Frozen by Fear [DEADLY SECRETS#1]

Kabanata 14

KABANATA 14:

ACE'S POV:

As I wake up, my head is throbbing. And I must have drooled because my face is wet. As I blink open my eyes, I see that I'm laying on floor in my dad's study. How the hell did I get here?

I wipe the drool of my face and see that it's red. What the hell? Then it all comes crashing back. Rose, my father, a knife, a gun. Rose shot my father.

I squeeze my eyes shut, praying that it was all a nightmare. I open my eyes, sit up and see that it wasn't. My father is spread out, face down, on the floor next to me. Dead.

It's his blood on my face. One side of my face is covered in my father's blood. Blood that is pouring out of his head. His head that has a bullet in it. A bullet that came from a gun that my girlfriend fired.

Why? I think this is what people mean by someone going into shock after a traumatic experience. I must be in shock. I'm way too calm right.

My girlfriend, who I love more than anything in this world, just murdered my father. There has to be some sort of explanation for this.

There is always a reasonable explanation for a guy's girlfriend killing a guy's father. Isn't there? I think about turning his body over. Better preserve the crime scene. Of course, I've been laying in the middle of it. That can't be good. I really shouldn't be this calm.

I notice that the knife that Rose threw at my father's wrist is gone.

My girlfriend can throw a knife like a ninja. My girlfriend owns a gun with a silencer. My girlfriend can knock a guy out in one punch. My girlfriend sometimes wears a knife strapped to her thigh. My girlfriend can drive a car like James Bond. My girlfriend lives by herself at a hotel and I've never seen her parents around. My girlfriend associates with supposed Korean bodyguards who can afford Lamborghini. My girlfriend was a virgin who had already been taught sex tricks from a FrenchMadam.And, oh yeah, my girlfriend is obviously an expert marksman because she shot both my father and his bodyguard in the same exact spots in the head.

Who the hell is my girlfriend? What the hell is she? I am way too calm right now. I am definitely in shock. Everything feels so unreal. Like it's not really happening. Like I'm watching it happen to someone else.

I am still sitting on the ground next to my father's body. I stand up. I have blood on my clothes. My socks are now soaked in blood.

I turn around in a daze and walk out of my father's study. I make my way through the hallway and down the stairs. I can hear my mother humming. I follow thesound. I find her in the living room, arranging flowers in a vase.

"Mom?"She doesn't turn around from what she's doing.

"Yes, honey?"

"Mom!" I shout. I think the shock is starting to wear off. She turns around and screams, covering her mouth with one hand.

"Ace! Are you okay? Where are you bleeding?"

She rushes over to me, with a look of motherly panic on her face. I hold my arms outto ward her off.

"I'm not bleeding. You need to call the police. Someone shot dad and one of his men."

By the time I'm done speaking, my entire body is trembling.It's starting to sink in.

My mother looks at me in disbelief. "What are you talking about, Ace? What do you mean, someone shot your father?"

I see horror in my mother's eyes.I squeeze my eyes shut again, hoping that when I open them, this nightmare would go away. I open them and it doesn't go away.

"Exactly what I just said. He's dead.They're both dead. Call the police."

My mom pushes past me and rushes up the stairs. I stand there for a minute, before I realize what she means to do, then I finally snap out of the fog. I run up the stairs after her.

"Mom, you don't want to see it!"

Too late. She enters the study before I can stop her and screams at the top of her lungs. She lunges toward my father's body, but I manage to hold her back. She tries to get out of my hold and I have to pick her feet up off the ground. I hold her body tightly against mine and move her over to a couch, where the large desk will block most ofher view.

"Mom, you can't touch him. It's a crime scene. Now, I'm going to let go of you so that I can call the police."

I slowly release my hold on her and she falls back against the couch, in a fit of sobs. I walk over to the desk and pick up the phone. I dial 911.After the 911 dispatcher answers, I confirm our address and tell her,

"Someone murdered my father. Send the police."

The dispatcher wants me to stay on the line with her until the police come, to answer more questions over the phone. I have something else in mind. I call down to the guard booth next, asking them to send someone up to the house.

Two minutes later, a man shows up and I ask him to sit with my mother. The security guard sees the bodies and his eyes go wide. I feel like saying, yeah, didn't do your job, huh? Then again, I'm the one who brought the killer into our home.

I try to tell my mom that I need to leave, but she's falling to pieces. I'm not even sure she comprehends what's going on anymore.

I go to my bathroom and strip out of my clothes. I put my head under the sink to clean off the blood. I wash my hands and go into my closet for a change of clothes.

I run down the stairs and hop into my car. I can already hear the sirens. As I'm pulling out of the gate, the cops are coming down the street. I pass by a speeding ambulance less than a minute later.

I have to talk to Rose. There has to be an explanation. Maybe I imagined it was her. No, I'm kidding myself. I didn't imagine that it was Rose that shot my father.

Still, there has to be an explanation. Why would Rose do this? What was she thinking? She must have had a reason. Unless she's insane. If she's crazy, I'll do whatever it takes to get her help. I love her.

What other possible reason could there be? Seventeen year old girls just don't go around murdering men for no reason.

I speed to the hotel and am relieved to see Rose's car in the parking lot. I can'texplain why, but I have the feeling that the clock is ticking. Instead of waiting for the elevator, I take the stairs. I am sweating by the time I reach Rose's floor.

I'm breathing hard and about to knock on the door when it swings open. It's her Korean friend. Her parents' bodyguard.

He's carrying luggage in each hand.He sets them down when he sees me. His entire body is tense, as if he is ready to attack me.

"Where is she?" I ask, ready for a confrontation. He opens his mouth to answer, but before he can speak, I hear Rose's voice sayfrom behind him,

"It's okay. Move out of the way." Interesting. I thought the Korean couldn't understand English. He seems reluctantas he hesitates before stepping aside and mockingly gesturing for me to enter the room.