Fifty Six

CHAPTER 56

Golden University, New York.

The hurried footsteps of someone who seemed to be in a hurry sounded faint to Alicia's ears. But her hunch was never wrong. Alicia finally decided to pause as soon as she reached the campus gate to remove the earphones that had been clogging her ears.

She turned around and found Brittany (her best friend) there.

Brittany Scoots, the blonde-haired girl who was wearing a white jumpsuit and black ankle boots that afternoon, looked out of breath when she reached Alicia. Her temples were covered in sweat and her mouth was open, seemingly trying to suck in the oxygen around her.

"Britt?"

Brittany and Alicia had been friends for the past two years and they had both chosen the same college to continue their education. Although both of them were not in the same major concentration. Alicia chose criminology and Brittany returned to her passion for design.

"Oh my, Alicia!" Brittany's breathing was still labored, making it sound strange now. "I called you earlier and I look stupid now for not knowing you were wearing earphones in the first place," she grumbled.

Which actually made Alicia slightly amused and smile. "I didn't know you were calling me. Do I have to apologize to you, Britt?"

"Huh. Forget it!" Brittany pushed her hair back. "There's something more important than that right now," she said excitedly, as if her energy had returned to her body very, very quickly.

"Hm, alright. What is it?"

"Nicholas invited me to the theater center in Town Square tonight. Would you like to join us?" Brittany blinked her eyes a few times. Showing an artificially cute expression;hoping that Alicia would agree to her invitation.

But Alicia only mumbled softly. "I don't think Ace will agree. You know that he's--"

"Very possessive of you," Brittany cut in. She then sighed harshly and crossed her arms over her chest. "That sucks."

But the blue-eyed girl smiled and shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "We all know she's been depressed lately. I don't think I can add to his burden with things like this, Britt." Brittany pursed her lips. "How about you just go with Luke?"

"God, it's so boring," Brittany complained. "But I guess I don't really have a choice."

The honking of the horn coming from the silver car in front of them suddenly interrupted the conversation. It stopped right in front of Alicia and Brittany. They both knew that the car belonged to Ace, Alicia's boyfriend.

"He's late again," Brittany said sarcastically.

And again, Brittany's complaints were just taken for granted by Alicia. She just chuckled amusedly and walked away from Brittany with a wave. "I'll call you later. Bye, Britt. Have a great drama performance!"

Brittany waved back at Alicia. "Bye, Alicia."

And the tall girl wearing a black T-shirt and matching ripped jeans that afternoon got into the car. She greeted the owner with a warm smile.

"How was your day, dear?" Ace immediately buckled his girlfriend into her seat belt. "You look tired."

And Alicia nodded. "A lot of cases are a bit hard to solve and it's making my head spin," she admitted.

The corners of Acepun's lips turned up. "My boyfriend is very cool. But don't push yourself." He rubbed the top of Alicia's head affectionately. "I'll take you home now."

The silver car finally sped away from the university. It was headed for Alicia's luxury flat on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York. She had been living there alone since she entered the university, about two-three months ago. And her foster father was paying for her living expenses now.

Ace and Alicia got off as soon as they reached the front of the flat. A habit he never missed was opening his car door for her and walking her all the way to the front entrance.

"What about your quiz, Alicia?" Ace made small talk before Alicia walked into his house.

And the dark-haired girl immediately smiled and hugged him tightly. It gave a calming sensation inside Ace who had been holding back. Alicia didn't know that Ace really needed that hug right now.

Then they finally loosened the hug and now looked at each other. "I don't think you need to ask," Alicia said sarcastically. "I'll get some things ready for tomorrow. What about you?"

Ace gave a quick shrug of his shoulders and his expression turned grim. "I'll cover for Dad while he's in the hospital." Those dark brown eyes clearly showed sadness. "Take care of yourself while I'm gone."

Again, Alicia could only smile faintly in front of Ace. "You'd better go, I think it's going to rain soon." Although she knew, the rain wouldn't be any worse than Ace's current situation.

The tall man immediately kissed Alicia's forehead and said, "Okay. See you soon, dear." before driving away in his silver car.

And after making sure that her lover's car had driven away, Alicia entered the house. She stretched all her muscles as if all the activities on campus had taken all her energy. Understandably, Alicia had faced a lot of impromptu quizzes in the past few days and it had certainly exhausted her.

Next, Alicia decided to restore her mood by cleaning up and relaxing in front of the TV. There wasn't much that caught Alicia's attention, other than crime news for her university research.

Until suddenly a headline appeared on Alicia's TV screen that afternoon and caught her attention.

A shooting had taken place and from the information we had received, the number of victims had risen to three. The police suspect a terrorist attack...

Drrt... Drrt...

Her cell phone, which had been sitting on the couch, suddenly vibrated. It broke the concentration of Alicia, who was focused on listening to the information on the TV.

And after checking her cell phone, Nicholas' name appeared on the screen.

Nicholas Gray, a young detective she had become friends with.

"Yes, hello?" said Alicia flatly.

But the voice on the other side was the exact opposite of the atmosphere in Alicia's home. Through her cell phone, Alicia could hear a boisterous sound, full of noise. Cries for help and ambulance sirens overlapped. Shouts of command and screams of fear were mixed together.

Nicholas must be on the scene right now.

"Alicia, I need your help," Nicholas said, audibly shouting. And Alicia took the phone away from her ear for a few moments before putting it back to her ear.

"What's wrong?" Alicia looked back at the TV in front of her, her gut feeling again telling her something. "It's very noisy over there. Can you pull over somewhere a little quieter, Nic?"

And it seemed that the detective immediately agreed. Alicia could no longer hear the noise that was disturbing her hearing now. Nicholas must have pulled over somewhere else.

"A murder that took place in downtown New York," he said breathlessly. "Can you dictate the chronology of the shooting for us?"

His brow furrowed deeply. "What?"

"I need your help, Alicia. Can you come now?"

~