Daniela had her foot pushed down on the pedal, her hands gripped the leather wheel as she weaved the car through the roads and traffic of Montalbano Jonico. The sun was at its highest point, blaring down on the gorgeous city below. The air was still cold and crisp, yet the sun deceived the Italian citizens time and time again with its inviting brightness and the clear blue skies.
Lorenzo had finally grown calm enough to slot in his seat belt, but he was still peering over his shoulder every minute or so, the paranoia within him having him captive. Mia did her best to look nonchalant, sitting with her arm propped up against the window, her head leaning on her palm while her other hand gently played with her chocolate brown curls that rested over her shoulders.
"Can we even trust you, signora?" Lorenzo piped up from the back, peering around to look at Daniela's side profile; her face was seemingly relaxed, but he could see the corners of her eyes and mouth tensing up every few seconds.
"Who just saved your ass?" Daniela said, glancing up into the rear-view mirror to meet Lorenzo's concerned glare.
"Lorenzo," Mia said, turning her head to face her friend, "we have no choice but to trust her."
"What if she's apart of what ever that project is? What if she's an assassin?" Lorenzo quickly said. It was obvious he was on edge, but Mia needed him to focus and not panic every five seconds.
"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead," Daniela fired back, raising her voice to match Lorenzo's loud worried accusations.
"You see! She just threatened me!" Lorenzo pointed at Daniela, waving his hand in a manic way.
"Gesù Cristo, you're like children fighting!" Mia shouted, sharing her icy stares with both Daniela and Lorenzo. Lorenzo slumped back in his seat, turning to look out of the window. "Let's just all relax." Mia turned away from them, trying to think how a situation like this is making them behave like children. It boggled her mind but she pushed it aside, knowing it wasn't worth it to dwell on it.
"So when are we going to Craco?" Lorenzo asked after a minute's silence.
"I have to go back to the DIS before we do anything else," Mia said.
The car almost came to a full stop when Daniela pulled her foot from the break. She then pressed her foot down again, looking over at Mia with a blatant look of confusion. "And why exactly do you need to go back there?" She asked.
"There's things on my computer that I need, things that prove that Caterina's death was foul play," Mia said. Saying her partner's name still stung. They had spent many cases together and become real friends, something which Mia wasn't prone to at all. And in some way, she was doing this for Caterina. She didn't want her death to be in vain.
"Mia, if you go back, there's a chance you'll be arrested," Lorenzo said, shifting forward to clutch Mia's shoulder, "maybe even die."
"I have to do this. You should understand why, Enzo," Mia said. She didn't bother turning around to face him, not wanting to see the probable look of worry that was all over his face.
"I know. I just hope you know what you're doing, tesoro."
Mia felt like a fist blew into her gut, knocking the wind right out of her; she could almost feel her throat close up for a split second as her mind clung onto that word – Tesoro.
The word held a lethal, traumatic grip on Mia that she had spent years trying to bury and forget about, to leave it in her past once and for all. But hearing it again, in a sentence that was meant to be innocent and caring, unravelled the memories she tried to escape.
The image of her mother formed in her mind, the sinister smile and threatening hand were sharper than she could ever remember. The image unleashed a concealed raging fire within Mia, her body clenching up with fury and distress. She almost flinched out of her seat when she felt a hand rub her shoulder, shaking her loose of the vivid thoughts that were swirling around inside her head.
"Mia, are you okay?" Lorenzo asked. He had unbuckled his belt and was leaning forward, staring at Mia with soft, concerned eyes that were full of compassion and genuine care.
"I..." Mia stuttered, trying to calm the fire that was raging on inside of her. "It's nothing."
"Are you sure?" Mia offered him a gentle smile, masking over the real emotions that she was busy burying.
"Yes, Lorenzo. I'm sure."
Lorenzo observed Mia, his eyes obviously trying to read her. But he couldn't get anything from her expression; there was nothing there. And he couldn't help but feel guilty. Mia was one of his only friends and for her to put on a brave face all the time and act like everything was fine, it stung him because he feels like he can't do a thing to help.
Mia turned away from Lorenzo, paying attention to how the car began to slow its speed upon entering a rather quaint and well seen to street; all of the lawns were nicely kept up with, each one offering a varied set of colorful flowers to gaze at. The houses themselves were small yet inviting; all of them had the same old style to them, as if the street had been standing for hundreds of years. She took in everything, willing to let her mind wander away from painful feelings that still had her rattled. She would do anything to make all that pain and the memories disappear.
The car pulled up into one of the drives which, like the rest of the neighbourhood, was bursting with color and a wide range of plants, shrubs and lawn decorations. Although the sight was nice to look at, Mia began to sense something odd about Daniela living in such a place. And there was only one explanation she could think of – she was undercover for someone else.
"You live here?" Mia asked cautiously, her eyes scanning the area closely.
"I know what you're thinking," Daniela said, exiting her car.
Mia and Lorenzo both followed, walking close behind her as she lead them to her home. Daniela unlocked the door and pushed it open, allowing the two to burst inside, out of the public eye. Daniela followed suit, closing and locking the door behind her.
Mia and Lorenzo gazed upon the contents of Daniela's home; the style and furniture all seemed dated and elderly-like. It even had the familiar scent of the elderly and it was just throwing up more red flags for Mia.
"This, believe it or not, is my home," Daniela startled them, removing her jacket before slotting it onto the coat-rack, beckoning for Mia and Lorenzo to do the same. "The CII helped me set up and they've kept it off all records. No one knows this is where I live. Trust me, it's completely off the grid."
Mia noticed a photo of what seemed to be a young Daniela with two older people, presumably her parents. She looked so happy, so content. Mia felt as if the photo were mocking her and her own broken, dishevelled so called family. It hurt to see someone so similar to Mia herself have had such a caring and loving upbringing.
"I'm just going to go into my room to arrange where you will both be sleeping. The kitchen is through there to the left," Daniela said, twisting her arm forward to show off where to go, "so just help yourselves." She then walked out of the room, the sound of her heels being lost to the soft carpet that seemed to cover every inch of flooring.
Once Mia was sure she was out of range, she set to work, shifting small objects around, checking behind paintings, looking into vases, anything.
"What are you doing?" Lorenzo asked, worried that Daniela may get the wrong idea.
"Looking for bugs. We still barely know this woman, I don't fully trust her yet," Mia replied, not bothering to turn around as she continued to hunt for anything that could back up Mia's doubt of Daniela.
She pulled open one of the drawers from one of the big light oak units and started scouring through the scraps of paper that had clearly been carelessly shoved inside. She dug her hands around drawer, hoping to find anything that could incriminate Daniela, but there was nothing.
"There's no bugs," Daniela's voice rang from behind her. Mia stopped searching before turning around to see Daniela stood there with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall. "My home is completely spy-free. We're all perfectly safe here," she then said, glancing at both of them.
Mia noticed the overly long stare that she gave Lorenzo. Lorenzo smiled softly, feeling his shoulders ease up with the confirmation.
"Mia can have the guest room which I've made up and Lorenzo, you can have the sofa. It's soft and big and comfortable," Daniela said, nodding over to what looked to be the living room.
"Thank you," Lorenzo said, his smile growing slightly wider.
"Close your mouth, Enzo, you're drooling," Mia interrupted the supposed moment between the two and stepped forward, removing her jacket. "Can I please use your shower?"
"Of course," Daniela nodded, "the bathroom is straight behind. You can't miss it."
Mia murmured a 'thank you' as she brushed past Daniela, glad to be able to escape the company and be alone for a little while.
*
The hot water cascaded down Mia's light skin, steaming up the glass panels that boxed her in, contained both her and the heavy water that blasted out of the shower. The water felt good to her, she liked how it sort of pelted off her exposed skin before running down her body. It helped ease up a few of the hurting muscles she had after the craziness of the last few days.
As she stood there, she decided to let her mind wander off again but instead of thinking about things that would bring a small smile to her face, she couldn't help herself but let her mind drudge about the day she got the phone call that changed her life. She was only fourteen when she had been taken from her home and inducted into the Department of Intelligent Security Academy after being scouted by a field agent who saw the potential within her. She trained hard and worked hard, and became one of the youngest agents to ever be employed. But when she turned seventeen, Orabella informed her that her mother had gone missing and they were in fact looking for a body.
Hearing that brought Mia's world down yet again. Her mother had done lots of awful, cruel and sometimes inhumane things, but never would Mia wish death upon her. The news shook her, forcing her to face some of the darkest moments in her childhood that she wanted to escape. Moments that still haunted and plagued her to this day. If her mother had been alive, Mia would wish to put everything behind them to rest, to get closure. But after that... She never would be able to get closure.
A fist braying against the door pulled her from the memory, suddenly remembering the water that was still spraying down onto her mercilessly. She caught a glimpse at her hands and saw the tips of her fingers shrivelling up. She flipped the knob, turning the steaming water off before grabbing a towel from the rack. She wrapped it around herself before pulling open the door, the thick wall of steam bursting out over her.
"Lorenzo wanted me to check on you. You've been in there a while," Daniela said, tiptoeing around actually asking Mia if she was OK.
"I'm fine," Mia said, her face was empty of any expression.
"Are you sure?" Daniela asked.
"With all due respect, I'm not ready to start sharing things about myself with you until I know for sure you're not working for Orabella," Mia said coldly, brushing past Daniela.
Daniela leaned against the door frame, sighing heavily, closing her eyes as the steam washed over her face. This was going to be a long couple of days, for all of them.