Page 101 of The Woman in the Hollow
“Because that’s how you get the attention of an organization as insulated as this one,” Ant said, shrugging.
“Did you kill Big Ed?” I asked.
“No,” he and Hazel said in unison.
“No,” Hazel repeated. “He,” she said, gesturing toward the body without looking at it, “did it. He said so before… before I got away.”
“We gotta contain this,” Dom said when we all heard the laughter of some of the other employees moving around outside.
“I got it,” Hazel said, nodding.
“No, babe. I should take you home. Get you—”
“I got it,” she repeated, chin lifting higher. “I will send everyone home. Then you can do… whatever it is you need to do.”
Without waiting for any more objections from me, she turned and walked out the door.
I could hear her voice rise to be heard over the other voices, but I couldn’t make out anything she said.
“You can lock me in here if you need to call the boss and shit,” Ant offered.
“Who the fuck is this kid?” Dom asked, voicing what I was wondering too.
“Ant. Ant Marino. Antonio, if we’re being specific. But I haven’t ever gone by that.”
“Marino,” I repeated. That was an Italian last name, though it didn’t ring any specific bells for me.
“My old man’s old man worked for your boss’s old man back in the day. Took one to the back of the head during that war with the Russians. My gran panicked, thinking they’d come for the family next, and moved the family out of the area.”
“Then why are you back?” Dom asked.
“Saw more of a future here than I did over in Bumfuck Nowhere, Wyoming.”
“Fair,” Dom said, shrugging. “And once I got here, I figured I’d shoot my shot.”
“By working as a performer in the woods?”
“By keeping an eye on the place, seeing where I might be able to fit in. Figured if I saw you often enough, I might gain some favor.”
“And what about this? What happened here?” I asked, waving toward the body.
“I saw Hazel take over for Brit. Then once the last group came out, she went in. Then I saw one of your guys go in.”
“What made you go in too?”
“Dunno if you’ve ever seen a guy about to do some shady shit, but I have. Fuck looked like a cartoon villain, half going in, checking both directions, then slipping inside. Suspicious as fuck. So I went in just to see what was up. Didn’t expect to see him scoping out Hazel, creeping up on her and shit.”
“Then?” Dom prompted.
“Then he grabbed her. I told her not to move. Your guy started spilling his guts. Talked about a guy who chased her. Figured that’s what happened to her face.”
“What about him?”
“He was some kind of hacker. Was just supposed to break in, get the account codes off the work computer and get out. But he went rogue.”
“Did you get a name?” I asked.
“Nah, man.”
