CHAPTER 15
ALEJANDRO'S POV:
"Hello Mom. How are you feeling?" I ask as I lean down and kiss her cheek.
"I'm good today dear. You look tired. Is everything alright?"
Sitting down beside her on the bed, I take her hands in mine. Her cancer is in remission and I'm happy to see her doing better. We have always been close and the thought of losing her practically brings me to my knees.
"No Mom. I need to ask you a few things about Dad. They may upset you though."
"Okay. I will answer you as best as I can but why would they upset me? Does it have something to do with why you and your father don't get along anymore? You never did tell me what happened. It's the only thing you have ever kept from me and your father won't tell me either. What happened?"
"We… We had a disagreement. I found out some things that he's been doing… terrible things Mom. It isn't right. I confronted him about it and…" I didn't realize just how difficult this was going to be. I love my Mom dearly. I don't want to hurt her.
"I understand. Your father is no saint. He used to be such a good man but over the years he has changed. He's been consumed by greed. He's not the man I fell in love with all those years ago." She says sadly.
"He has to be held accountable. There are people that are trying to bring him to justice and I want to help them. I don't want you and Juliana to pay for his mistakes. It's bad enough that Miguel is involved with drugs. The people associated with Dad will kill any of us if it is to their advantage." My mother's face pales at my words and she clutches my hands tightly. I know how much she loves her kids. She would do anything to protect us and I would do anything to protect her. That's why I want to put my father and brother behind bars.
"What do you plan to do?" she asks quietly.
"I need to get into Dad's office downtown without him knowing. Can you help me?" I ask her. I know that she doesn't want her husband and child to go to prison but she has never approved of Miguel's lifestyle. I know that she will want to do the right thing no matter how much it hurts.
"…Si. I'll help you my son. Just tell me what you need me to do."
(^_^)
BOO KI'S POV:
"Are you sure about this?" Ji-Hoo asks me as he types furiously into his laptop.
"For the hundredth time, yes I am. Have you hacked into their security yet?"
"…yes. I'm in. Keep in touch with me so I know where you are. I'll loop the camera video so they won't see you but the rest is up to you. If Woo Bin is injured-"
"I'll get him out of their safely Ji-Hoo. Don't worry. Plus if I can do some snooping on Miguel then that will be a bonus." I say and step out of the car.
Covered from head to toe in black, I soundlessly approach Miguel's Estate on this moonless night. I easily scale the brick fence that surrounds his property and creep towards the house. I watch from the underbrush as several lazy guards talk to each other while they smoke.
"Can you hear me?" I whisper to Ji-Hoo through the earpiece.
"Yes."
Scanning the house as I move away from the guards, I see an open window. I prefer going through windows versus doors.
"The cameras are covered. You're clear." Ji-Hoo says to me and smoothly slip inside. The room is dark and appears to be an empty bedroom. Making my way to the door I listen for sounds of movement in the hallway. Everyone should be asleep at this hour but Miguel might have people patrolling the house. Stepping into the empty hallway, I see a camera close by but trust that Ji-Hoo has already taken care of it.
"The entrance to the basement is close. Go right down the hall, make a left, and it's the third door on your right."
As I follow his directions, I suddenly hear a door start to open and duck behind a corner. I can hear tiny footsteps heading in the opposite direction and peek from my hiding place to see a little girl shuffling down the hall. Breathing a sigh of relief, I continue to the basement door but hesitate.
"Where's his office?" I ask.
"Two more doors down on the left but… do you really want to risk it?"
Keeping quiet, I make my way to Miguel's office and step inside. Ji-Hoo already hacked into his computer when we first arrived in Colombia and didn't find anything important on it. So that means he must use other methods of storing his information. Carefully digging through the drawers of his desk I hunt for flash drives or external hard drives. But I highly doubt he would leave them lying around in a drawer. Seeing keys to a Maserati sitting on the desk, I quickly pocket them. I remember seeing the black car sitting outside the front door. It would make for a quick escape if needed.
Moving through the room, I start searching for a safe and finally locate it inside an end table by the sofa. It's electronic but not difficult to crack with the equipment Ji-Hoo gave me. Digging out the device from my small backpack, I hook it up to the safe and wait for it to enter the correct combination. The safe unlocks with a soft click and I smile as I see two external hard drives inside. Placing everything in my backpack I close the safe and head for the door. Before I can open it, I hear voices and pause. Opening it a crack, I see two men leave the basement and walk down the hallway. Once they are gone, I enter through the door they just left and make my way down the stairs.
"I've only seen a few guys but there aren't a lot of cameras down there. Be careful." Ji-Hoo says quietly. At the bottom of the stairs, I can see a couple of guys talking at the end of the dimly lit hallway. I'm betting Woo Bin is behind the door they are standing in front of.
"Can you get into their power supply?" I whisper to Ji-Hoo.
"Already done."
"Be ready to cut off power to the house when I tell you." I silently make my way to the two guards and slam their heads against each other, knocking them out. I'm grateful that Miguel keeps some of his doors "old school" with simple locks instead of electronic ones. Though I bet the ones that guard his money and drugs are much more high tech. Several of the doors in this hallway are electronic but not this one. I easily unlock it and drag the men inside.
"Who are you?" a groggy voice asks and I turn to see a badly beaten Woo Bin. His right leg is heavily bandaged and I can see the blood seeping through it. Keeping my anger at his condition in check, I quickly make my way over to him.
"Can you walk?" I ask him as I untie him.
"Y-Yeah. I think so. B-Boo Ki-yah? I-Is that you?" He asks me weakly. The only thing that is visible is my eyes. Everything else is covered.
"Yes. It's me Woo Bin-ah. I'm getting you out of here."
"You shouldn't ha-"
"Don't start Woo Bin. We don't have time for this." I cut him off. Grabbing his arm, I wrap it around my shoulders to lift him up off the chair and walk towards the door. Listening carefully, I hear no one in the hall and open the door.
Despite his injuries, Woo Bin is on high alert and does his best to not slow us down. The hallway is eerily quiet and hopefully no one will wake up till we are long gone.
Before we reach the stairs, I hear the door at the top open and quickly pull Woo Bin up against the wall so they can't see us.
"Ji-Hoo, now." As soon as the words leave my mouth, the lights go out. I hear angry curses from the stairs as they fumble around in the dark.
"Stay here." I whisper to Woo Bin and feel him nod. Its pitch black down here but I know how to rely on my hearing. There are three men on the stairs and I quickly silence them with blows to the head. Two of them are just unconscious but the third tries to fight back and judging from the sticky substance on my gloved hands, he probably won't wake up. Shaking the thought from my mind, I quickly reach Woo Bin and begin to guide him up the stairs.
Once the door to the main floor is open, I can finally see a little better but I have been so focused on keeping Woo Bin steady that I didn't notice the figure waiting by the door. My eyes widen in horror as I feel the barrel of the gun against my head and hear the sickening click as he cocks it.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Miguel growls. He barely gets the sentence out and Woo Bin lunges at him. He wrestles Miguel for the gun but he is still weak from his injuries. Grabbing Miguel's hand with both of my own, I try to pry the gun from his grip but he stubbornly holds on. I can hear Ji-Hoo yelling in my ear but I ignore it and focus solely on Miguel. Hearing shouts and footsteps heading our way, I slam my foot into the back of Miguel's knee. He falls to the floor in pain but at the same time, he pulls the trigger and barely misses hitting Woo Bin in the head. My heart starts to pound in fear as I hear the other men getting closer. We are out of time.
Switching myself off I let my instincts take over. Putting both my hands on either side of Miguel's head I twist it sharply and with a sickening snap he slumps lifelessly to the floor, his neck broken. Grabbing Woo Bin's arm I quickly pull him down the corridor, ignoring the shocked look in his eyes. We reach the main entrance to the house and I can see the front door directly ahead of us.
"Who are you?" A tiny voice asks and I turn to see a little girl staring at us. It's the same one I saw in the hallway earlier.
Leave no witnesses. Kill anyone that sees you whether it's a man, woman, or child… The words that my grandfather engrained into every assassin chants in my head as I stare at her. My reason is gone. For the moment I am no longer Kim Boo Ki but a Maeng Assassin running on pure instinct. I step towards her drawing my knife when I am stopped by a strong hand on my arm.
"What are you doing?" Woo Bin hisses in my ear.
Do not speak. Never let them hear you… My grandfather's words echo in my head. Easily pulling away from him, I make my way towards the girl and her eyes widen in fear at the sight of the knife. The glass of milk slips from her hands and shatters on the floor.
"Boo Ki?! What the fuck are you doing?!" Woo Bin asks as he grabs my arm again. My focus is solely on the girl and the loud whispers in my head continue as if they are surrounding me. They drown out everything else. But as I see the terror and the tears in her eyes I snap back to reality.
NO! THIS ISN'T ME! NOT ANYMORE! I DON'T WANT THIS! my mind screams and my grandfather's voice disappears.
"Run and hide. It isn't safe here." I whisper to her as I sheath my knife. She immediately runs away and I try to ignore the sickening feeling of guilt in my stomach.
"What the hell was that all about?" Woo Bin asks but I simply grab his arm again and drag him towards the door.
"Are you still with me Ji-Hoo?" I ask.
"Yes. What do you need?"
"I need a distraction. Any ideas?"
An alarm suddenly goes off towards the back of the house as I dig out the keys I grabbed earlier and help Woo Bin into the car.
"Thanks Ji-Hoo. I'm driving him out of here. We'll meet you back at the house."
"Understood."
"This is a nice car." Woo Bin says with a groan. He sits back in his seat with pain clearly etched on his face. I simply nod and speed the sleek Maserati towards the main gate.
"You have a lot of explaining to do Boo Ki-yah." Woo Bin says weakly. Our escape drained every bit of energy he had. I remain silent and soon hear his soft snores as he sleeps.
I want to throw up. I hate myself right now. How could I let the assassin in me take over so easily? That isn't who I am anymore. I almost killed that little girl! I try to block out the memories as I make my way home. It was the death of a child that turned Ji-Yong and I away from this life and yet here I am …stepping right back into this role. I only wanted to save someone I love, not fall back into that dark abyss.
I don't want that life… Please… I glance at Woo Bin's sleeping form and brush away the lone tear that escapes my watery eyes. Please Woo Bin-ah… Help me…
A/N: Mianhae(Sorry)… I know I've been a horrible updater. I hope this chapter kind of makes up for it.
I will try my hardest to get back into my routine of updating weekly again. To all of you who have stuck by me, gamsahabnida(Thank you).
To WooKi fan: Thank you and I'm glad you are enjoying it. ^^
To all of my readers: I just want to say thank you so much for the love you have shown for my story and my characters. It means a lot to me because the characters mean a lot to me. That may sound strange but Saia and Boo Ki both contain a piece of me in their personalities. So thank you my amazing readers. I hope you continue to enjoy reading it.