A TRAITOR

"Is she totally fine?" Akki was trying to sound indifferent but his face and words seemed to disagree.

"Yes, she is physically fine Master Akki but emotionally and mentally I think she is not. I can see that she is very worried about you." Lawrence gave him a more a specific answer.

'Worried of me now huh!' He smiled within, thinking from the idea that Zowie already had a seed of feeling slowly growing in her heart for him. 'I am sorry Zowie but this is a very personal matter on me and I must not give a room for you in my heart.'

Akki gave Lawrence a poker-face in return. He seemed not moved by his answer.

"What happened to the plan?" He prompted.

"I am really sorry Master Akki. As I spoke to the team leader whom I ordered the said act of ambush, he said that they were already posting closer to the area. But they were ambushed by a group of men with baseball bats."

"Who are these people? How come they knew about our coming? I thought you have the area under control!" Akki's voice was raising.

"They are the Bat gang Master Akki. I believe, our visit at Zowie's office might have give them some news about our arrival. I am sorry Master Akki, I was not able to foresee that they will take the risk of putting a lot of men just to put her down."

"Put her down? You mean they were only after Zowie and that we are the collateral damage?" Akki could hardly hold himself from the idea.

"Based on my assumptions Master Akki, I believe you are right." Lawrence replied and gave a nod.

'That must be the reason why a man was trying to open the car when Zowie was in it and another had aimed a gun on her. She was really their target!'

"But why? Why the gangs are after her? First the Knife gang and now this Bat gang? For the record, these gangs and any other gangs were never part of her life within the five years that she had lived back to this country." Akki was really curious now. "Or by any chance, did you slip away this tiny information about my wife?"

"I, myself can't answer you that Master Akki. All I know is that I have given you all the data I can get about her. And the last time I checked, I never let any thing about her slide without my knowledge." Lawrence was telling it sincerely.

Akki looked at him seriously, trying to scan him whether he was telling the truth. Then, he concluded that it was really the truth.

"But I believe your wife can answer you Master Akki." Lawrence added.

"My wife?" Akki's thought was a little entangled. He was trying to find any instance that might be the reason for Lawrence to arrive at such idea but he could not.

"Yes Master Akki. Mistress might give you a little explanation about the gang."

"On what instance did you thought that of Lawrence?"

"This morning when you were shot and became unconscious. Mistress had ordered me to carry you into the car while she will be at our back with the guns."

"With the guns? She know how to use them?" Akki's face was in complete disbelief.

"This is something I also did not know about her. I did not see it with my own eyes how she used it because she instructed me to just focused myself in getting you into the car. But I know what I heard. I am very sure that she is a gun expert." Lawrence' voice was serious but his face had a trace of disbelief as well.

Akki was so astonished by what he said. He felt that the time he spent for studying her was just a waste.

'She's stubborn and simple in many ways, she sings and now she is expert with guns! What else should I know about her? I am like going back to the first base of knowing her!'

"Your wife had shot a flawless nine bullets against nine remaining opponents in less than a minute. As we leave the area, I was able to secretly glanced for the two people she had shot. And both got headshots." Lawrence continued.

"On that note…" Akki paused from talking when he saw a shadow in the small space below the door. He was guessing there must be someone standing outside, perhaps his wife.

"If I was late for any second, my wife could have been killed because you and your team's incompetence!" He lightly screamed.

Lawrence got confused at his sudden change of mood. And his eyes widened when the door unexpectedly opened together with Zowie's appearance.

Zowie gave Lawrence a disappointed look.

"I am very sorry Mistress. I was about to be going to your room to tell you about Master Akki's waking up but he stopped me from disturbing you." He reasoned.

She did not care for his reason and went immediately to Akki's side.

"Don't use your strength yelling at Lawrence. You need to rest for your body to fully recover. What is more important now is that we are both fine. And he must be tired today so I think he needs to rest now." She straightly expressed while caressing Akki's hand.

Akki looked at Lawrence with a meaningful message.

Lawrence could also sense what Zowie was trying to tell him.

"I must leave Master Akki and Mistress Zowie. Have a good night." He hastily went out. 'This two is really making my life difficult!' Then, he sighed.

"Are you feeling better now?" Zowie was a bit uneasy of how to address him.

Akki just nodded. He also felt her uneasiness.

"That's good. But before anything else, can I ask a favor?" Zowie instantly opened.

"Anything for my wife?" Akki responded.

"Can we forget about the deal? You can call me any sweet name you want as long as you will allow me to call you hubby!" She boldly said.

Akki got surprised to her boldness. He can feel his head aching a little for this new personality of her. She was back to herself. The kind of woman he met her for the first time.

"Yeah! That would be great!" He was happy because he could feel that he was slowly winning her heart.

"Thank you hubby!" She uttered followed by her sweetest smile.

Akki was a bit annoyed by it. He did not like it because he could feel his heart jumping.

"And thank you for catching a bullet for me." She became serious. "No one had ever done such risk for me. And I am very grateful for it."

'Don't get me wrong wifey. I save you because of your mother! I still need you so I can get her!" Akki tried to put up these words on his mind while giving a smile at Zowie.

"I would catch every bullet just for you my wife." He replied.

"No, don't do that ever again. You don't know how hard that was for me, thinking someone might die to save me. I can't live with that." A trace of sadness was all over her face.

Akki begun to remember what Lawrence said about her a while ago.

"Lawrence told me about what happened and he also told me that you asked him for guns." He was wondering how would she explained it to him. Will she lie or tell him the truth?

"I know how to use them. In fact, I love using guns and I am very good at it. My mother taught me that for self-defense." She casually replied.

Akki did not know how to react at her honesty. He was again annoyed by bringing her "mother" to the conversation but it was a good opportunity for him to ask Zowie further about her. His eyes glistened but was also frightened at the fact that her wife was good at guns.

***

Outside the villa.

A man was talking over the phone.

"Yes Master. The lady is expert at using guns. You must not underestimate her. And so far, they still don't have any idea yet. I will just keep you updated about them."

After ending the call, he deleted the caller's number and went inside the villa.