Chapter 12

a/n: Hello, I'm back! Life started life-ing really hard, and I lost my mojo for a bit. Very happy to get back to this. I feel like the chapter has been sitting in my head for two weeks just waiting to be put down. Hope you enjoy!

Arden’s pink ponytail swung, glinting in the morning light as she approached the entrance of the catering hall. Arm-in-arm with Derek, she wore her usual uniform: a graphic print bodycon dress and boots, which made her look believable as either a gamer girl or an eccentric party planner. Derek had donned a polo shirt worn by his family’s stable staff, along with a pair of crisp khakis.

The story was that his family's stables had recently started offering pony rentals for parties as a new arm of their business and had hired Arden to help them get started.

Maxine turned the focus lens on her binoculars to try and see into the lobby.

“Who in the fuck is that?” she muttered.

“Who? What? I can’t see anything with these things,” said Eashan from beside her in the van.

Turning to scowl at him, she saw that he had his binoculars facing backward. Without a word, she took them and turned them in the right direction.

“Ooooh, that’s way better!”

Maxine couldn’t even ask how he’d gone this far in life without learning to use binoculars, as her attention was far too focused on the familiar yet unfamiliar man greeting her friends in the entryway.

When he introduced himself, his voice came out as a low rumble that Maxine was unable to parse. Why did she recognize him? He wasn’t a regular staff member, and he certainly was not David.

The anxiety that had already been her constant companion all morning rose to the back of her throat.

“You’re saying you don’t know this guy?” Eashan said. “I thought they were meeting your boss!”

“Hey,” came Derek’s urgent whisper, “Could you guys keep it down?”

“What’s that?” the man’s voice said.

Maxine watched as the hulking figure in a black tux who had been leading Derek and Arden inside turned around to glare at them instead.

“Oh!” said Arden, “Uh, he was just checking on me and my morning sickness. I’ve had a hard time keeping breakfast down lately.”

Maxine turned wide eyes on Eashan, then covered her mic and said, “That was some quick thinking.”

“Yeah,” said Eashan, looking thoughtful.

They didn’t have any time to think further, however, because at that moment, a large crash sounded in the distance, and the man leading them inside swore loudly.

𓂃🖊 

Miles was holding his head and groaning loudly. If this was a cartoon, he’d have both twittering birds as well as stars circling above him.

Jill had taken him to the place where Enrico’s body had been found, and sure enough, the chalk outline hadn’t been properly cleaned. It struck him as strange that the whole hallways hadn’t been bleached down after something like that, but it also gave him an idea.

If the death hadn’t been looked at as a crime and thus had not been examined and cleaned up like one, then maybe a clue had been left behind. His undercover assignment was to find evidence unrelated to the murder, but since that might take a while to unearth, he could possibly help in other ways in the meantime. 

This had led him to crawl around on the ground to search below the metal tables set against the wall of the hallway, checking to see if anything had been missed. He found the usual things you’d expect to find on a catering hall floor: pest traps of various kinds, bits of food, and forgotten utensils. One thing, however, looked out of place, and he’d dove under to retrieve it. Just as he clasped his hand around the shiny white fountain pen, however, Jill had cried out that someone was coming, and he’d hit his head on the underside of the table.

It was just his luck that that table held a large quantity of stacked chafing dishes. Well, it used to have a large quantity. At present, they were tumbling onto the floor like giant metal Jenga blocks, making a deafening racket in the process.

In the distance, Miles heard a deep voice swear loudly, followed by pounding footsteps coming in their direction.

“Stay under there!” Jill hissed, giving Miles a swift kick in the ribs, which did not help the already intense sensation coursing through his body from the smack on the head.

He had no choice but to obey, however, because a moment later, someone, probably a chef judging by the Crocs she wore, stepped into the hall and spoke in rapid Spanish.

Miles clocked every word. Apparently, they were working on cakes for an upcoming wedding, and the loud noise had caused the chef’s hand to slip, destroying some of the decorative flowers she’d been piping.

“Uhh,” Jill said, sounding just as bored as ever, “It’s just a few chafing dishes. I think they’ll survive.”

“What’s going on here?” came Orlando’s voice from the other end of the hall. Then, without waiting for an answer, “Jillian, you’re in here again? What did I tell you about snoopin’ around?”

Miles heard the chef mutter something not nice about Jill under her breath, but it was cut off as she reentered the kitchen, the swinging door closing with a floop floop.

“Um, I was just walking, not snooping.”

“Bulshit,” Orlando snapped, and Miles thought the man was being unnecessarily harsh until he went on. “I told you earlier when I caught you crawlin’ around in here, you drop it, or I drop you.”

Miles expected the girl to be at least somewhat abashed, but she simply scoffed and said, “WhatEVER, you’re not even my real boss, dude. You can’t fire me.”

“You bet your ass I can. Now get out!”

Another scoff. “Uh, pretty sure if you’re my boss, you shouldn’t be talking about my ass?”

“OUT!”

A beat passed before she spoke again, but it was brief.

“Fine, I don’t need this job anyway; fold your own napkins,” Jill said, then stalked off.

Miles had held his breath through the entire exchange and only let it out after he heard Orlando step past him and enter the kitchen, interrogating the chef in Spanish about what had occurred. He had no time to listen in, however, as this was his chance to escape and make it back to the napkin folding room before anyone noticed him.

𓂃🖊 

Maxine was sweating as she listened to her friends searching for evidence.

“I’m telling you, babe, the whole place is wiped! It doesn’t even look like anyone works here!”

Derek and Arden had been left just outside of David’s office. Well, his former office, apparently, because not only was the door unlocked, but every trace of the man had been removed from the sound of it.

Maxine hadn’t been in the office frequently, but she’d glimpsed it many times when waiting outside for her pay, and the man had full-sized canvas photos of him and his family on the walls. Not to mention multiple computer monitors and a whole host of other bric-a-brac on his desk and shelves.

According to the boots on the ground, however, the place was sterile, boasting only one tiny black laptop on the desk and nothing else. The drawers were cleaned out, and there wasn’t even a trash bin.

“Okay, well, you guys should just leave, then. I don’t know who this guy is, but he must work for whoever David was working for, and he won’t be happy if he finds you poking around.”

“Yeah, guys! Get out, and I’ll pull around to pick you up!”

Maxine smacked Eashan in the arm. “No, you won’t, Eash! We can’t risk anyone seeing that they didn’t come alone!”

“Right, sorry! I’m new at this, okay?!”

Maxine sighed. It had been such a mistake to involve her friends. And now they were possibly in danger and would not even find anything useful.

“Are you guys out yet? I don’t see you!” Maxine said.

Arden’s voice came in a whisper. “Just closed the door; we’re on our way.”

It would take them less than a minute to get out to the main entrance, and Maxine tried to tell her racing heart that it would be fine, but nothin’ doin’. She was sweating in places she didn’t know one could sweat.

Then, there they were, stepping through the lobby and making their way to the front doors. Absurdly, Vanessa Carlton’s lyrics, makin’ my way downtown, walkin’ fast, played in Maxine’s head. So did a loud record scratch, ending the song when a new voice could be heard in the distance.

“SECRET ARDEN?! Holy shit that is you!” a female voice said.

Refocusing her binoculars, Maxine searched until she found the face of her former co-worker, Jill, mouth agape as she stalked quickly toward Arden.

Arden spun around, and her pink ponytail did a pirouette that seemed to hypnotize the otherwise stoic Jill. Maxine couldn’t remember a time when the girl showed anything near this level of enthusiasm.

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry. I know it’s cringe to do this, but can I get a selfie?!”

“Uh, we’re actually in a hurry—”

“Sure, babe,” Arden said, ever the gracious famous YouTuber.

Arden had a rule that she never said no to a fan who recognized her in public. Under these circumstances, however, Maxine would have hoped for an exception. Alas…

After the selfie was snapped, Arden continued to stand there as Jill regaled her with way too much information about how long she’d been following Arden, how she’d been inspired to be a gamer girl herself, and what a huge impact Arden had made on her life. All the while, Derek attempted to pull Arden away, but Jill was resolute in keeping Arden’s attention once she had it.

Finally, what broke up the scene was the voice of the man returning from wherever he’d gone, and he did not sound happy.

His ire wasn’t directed at Derek or Arden, however, but at Jill.

“I thought I told you to get out, Jillian.”

“Oh my god, dude, GET! FUCKED!” cried Jill, clearly not remotely willing to be pushed to end this interaction. And why was he telling her to get out? Maxine had so many questions, but her sole focus was still on getting her friends out of that building.

“I’m so sorry about this,” said the man.

“Wait, what are you even doing here? Isn’t TwitchCon this weekend?”

“TwitchCon?” the man said, turning a confused look on the couple.

“Pony rides for gamers, a new thing we’re trying out. You know, get them to connect with nature more. Too much screentime, yadda yadda,” Arden invented wildly.

Now, both Jill and the man looked confused.

“Sorry to cut it short, but we actually have to go,” Derek said, “The morning sickness is rearing its head after all. But we’ll be in touch!”

Jill gasped, and again, Maxine was beyond floored to see the girl emoting at such a level. “ARE YOU PREGNANT?!”

With yet another display of impressive acting skills, Arden swooped forward, took Jill by the shoulders, and said, “Please let this be our secret.”

Jill looked like she’d just been asked to be maid of honor at Arden and Derek’s shotgun wedding. She heartily, and possibly tearfully, agreed, then waved goodbye as the pair finally exited the building.

𓂃🖊 

Miles was dutifully folding napkins when Ernie reappeared in the doorway of the break room.

“Knock knock!” he said, without knocking. “How’s our new trainee doin’?” He looked to the now empty seat where Jill had been sitting and scowled.

“Now, where did she—”

“Oh, Jill?” Yeah, she um… I don’t know, actually,” Miles lied. “She went to the bathroom and never came back.”

Ernie put his hands on his hips and tilted his ginger head to the side. “Well, I would guess she’s on her period, but Jill is always like that, so who truly knows?”

Unsure what to say to this, Miles lifted his shoulders slightly.

Ernie shook himself and said, “Anywho, I was just getting your paperwork printed out.” He reached back and pulled a few rolled-up pieces of paper from his back pocket and handed them over to Miles. “Orlando said you can slip it under his door, and I suggest you do it now because you and I are going to shift to basement restocking duty. Oh boy!”

The mock-excitement in Ernie’s tone did not bode well.

“I take it that isn’t the most enjoyable job?”

“Oh, it’s absolute hell, the worst thing they have us do. But don’t worry; the jumping spiders are easy to notice before they’re on you. Usually.”

Ernie gave him a toothy smile, and Miles wasn’t sure if this guy was fucking with him or entirely sincere.

This is why he drove Uber instead of having to deal with bizarre coworker dynamics.

“I’m just kidding! No, it’s just some basic inventory and stock, but it goes faster with two, so I figured I’d have you come along.”

“Aight, let me get this handled, and then we’ll go?”

Ernie nodded, then sauntered over to fold more napkins. 

Looking around, Miles realized there were no pens on the table. But then he remembered the pen he’d picked up in the hallway and shoved a hand quickly into his pocket to retrieve it.

When he placed the pen down to sign his name, however, he noticed that the very end silver tip was coated in blood.

His eyes flew so wide that they burned for a moment before he shook himself out of it, re-pocketed the pen, and tried to think. He should have put the pen in plastic; if it was somehow a murder weapon, it now had his prints all over it. Not to mention the fact that the blood could be rubbing off on his jeans as he spoke.

With substantial effort, he kept his voice steady as he said, “Hey man, uh, actually, I’m not feelin' so good.”

Ernie looked up, alarmed. “I really was kidding about the jumping spiders. Well, mostly.”

Miles cringed, then put a hand to his stomach. “It’s not that. I just had a bodega breakfast burrito, and now I’m wondering if it was left out from yesterday.”

Before Ernie could reply, he turned up the acting game to the level necessary to fool his own abuela and ran out of the room, muttering excuses in Spanish for good measure.

Once in the bathroom, he slipped the paperwork into his pocket. He remembered Orlando’s ultimatum that he had to hand it in that day or else he wouldn’t be hired, but he could always come back and grovel. Right now, all that mattered was getting his newfound evidence to Brooks and Gladstone.

After sending a quick text to Brooks, he held his stomach in case he encountered anyone, and made his way out of the building.

𓂃🖊 

“Why is she still here?!” Maxine cried sometime after her friends climbed safely back into the van. Thankfully, Orlando had retreated, but Jill was still loitering and had taken to circling the parking lot.

“Why are we still here is my question,” said Eashan.

“I just wanna make sure she goes and Orlando doesn’t grill her and figure out who Arden is.”

“Aww, thanks, babe,” said Arden.

“To be honest, I don’t think he cared, though,” said Derek. “He was way more intent on getting her out of here; he hardly noticed that she’d been talking to us.”

“Yeah, I just wanna be thorough,” said Maxine, watching as Jill kicked at something on the ground, then bent to pick it up. When she then skipped a rock across the parking lot, Maxine rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t this chick have a car?”

“Maybe she’s waiting for a ride,” Eashan offered.

Just as he said this, Maxine felt her eyes fly wide as saucers, feasting upon the sight of Miles leaving the building. Jill was bending down again to pick up another rock but stood quickly when she saw Miles, then began striding towards him.

They started talking, and Maxine felt a wave of something take over. A fiery heat rose in her throat, threatening to erupt, incinerating anything in its path. Without thinking, she went for the door of the van, but three hands simultaneously clasped onto different parts of her body as she did so.

“Are you crazy?”“What are you doing?”

“Whoa there, girl!”

Maxine stilled, then shook herself. What was she doing?

“Sorry, I don’t know— shit,” she said, then re-grabbed her binoculars and looked back to the entrance.

Her mouth hit the floor of the van as she watched Miles and Jill climb into the back of an Uber. For a moment, she thought that it was a coincidence that the Uber was a beat-up black Honda Civic until she looked more closely at the driver and saw Brooks’s face come into focus.

“Eashan, get back behind the wheel, NOW!”

“What?”

“Never mind, I’ll do it.”

“No! We can’t risk them seeing you, Eenie!”

“I don’t give a fuck,” she said, putting the van into reverse and then peeling out of the parking lot in pursuit of Miles’s car.

a/n: whose pen was it? did anyone see maxine? what's with jill and rocks? so many questions...