A Web Of Deceit

AARON’S POV

My men outside see me approaching and they all scamper away. My blood is boiling and I know someone’s blood is about to be spilled. I enter the warehouse and see John holding a man against the wall. He notices my presence and lets him go. My eyes move to the exhibit in the middle of the room. The body on the chair still looks alive but it’s impossible with the gaping hole in her head. I feel my pulse thrum and my vision glazes.

“So someone walked in here and killed our one solid link and nobody saw the perpetrator?” I ask in a low tone. My men look at each other nervously and I chuckle. “Who’s in charge of looking after her?” I ask and John pushes the man he was strangling earlier forward.

Without thinking twice, I cock my gun and shoot his two legs. He lets out a blood curdling scream and I notice the other men move backwards, except John. “And the security footage?” John steps forward with a laptop in his hands. It only shows a man in black enter the warehouse and pull a trigger without any conversation.

“That’s all it captured sir.” John says.

“Who was meant to keep an eye on the camera?” I ask again, cocking the gun. A man runs towards me, his whole body trembling.

“Sir, I’ve already tried zooming in on the camera. I promise I..”

“Where were you when the man came in?” I ask cooly and he begins to stutter. “Thought as much.” I shoot his left shoulder, a bit of his blood splatter on me. 

I throw the gun to the ground and walk out of the warehouse with John right behind me. “I questioned her this morning before heading to the office sir. I believe she knew she was going to die.” He says. “She just said we should find red hair and protect her because she will be next.”

I freeze in my steps. He has to be joking. “What do you mean she will be next?” John chokes when he sees the look on my face. I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me I look murderous.

“Apparently Jules is aware of their secret and I think they suspect that she told Red something that night so they’re after her.” He explains. “Sir, what if she really knows something and-”

“Leave Mia to me. Go through the surrounding security cameras. The assailant wouldn’t have appeared from thin air.” I instruct before entering my car. 

I’m the only one who decides what happens to a certain red haired girl. Innocent or not.

My phone rings and I see it’s Drew calling.

“Sir, she got the job.”

I feel my lip twitch. 

So those videos she was watching paid off.

“Good to know. Escort her home. I have things to take care of.” I say before hanging up. I feel a bit lighthearted all of a sudden. Even though I instructed Drew to do everything possible to make sure she passes the exam, the oral interview was a gamble. My mind flashes back to the look of anger on her face when I told her about the sudden interview. The way it turned red in anger was meant to be intimidating but she looked like a child who was told that they couldn’t go out to play.

My phone rings again, this time it’s my secretary. I sigh and take a deep breath. It has to be bad news.

“Gina.” 

“Sir, we got inside information that Radar Group is considering pulling out following the last article Laser published.” She says in her robotic, nasal voice that annoyed me.

“Set a meeting with the CEO this afternoon. I’ll talk with him and get me a change of clothes.” I say then hang up. Whoever it is that’s sending threats to me has a link with the person spreading the information in Laser and so help me God if I get my hands on them.

***

It’s midnight by the time I walk into the house. What I did not expect to see is Mia sitting cross legged in the living room, squinting at her laptop screen. She is putting on another set of my old clothes and I wonder where Stella stores them.  

I contemplate going upstairs but she looks up from the screen and gives me a big smile before clearing her throat, the smile dropping instantly.

“You’re back.” She says casually. 

“Don’t you have work tomorrow?” I ask, referring to whatever she is working on that’s making her stay up. She furrows her brows before looking down at her laptop.

“I’m trying to work on my book. I don’t know how busy I’ll be in the future,” She explains, “or if I’ll see the future.” She mumbles the last part but I hear it clearly. I give her one last look before heading up stairs. 

I end up taking a quick shower and heading to my mini office to review a number of documents. It takes quite some time and before I know it, it’s almost 2am. I shut my laptop down and head downstairs to get a glass of water. 

Mia is half asleep, staring blankly at the screen in front of her. I slowly make my way behind her to see what she has been working on but I end up just seeing one sentence on the screen. 

Don’t tell me this is all she has written for hours.

I clear my throat loudly and she jumps. She wipes her eyes and let out a big yawn. 

“I should go to bed.” She says softly, shutting down her laptop and gathering the papers on the floor.

I head to the kitchen to pour myself the glass of water I came for. Mia drags her feet to the stairs but she pauses.

“Mr Lombardi?” I almost choke on water with the way my name softly rolls off her lips. It has to be the stress getting to my head. “I’m starting work tomorrow and I have no idea what I should do to catch the person you’re looking for.” Her lips are bent in a frown.

“It’s your first day. Just study your environment.” I say, rinsing my glass. I glance at her and see her nod slowly, her eyes almost shut from being sleepy. I consider escorting her up the stairs but I get ahold of myself.

Maybe I also need to go to bed before my thoughts betray me.

“And be careful over there.” I warn. John’s words come back to me. If she knows anything then we need to keep her safe till we get the information.

“Says the man that threatened to kill me. How ironic.” She says softly, a small giggle escapes her mouth. I had to close my eyes and take deep breaths. Every action she takes seems to send me into a frenzy and I need to put a stop to it.

“I can’t let you die before getting my revenge on the anonymous source.” I walk towards the stairs where Mia is still standing.

“So you need me.” She states with a proud smile on her face. I give her a surprised look. For someone who looks like a ginger kitten hugging her laptop to her chest, she sure has a lot to say.

I walk closer to her and she takes a step back before hitting the banister. I lean towards her and I hear her take a sharp breath. “Don’t push my buttons, Kitten. Go to bed.” I step back only to see her face bright red. All signs of being sleepy leave her face and she nods quickly and runs up the stairs.

I head towards my room with a stray smile on my face. It’s probably the stress I got to relieve that caused it, nothing else. My phone vibrated and

the small peace of mind I had vanished.

Mother: Stop being childish. Come home.