His Lovely Ward

Chapter 20

“Good,” the doctor nodded and left.

  *****

Angelica was wheeled up to her room after a few minutes. She was resting, deep in sleep, giving him time to finally calm down and think.

John Stewart, Stan, and Pamela had been calling him but he ignored their calls, only sending them the same message that Angelica was fine. He didn’t give them any information about the cause of the incident. He couldn’t trust any of them.

The salad Angelica ate was supposed to be John Stewart’s. That meant the target was John. And as much as he wanted to blame the murders on the man, he was certain now that he was not responsible. He was supposed to be dead, but somehow, things went wrong and Angelica was the one suffering.

That only left Stan, Pamela, and Garrett. One of them wanted John dead. Kevin was dead because he wanted out. But why John this time? He seemed to be enjoying the money he was getting from the organization. Why kill him?

It would have been reasonable if Angelica was the target. She was Patrick’s daughter and the killer was afraid she might know something about her father’s connection to the authorities. And she had been obviously targeted from the very beginning. But John Stewart was just out of the story. Henry could picture him to be the killer, but not the intended victim.

Who would want to kill him and why? Pamela was close to him like a mother to a son. He knew because Patrick told him a long time ago. Stan was not close to John, but the man was like a neutral party. That left Garrett. The man had been acting different lately and even Angelica noticed that. He was jumpy and he was the only one who did not jump on his feet when Angelica was gasping for breath earlier that evening. In fact, he was the only one who seemed to be calm.

Henry stirred from his deep thoughts when he noticed Angelica’s hand move. He looked up and met her eyes. Her lids were half-closed but she was smiling. “Did I sleep?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“I told you it’s not John,” she whispered hoarsely.

He nodded. “Once you’re alright, I’ll go check on Stan and Garrett.”

“I’ll come with you.”

He started to protest but she gave him a hard look.

“If you won’t let me, I’ll still come after you.”

With a frustrated sigh, he leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Okay, but no getting out of the car for you.”

“Deal,” she smiled and closed her eyes once more.

  *****

She was not sleeping. She was just tired.

Henry might have thought she was because he took her hand and she felt him plant his lips against it. Her heart swelled with tenderness. He kissed her on the forehead and she almost melted in the bed. It was a simple gesture yet it warmed her more than the kisses they had shared before.

It was different and she was sad about it. Soon, time would come that she would have nothing from him but these precious memories.

She took a deep breath to drown the pang in her chest. It was something she learned to do to shut the pain whenever it came. She was strong and she could get through anything if they came to an end. She had to because she would have no choice. Henry was clear on that. And for the first time, she would allow him to make that decision. She wouldn’t chase him around if the time would come that they would have to part. She would only hurt herself in the process because she knew he would and could never give her what she really wanted.