A loud music played on the speaker I had in my room. I calmly laid my purse on my bed and proceeded to my wardrobe to change what I had on before going into the shower. I had barely taken a seat since I got back to my apartment when we heard a loud knock on the door. Nadia and Aaliyah were sitting on the long sofa, watching a movie and I was still pulling off my clothes to change into something convenient when we heard the hand on the door twice the first time, then it came harder the second time, prompting me to rush out of my room to see what was going on. Nadia and Aaliyah were completely scared when I arrived, but one of us had to be strong, so I proceeded to the door to see what it was. Nadia continuously shook her head with a distasteful look with the aim of convincing me not to open the door. My first approach was to look through the hole but I saw nothing, but emptiness and the short corridor leading to our block mate's apartment. I was however still there when i heard a soft gasp outside the door, then a hand pushed a blood soaked Berkscorp business card under the door with Asher's details on it. Instantly, my heart shook a bit, and I stumbled backwards. It was Aaliyah that caught me.
"Should we call the cops?" Aaliyah asked.
"Asher, is that you there?" I asked.
There was no response from the person at the door. I heaved a sigh before proceeding back to the door. Nadia and Aaliyah walked up to me, both frightened, not that I wasn't too, I was just pretending to be strong. Deep down, I prayed it wasn't Asher that was hurt, the last thing I would want is a billionaire kid bleeding out at my door. Mr. Barney would do everything to get me destroyed.
But to think of it.... I didn't hear his car leave. At that second, my heart skipped a second time.
"Is that your CEO boyfriend?" Nadia Whispered.
I scorned her with my eyes.
We suddenly heard the person at the door breathed out heavily, then a weak voice called my name. It was at that moment I was sure it was Asher. I hurried to open the door, only to find him lying on the floor, his inner white shirt soaked with blood as if it was water. I quickly signaled to Nadia and Aaliyah to help me carry him, then we took him straight to the long sofa and gently put a pillow under his head and legs to keep them elevated. He was still conscious, but weak.
"Asher, oh my God, what happened to you?"
"Some guys tried to jump me just after you left," he answered weakly, before grunting loudly.
Immediately I heard this, I unbuttoned his coat only to see his shirt half soaked with blood, and just above his chest, a bullet hole.
"We didn't hear gunshots, and I think we should get you to the hospital," Nadia expressed her concern.
Asher suddenly gripped my hand, startling us all. "We can't go back outside. Whoever shot me is still outside. He wasn't with those guys."
I had actually worked as a nurse before going to business school, so blood doesn't frighten me at all. I have seen enough of it, and I had done multiple stitches for guys shot up on the block, but all I hoped was that he wasn't injured in a way he would need urgent medical assistance or blood transfusion, and luckily, it wasn't that bad.
I closely examined the wound. "The shooter must have missed. It didn't hit anything important."
"I don't think he missed," he shook his head, grunting. "The bullet wasn't meant to kill me."
I was even more perplexed at this point. My curiosity shot up like flare, my eyes deemed with impatience, and my heart continuously shook like it was following a rhythm. I let out a deep breath, then quickly fixed my gaze on Asher, looking serious but confused.
"What made you say that?" Aaliyah didn't hesitate to ask him.
"Because it was a sniper. And whoever shot it, missed on purpose."
At this point that he replied, I almost got a cold feet. Seeing our couch soaked with blood scared me. I just didn't want him to die at my place. My heart raced as my eyes dilated in horror. I had to summon courage, so I asked Nadia to get our medical kit and advised Aaliyah to gently pressed down on his arms. I cut his shirt with scissors, and around this time Nadia had returned with the med kit.
"You will have to hold still," I said to him before trying to take out the bullet. Aaliyah gently placed an handkerchief in his mouth for him to have something to bite down on. He groaned loudly, that I panicked myself.
"What if he goes into shock or something?" Nadia fearfully asked again.
"Shut up Nadia, nothing will go wrong," Aaliyah yelled at her.
That was the last thing Asher probably heard us say before falling asleep. At first, we thought he had died when I took out the bullet, and it scared the hell out of us until Aaliyah confirmed he was still breathing. We cleaned up the wound immediately, wrapped a bandage around his chest, and we carried him to my bed so he could have a good rest.
When I woke up the next morning, I quickly got up from the sofa to go check on him in the room. When I entered, I could see Aaliyah gently caressing his packs, running her fingers over them. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed. I yawned loudly, rubbing my eyes to be sure I was fully awake. I halted immediately I saw how Aaliyah was looking at him, as if he was a doll from her childhood.
"Aaliyah what are you doing?" I didn't hesitate to ask as I walked to the glass to open the curtains.
She was startled. I perceived she didn't notice me when I entered, she was lost in thought, probably planning how to fuck him without my knowledge. That was something we all had in common.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm caring for your guest," she replied, getting up from the chair.
"Come on bitch, carry your big fat ass out of here," I jokingly said while I clipped the curtains. The sun's reflection came in, lighting up the room.
Aaliyah laughed, she got up immediately, walking towards the door. "Ingrate award of the year goes to Isla Reyes," I heard her say as she exit the room.
"Shut up, you were just looking out for you," I replied, smiling.
It was as if Asher had been waiting for her to leave, actually, he was waiting for her to leave. He rose up from the bed immediately, shaking his head.
"Thank you for saving me. I've been awake for a while, I had to keep pretending," I heard him say.
I smiled softly, moving to sit beside him on the bed. "Don't mind Aaliyah, she can be weird sometimes."
"Not just weird. The only thing she haven't touched this morning is poll."
"Your poll?" I chuckled.
"My dick," he exclaimed.
My smile softened.
There was a brief silence, as if both of us were trapped in our thoughts. There was so much to say but I didn't know where to start. Perhaps from the part where he got shot, how? Why? and the reason it was my place he came back to.
"Thank you for yesterday," he Interrupted the silence.
"Yeah, about yesterday. What happened?"
He sighed. "We have someome in Berkscorp, leaking out information."
My heart shook a bit, almost as if it was about to jump to the other side. Could this be guilt? But I haven't done something this dangerous. "What made you say so?" I pressed in further.
"Whoever those guys were, they knew I was coming," he added.
"What did they want?"
"I thought It was a regular robbery at first. I hadn't left the spot I parked when some knocked on the glass of my car, before I could react, someone broke the glass at the passenger's side with a crossbar, prompting me to fight back. I had just finished kicking their asses when I got clipped by the sniper. I was lucky."
"Was there anything in particular they were looking for?" I asked again.
He hesitated to reply me, almost for ten seconds, he was silent, then he cleared his throat. "They wanted the flash drive. Immediately they got it, they just drove off in my car."
"The one Robin brought yesterday? What's on it?" I was even more interested.
"Berkscorps most vital information. The ledger, accounts, and the details of the anonymous board members."
I panicked. "They have enough to bring Berkscorp down."
He gently sat up. "No, I already moved the files. The drive was empty."
I sighed loudly.
"We need to inform the cops," I advised as I got up from the bed.
He was silent.
I looked back to him, "I said we have to report to the police."
At this moment, he cleared his throat to speak. "FBI has a file on Berkscorp. The cops can't be involved in this."
"FBI? How come I don't know about this?"
"No one does. It is all in the drive—the interrogations, interviews, evidences and all. Apparently, Berkscorp used to be a construction company that handled the town hall bridge construction about 35 years ago. Some of the funds got diverted somewhere. Somehow, the bridge collapsed 20 years ago, leading to the death of twenty people and four are still in coma. Since then there has been an investigation going on. The least we can do right now is to bring more attention to Berkscorp, everything has to stay normal."
"So, you think whoever is attacking Berkscorp now has something to do with the bridge?" I asked him.
"I'm not sure, but whoever it was, he is a nemesis from the past."
"Do you have anyone you suspect?" I asked to be sure.
"Not yet, no one shows the pattern of betrayal," he replied promptly.
I chuckled softly. "How many people do you even know? What about Robin?"
He was hesitant at first, then he breathed out. "I've known him for years, he wouldn't do such. Not now that I already offered him a job in Berkscorp. Not that he even has the money to hire a killer. And also, if he has intention to steal these information, he could have done it when the laptop was with him."
"Okay," I answered abruptly. "Do you have a plan?"
"No. I don't have any at the moment but I'll think of something."
I shook my head to agree with him and I proceeded to door to exit the room. Then I stopped when an idea popped up in my head. "I think I have a plan."
"What is it?" He asked.