Bodyguard: Ace Cain

|44| You're The Rat!

|You're The Rat!|

Tonight was the night when Ace carried out his plan to get my father and me out of here. It was safe to assume it would work, but Noel was far too smart. Something told me not to get my hopes up, but Ace wouldn't disappoint me.

I paced around his office, impatiently waiting, trying not to lose my cool. I was getting nervous because I was afraid someone would be hurt. It could be me, my dad, Tana, or Jake. Everything about this was risky, and we had a less than 50% chance of survival. We all needed to be alert, and it started by shaking off my nervousness.

As I took a deep breath, the door locks began to come undone. The moment we had waited for had finally arrived. Ace entered the office with a determined look on his face. This was the most serious I would ever see him appear. It was a bit of a turn-on, but now was not the time to be horny.

"Are you ready?" He asked me.

I nodded my head, relieved to be out of this dump. My hair was messy, and I had been wearing the same clothes since I arrived. Despite the food Tana prepared for me, I was hungry for more variety.

Ace took my hand and led me down the dark brick-walled hall, with Tyler following behind us. They both maintained their guard as we walked to where my father was being held. The first step went smoothly, and when we arrived at my father's door, Hailey was already there, undoing his handcuffs.

Once he was free, I wrapped my arms around him, relieved that he was okay. Ace did me a huge favor by saving his life. If he hadn't taken the time to reflect on his actions, I would have lost both of my parents to Noel's recklessness. Our relationship wasn't perfect, but he was still my father.

He smiled to himself, surprised that I would consider embracing him. "You're...you're not mad at me," he said, relieved.

I looked up at him through watery eyes. "Not exactly," I replied. "No matter what, I just wanted you to be fine."

He looked around as he squeezed me tightly, unsure of what was happening. "Um, what's going on?" He wondered because Ace was there with a not-so-happy expression.

"We're getting out of here, Dad," I said, pulling myself together. "Noel won't hurt us any longer."

My father didn't seem to be confident in this plan. We didn't tell him what was going on because we wanted to keep the plan between those of us who were carrying it out. He would also clearly refuse to agree because he was aware of Noel's situation. We were taking a huge risk by attempting to slip past him, but we were determined to do so, even if it meant crawling out. Seeing his face any longer would only make me angrier about what had happened to my mother. If I were stronger, I would kill him myself, but I'm willing to delegate that responsibility to Ace and Jake.

He made no objections, but he couldn't pretend Ace wasn't present. This was the man who attempted to kill him a few days ago. The man whose father he was ordered to kill. There was an awkward energy around them given the circumstances. However, my father was only concerned with one thing: Ace protecting me.

So, being the man that he is, he approached Ace with a tight-lipped smile. "We may never agree, but I would like to thank you for protecting my daughter," he said.

Ace turned away as his face turned crimson. "Yeah, well, I was just doing my job," he said, playing down the situation.

My father chuckled a little. "Something I should have done long ago."

It warmed my heart to see him take responsibility for once. However, we needed to get going before it was too late. The final step was to meet Jake and Tana at the end of the hallway. My father and I were supposed to get in the car with her and drive as far as possible. Ace and the others would follow suit behind us once they realized everything was in order.