The Enemy Within

AARON’S POV

I storm into the main house angrily. Just when I thought I was close to catching the bastard that has the audacity to threaten me, the leads fall through. 

“Good evening sir.” Stella, the housekeeper greets and I grunt in reply.

“Where is she?” I ask, taking off the jacket of my three piece suit.

“In the first guest room.” She replies. She opens her mouth again, obviously curious as to why a certain woman is in my main house but she closes it back.

I slowly make my way upstairs and am about to head to the room when I notice the door to the library is open. I make my footsteps as noiseless as possible and open the door. The sight before me makes me pause for a few seconds. The girl who is meant to be an enemy, a key suspect, is gingerly reaching out to get a book from the shelf while standing on the ladder.

“What are you doing?” I ask. What I didn’t expect is for her to jump in surprise and fall backwards. Before I know it, my hands are reaching out to her. I balance her properly in my arms. Her eyes are tightly shut and her face slowly turns red because she was holding her breath, probably waiting for her body to hit the ground. Her bright red hair and matching colour of her face makes her look a little like a tomato. 

She lets out a shaky breath before opening her eyes, one after the other. Her green orbs stare up at me in confusion and for a minute, the voices in my head quiet down. I watch as her gaze soften for a second before they widen in alarm.

“I.. i-I’m so sorry.” She apologizes, jumping out of my arms. “I was going to..” she rambles, pointing at the shelf and the book in her hands.

I clear my throat. “Follow me.” I quickly march out of the library, cautioning myself. Whatever it was that happened in that split second, wil never happen again.

I walk into my office, leaving the door open behind me. I toss my jacket on the couch and sit behind my desk. Mia shuffles into my room, looking frightened. I take a second to look around the office and the dark interior justifies her fear. Her hands fiddle the hem of the shirt which I notice is mine or used to be mine a few years ago. I notice the pants too and I wonder how many of my old clothes Stella had stored.

“Um.. sir? Mr Lombardi..?” Mia says unsurely and I raise my brow. She takes a deep breath and sits gently on the opposite chair. “I honestly have no idea about what is going on. To be frank, I’ve pinched myself quite a number of times to be sure I’m not dreaming. Look!” She says showing me her left arm and sure enough there’s a red mark there. Something in me churns and I shake it off.

“Let me break it down to you.” I start, “your family and company are being threatened by an unknown person and just when you’re close to the answer, someone new appears from nowhere with evidence that makes them a conspirator and this person insists that they are innocent. Tell me, would you let them go?” I ask. I watch as she lets out a shaky breath before looking down at her hands and shaking her head. “I thought as much.”

“But.. but I know nothing about this evidence. My bag was stolen that night and I was going to report the theft to the police.” She explains. Her eyes well up with tears. I lean back on my chair and cross my arms.

“You could be lying, ” She opens her mouth to protest and I raise my hands shutting her up, “you could also be telling the truth but I can’t let you go till I catch the culprit and prove your innocence.” 

I open the document on my desk and bring out a paper. I hand it to her and she looks at it in confusion. “Someone in the Laser Publishing Company has dirt on my company. The publishing company has a knack for spreading information that will rouse the public so they’re protecting whoever their source is.”

“That’s defamation right? You can report to the police.” Mia suggests confidently and I almost laugh at the innocence in her voice. 

“And you think I didn’t consider that?” I smirk and I watch her coil back into her chair. “I need you to get yourself employed there and find whoever it is that is their source.”

“Wait.. What?” 

“The interview is tomorrow morning.” I inform her before opening my laptop and checking my work mails.

“I know nothing about being an editor. Tomorrow is too soon to get prepared. What if I don’t get it?” She stops and takes a deep breath.

“Not getting the job is not an option. You have to make yourself useful to me or you might just end up like your friend from the alley.” I say without looking up from the screen. Her sharp intake of breath tells me all I need to know and I smirk. “I think we are done here.” I say dismissively.

She slowly rises from the chair and walks out the office with her fist balled in anger. I dial Drew’s number and he picks in a second. “Have you gotten a hold of the director?”

“No sir. The man is being tight lipped.” Drew sighs. “He’s milking this newly found power.”

“Do what you can. She has to get that job.” 

“I know, boss.” Drew says, “but isn’t it dangerous sending an accomplice to that place? I mean she could just wrap the whole thing up or do worse. What if she escapes? What..”

“If that’s the case then it works out for us. At least we’ll have a closer watch on her. She has to communicate with the culprit at some point and you’ll be there to catch them.” 

“That works too and- wait a minute, me? Why do I have to be the one following her?” Drew whines and I grip my phone and take a deep breath.

“I would’ve sent John but I don’t want the girl to die just yet. She’s our only link for now.” I explain.

“So I have to babysit her? But..”

I hang up the phone. I end up shutting down the laptop and heading to my room. I tried to brainstorm ways to get Mia into Laser without actively getting involved. 

My room was at the other end of the hallway and just as I was about to walk past the guest room, I heard sniffling followed by a random female voice.

“Hey guys, welcome back to my YouTube channel. So I’m going to be teaching you how to be a great editor in just 30 minutes… first of all..”

I find myself chuckling at her attempt to learn while crying. My hand suddenly reaches out to the door knob but I immediately stop myself. 

She’s still not entirely innocent.

My phone dings and a message pops up turning my mood sour.

Mother: Your grandfather wants you back home.