Twenty

CHAPTER 20

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The sound of knocking on the door startled them. They exchanged glances with shocked expressions. Brittany reflexively covered her mouth before whispering to Alicia and Ace, "What now? There's someone else at the door!"

Alicia looked at Ace who was now staring at the door of her room. It was almost midnight, who was visiting her room this late?

"I'll check it out," Ace said in a low voice. He also looked cautious, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation. The man raised his hands in the air, then continued, "You guys just hide under the bed. Make sure you don't make a sound when I open the door."

Alicia and Brittany nodded their heads as Ace said that. They both ran and lowered their bodies just to hide. Whoever was outside Ace's door could have reported the two of them to the dorm elites. They would be in trouble if reported.

"I'm scared, Alicia," Brittany whispered, then covered her mouth with her trembling body.

But Alicia's hands immediately grasped Brittany's hands. She made Brittany look up, their eyes locked behind Ace's sizable bed. It was a specially-ordered dormitory mattress, just tall enough to hide both Alicia and Brittany's bodies underneath.

"We'll be fine," Alicia replied, trying to calm Brittany down.

This was Brittany's first reckless act. It was only natural that her whole body was shaking now.

Ace walked cautiously towards the door of her room which kept knocking from outside. The longer it went on, the louder it sounded. Occasionally, the knocking sounded forceful and urgent. Hunting whoever was in the room to come out to face him immediately. Ace took a deep breath to stabilize his breathing, before finally unlocking his room and finding a familiar figure standing at his door.

One of Ace's eyebrows immediately shot up. "Luke?"

"Sorry, Ace," Luke squeaked nervously, he then looked at Nicholas who was standing next to him with a watchful gaze. "He made me show your room."

Ace rolled his eyes lazily, then saw Luke standing in front of him. No, Luke wasn't standing alone. He looked down in fear beside Detective Nicholas, as Ace now turned his gaze to Nicholas.

Ace looked at Nicholas and then Luke in turn. "Why are you standing in front of my room?" he asked rhetorically. He looked at Nicholas straight on. "What do you want, Detective?"

Luke sighed and glanced at Ace skeptically. "He already knows everything, Ace."

Ace crossed his arms over his chest. "Now what?" his tone sounds surrendered and annoyed at the same time. The undercut haired man wanted to curse Luke for his carelessness. But in the end, it was all pointless.

Nicholas raised one eyebrow. "What do you think?"

And with one angry snort, Ace ended the conversation. He opened the door to his room wide. Giving full access to his uninvited guest. Ace then hurriedly closed the door again, before anyone else got suspicious.

Nicholas walked into Ace's room and his eyes roamed around curiously. He didn't see anything suspicious, other than the side of Ace's bed moving slowly. Nicholas then chuckled softly and exclaimed, "I know you're there."

Alicia and Brittany who felt they had been caught red-handed could only surrender and slowly came out of their hiding place. Both of them just stared at the men in the room awkwardly. Especially when they faced Nicholas.

Nicholas then sat on the edge of the bed and took his cell phone from his pants pocket. He stared intently at the screen displaying an E-memo. "If what Luke said about James' involvement with drug dealers is true. Then most likely, the perpetrators of James and Elena's murders are the same person," Nicholas said suddenly.

Ace approached and squinted suspiciously. "Wait a minute, what do you mean James is related to a drug dealer?"

Alicia and Brittany also looked at Nicholas curiously. Afterward, Britt interrupted, "Nic, my boyfriend wouldn't touch that dirty stuff," in a slightly shaky voice.

Luke stepped forward and caught the attention of everyone in the room. "Maybe it's time you found out, Britt." He looked down for a moment and sighed heavily, before looking back up and looking Brittany straight in the eye. "On the day he died, I did leave the hall to play in Ace's room. I saw him talking to someone on the phone." Luke walked over to Ace's bed and sat down next to Nicholas. "I was going to go to him, until I heard James say he'd pay for all the cocaine when he had the money."

Ace squinted suspiciously, "No wonder he forced me to borrow money that day," he nodded his head. "Why didn't you ever tell me, Luke?!" Ace then hit Luke on the arm in front of him.

Luke just scratched the nape of his neck awkwardly. "I only told Detective Nicholas all this when I was in the hall, but I thought you guys needed to know the truth." Luke looked at them in turn. "When James left hallway 001, I saw Elena come out of hallway 001 as well."

Nicholas turned his head. "Elena?"

Luke nodded. "Yes. I wanted to come out of my hiding place and say hello to her. But her face was very pale and she seemed to be in a hurry." Luke sighed softly. "They both look like they're being followed by someone or something," he said doubtfully. "They look frightened."

Brittany, who had been silent, suddenly burst into tears. "James... It can't be like that," she said sadly. "I, I know exactly what kind of person he is. I... I'm sure." Brittany covered her mouth and began to cry harder. She buried her face in the crook of Alicia's neck and cried her heart out in Alicia's arms. "I know James couldn't have done it, Alicia," she whispered.

Everyone was now looking at Brittany with pity. No matter how badly James behaved and treated everyone, he was still someone who mattered to Brittany.

Alicia sighed softly and whispered, "I trust you." and loosened their embrace. Alicia looked intensely into Brittany's eyes.

.

.

.

"So, let's find the culprit and prove James' innocence."