Chapter 19: Hidden Clues

"One hundred fifty....one hundred fifty two...one hundred fifty three....." Romeo counted in breathless voice, his ripped muscles flexed and relaxed simultaneously, doing pushups.

"Romeo.....where are you?" he heard Angela's voice from distant.

"Five hundred one.....five hundred two.....five hundred three....." the tone of his voice grew deeper.

Angela entered inside their gym where Romeo was working out as usual. "Ah, there you ar__" she halted in the middle when she heard him counting.

"FIVE HUNDRED TEN.....FIVE HUNDRED ELEVEN....." all of the sudden his voice increased. Angela smirked slightly at this. Hmm, interesting...

"Gosh bro, you're so strong" she gushed and crouched down beside him to squeeze his bicep "I can see you're even more muscular than before" she whistled. Romeo puffed his chest smugly, hearing praises from her. Yeah, that's right...go on.

"Why not I help you get even stronger?" she said in a saccharin sweet tone. She stood up, only to sit up on his back. "I think this will do. What do you say?"

"Damn it, girl! Get away from me.....are you planning to crush me under your weight?" Romeo grunted, trying to maintain his balance with his arms.

Angela giggled, "Why yes, I'm just trying to help you get invincible" she fluttered her eyebrows innocently. Romeo's nose flared with anger, "GET UP!!!! RIGHT NOW" he barked.

"Alright, alright" she jumped up from his back "no need to be so touchy".

"Don't you dare provoke me" he warned while getting up, dusting off his pants. "Now shoot!"

"What?"

"What do you want from me?" he asked in a fake annoyed tone.

"That...yes, I wanted to ask something" her face turned serious.

"What is it?"

"Have you heard about Ricochet?"

"Ricochet? I've heard this name somewhere. But why do you ask?" he quirked his eyebrow in question.

"I eavesdropped on Max and Adam's conversation. They were talking about this Ricochet and Adam seemed to be quite serious about it. He must be someone dangerous," she said with a thoughtful look.

"I see, let's go to my room and investigate," he suggested.

~*~

"The death of Ricochet: the face, which was never, revealed

Ricochet found dead near the Bellona creek bridge.

The notorious underworld mafia Ricochet, 50, found dead under the bridge in Bellona creek. His body was severely burnt and the face could not be identified. The police suspect that his rival Italian mafia gang could be the reason behind his death. With the death of Ricochet, the face behind the don will always remain mystery, as no one has been able to see his real identity until now. His supporters and gang members are yet to be caught xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

"Bellona creek....." the name gave shivers down Angela's spine. That place...my home..."Romeo, what's the date mentioned in the article?" she asked eagerly.

"Twentieth September 1995__why?"

"Umm, nothing" she dismissed the topic. It was around the same time..."what about other articles?" she asked.

"They all say the same thing. Not much information is given. Rest all are the archives of his crime. He was the most powerful mafia leader of his time, he had a secret fortune and his assets were beyond imagination. Until now, no one has able to discover it. Some say that all his possessions belong to his heir but there are no records of his heir".

"He is full of mysteries, isn't he?" she pondered.

"Indeed he is. But what does this has to do with Max?" Romeo asked with a frown etched across his face.

"I don't know, I can't understand anything but this surely has to do something with Max's past. I think we'll get something useful from Max's office. What do you say?"

"Maybe, but I think the possibilities are less." He pursed his lips.

"Why not we go and see ourselves?" she suggested hopefully.

"Do I even have a say in this?" he let out an exasperated sigh. She giggled at his reaction and stuck out her tongue "no you don't. Now move your lazy ass"

~*~

Standing in front of Max's office, Angela pointed towards the reception counter "Great! Max is out for some work and we only have to deal with Clarissa to go through Max's office." She said with an easy smile.

Romeo's eyes travelled to where Clarissa was sitting, grooming her hairs. "What's great in this?" he squinted his eyes at Angela. She tried to suppress herself from cracking out and gave him a suggestive look. "I know what that look means but there's no way I'm doing it. No way_" he denied her implicit request.

"C'mon. Don't tell me that the invincible Romeo is afraid of a girl," she teased.

"Argh you are an evil little manipulative bitch. But rest assured cause I will take my revenge during your training" he seethed.

"Awe, that touched my heart" she placed her palm upon her heart dramatically "now please help this damsel in distress, sensei"

"Ha ha you are so punny" he faked laughed meanwhile she dragged him towards the reception counter. Clarissa's head snapped in their direction and her face lit up when she noticed Romeo standing beside Angela.

"Hey Angela" Clarissa greeted cheerfully "and hi Romeo. How are you?" she blushed slightly, tugging a lock of hair behind her ear. Romeo averted his face, bluntly ignoring her but that didn't affect Clarissa's vivacious expression, which in turn increased his annoyance.

"Hello Clarrisa. Is Max inside?" Angela asked though she knew the answer already.

"Sorry Angela but he is out for some work"

"Well that's bad__ but I can always wait for him, right?" Angela said as she strolled towards Max's office "by the way, I think Romeo wants to say something to you" she sent a wink towards her.

Clarissa's attention at once shifted towards Romeo. "What do you want to say?" her eyes twinkled as she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, uh__ come with me, I wanna eat ice cream" Romeo mumbled, still facing away from her, his jaw twitched slightly as he spoke. Angela smacked her head at this. What a jerk! I feel sorry for Clarissa.

"Holly molly! It's a date!" Clarrisa squealed unexpectedly, startling Romeo and Angela at the same time. Romeo's jaw dropped to the ground. What the fuck! Who said about date?

"Pfft_" Angela covered her mouth and laughed silently. They are made for each other....

Before going away, Romeo came near Angela and handed her something, discreetly " This is the chip I always use. Before starting your search, attach this chip to the surveillance camera so that I can monitor it with my device" he whispered quickly and joined Clarrisa.

Diverting her attention away from them, Angela entered inside Max's office. Her eyes landed on Max's coat hung sloppily on his swivel chair. She  couldn't help but to take out his coat and put it on herself. Breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne, she hugged herself tightly and closed her eyes in bliss. So warm__ so comfortable. Her eyes snapped open after sometime. What am I doing? I can't get distracted. She shrugged off his coat and carefully hung it back in his chair. All right, let's play Sherlock Holmes.

She started searching for some clues in his office and at the same time made sure not to disturb anything from its place. What should I look for? Any photograph? Any important file? Any letter? Maybe any weapon? She looked through all the possible places where he could hide something but to no avail. She felt little disappointed as she found nothing. Darn! I thought I would find something useful here. Romeo was right after all. Why would Max hide any crucial information in his office? She nonchalantly lingered her hand inside the drawer of the table, when her fingers touched something cold. Is it a metal__ a chain? Her fingers curled around the chain and before she could take it out, she felt someone's presence behind her, erupting goosebumps in her body. Her spine straightened and her body became stiff as if she was caught red handed. She slowly turned around to meet her eyes with him.

"Adam__" she whispered meekly.

"What are you doing?" his voice was dangerously cold and his expressions were unfathomable.

She quickly dropped her bracelet on the ground. "Nothing_ I was just searching for my bracelet which I dropped accidently" she smiled to ease the tension.

"Why were you here in the first place?"

"Uh that, I was waiting for Max" she mumbled.

Without uttering single word, he made his way towards the sofa and took a seat, crossing his long legs. Angela felt extremely uncomfortable under his icy stare. Should I say something? I think I should apologize for my behavior that night.

She inhaled deeply "listen Adam_ I'm really sorry for my harsh words that night. I didn't mean to say those things to you. I hope you won't take it personally. I was_" the words died in her throat when he appeared in front of her face in the blink of an eye, towering her. He slammed his hands on both sides, caging her between himself and the table and started to lean down. The air knocked out of her lungs and her eyes widened "Adam! Wh_what are you doing?"

He leaned down further and his fingers picked up something near her feet. He got up such that his face was inches away from hers and dangled the bracelet in front of her face. Angela sighed in relief "oh, that's mine. Tha_thanks" she stretched her fingers to take the bracelet but he gripped her wrist in the middle. She arched her eyebrow questioningly.

"Don't you try to appear naïve in front of me cause I can see through your façade. I don't know about your real motive yet but I'll soon find it out. So you better confess beforehand." He hissed in deadly calm tone.

Blood rushed in her veins after hearing his words. Why can't he leave me alone? She tried to maintain her posture to appear equally intimidating. "I think I don't need to justify myself to you because your opinion doesn't matter to me. And keep this thing in your mind, YOU DON'T INTIMIDATE ME, ADAM SMITH". They both stared each other with equal angst and disgust.

"Have I missed something?" Max asked skeptically, freezing both of them in their places.