite exasperated. “Sometimes I wonder why I choose to go anywhere with you!”

“It's because I'm your husband and you love me…” he laughs with a cheeky tone that sounds as if he enjoys aggravating his wife. The laughter in his voice quickly dies down and he becomes serious once again. “But seriously, do you think this little scheme of yours is going to work?”

“Damn right, it will!” The woman burst out with smug confidence in her tone. “The little Hayes kid was supposed to be out of the way in the first place if not because there was a screwup but now, we have the chance to eliminate him once and for all!”

I froze in the stall, my ears perked up. Hold on, Hayes…?

Why does that name sound so familiar?

“You’re right. We really messed up with the first job.” The man growled, his formerly warm and fuzzy voice now tainted with hate. “Jacob did well by killing his parents in that house fire.”

“Arlo!” The woman hissed. “You can't just say that kind of thing out loud… the walls have ears, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, Lorna, you're so damn superstitious! No one's gonna hear us, we're in the toilet for shit’s sake!”

I expected to hear a comeback but there was a moment of silence before she speaks up again.

“I don't have time for this,” she muttered and I heard objects clattering, followed by the sound of water rushing. “Come on, we have to go. Marcello's waiting for us.”

Marcello..?

Once again, I freeze but for a different reason.

Before I could process that, Arlo talks.

“Yeah, we're five minutes late. Remember, let me do all the talking. He'll be eating out of our hand in no time and promptly fall into our trap…” he chuckled, his voice fading as I heard the door open and close a few seconds later.

I didn't step out immediately, not because I was still afraid but because I was processing what I just heard.

They were talking about Marcello Hayes, the same man I was looking into and if I took what they were saying at face value then…

That would mean this couple, Arlo and Lorna killed his parents.

Holy shit… I might have just found his parents killer!