Henry felt real fear for the first time in many years. Fear not for his life but for someone else’s. “Dalton!” he shouted once again, coughing with the smoke that followed the blast. People started running away, thinking it was a terrorist attack. Some of them lingered while incessantly talking on their phones. Others were busy taking pictures and making videos. Henry was sure alarms would come blaring in no time. But that was not his concern right now. “Dalton!” he shouted louder.
“Here!” he heard her cry out not far from the source of the explosion. Henry could have broken his spine with the turn he made to frantically search the premises and trace Angelica’s voice. “I’m here! I’m fine!”
He saw her arms first, flailing over her, her whole body buried under over a dozen black garbage bags. “Are you okay?” he asked, shouting over his lungs, as he approached.
“Help!” she cried out once again and he got hold of her hand and pulled with all his strength. He did not notice the strong smell of the garbage bags, too occupied to see if she was in any way injured. This was the second time that she almost got killed. But this time, it was not her fault. It was his.
“Are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital.” But she was not hearing him as she looked at the spot where her once glimmering car once were. He on the other hand was busy looking over her messed-up look. Her red hair was everywhere and her black clothes were now tainted with an ashy color. And she was missing one of her high-heeled shoes. All in all, she was physically fine. He couldn’t see any blood and that was good enough for him.
“My car…” she stuttered, taking a step towards the rumble of what used to be her sports car.
“You’re in shock, let’s go,” he held her by the shoulders and started to guide her to his car. People were all over the place now, and he could already see a van of reporters coming their way. “I have to take you to the hospital. Are you sure you’re okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. No hospital, please,” she said absently, her gaze still on her burning vehicle.
“You’re in shock,” he insisted.
She looked him in the eyes and said, “I’m a doctor. I know I’m okay, okay?” she shrugged off from his grip and climbed into his car.
Henry sighed and followed.
“Take me to Chanty’s,” she ordered.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to plan a freaking party with what happened to you,” he shook his head as he turned on the ignition.
“Take me to Chanty,” she insisted.
“Fine,” he didn’t want to argue any further, knowing she was too stubborn for her own good. “But I’ll be waiting not far from your friend’s house just in case.”
“Fine,” she snapped and turned away from him. “Gross, I stink!”
Henry just shook his head and drove off. He knew the police would look for her and they could answer their questions later. Right now, he had to take her away. Their enemy was getting desperate to eliminate her and he couldn’t risk it. He’d risked enough of her safety already.
*****
Angelica sat frozen in the car, her heart still racing from the explosion, but that was way mellow than how she felt witnessing her car getting burned and shattered into pieces. Her car…her precious red, shining, car was gone.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look so well,” Henry spoke once again, disrupting her thoughts.
“I’m fine, okay? I’m just really pissed,” she snapped.
“I figured that out already,” he nodded, then turned to her. “You’re pissed because…?”
“Because I just purchased that car a month ago! Do you think these things are covered by insurance? I need to check on it,” she took her bag and rummaged inside. “I need to call and inquire about it—”
Her words were halted by the sudden screech of the car and she might have crashed her head on the dashboard if not for the seatbelt.
“What the hell! Drive carefully, will you?” she cried out. But when she looked at Henry, his face was reading surprise. “What?”
“You’re pissed because your car was blown up?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes, of course. Who wouldn’t be?”
“You’re not pissed you almost got killed? Are you insane?”
“Well, I already figured that one out,” she answered innocently. “But now that you think of it, I think I’m even more pissed.”
“Why?” he asked dryly.
“Because my kidnapper, slash, killer or bomber or whatever, already have two points before I even got the chance to get even. And now they got my car blown up. I really need to find out who this person is fast,” she huffed out.
“You’re something, you know that?” Henry was looking at her more incredulously. “You just realized that’s what we’re supposed to do other than mourning over your car? Unbelievable, just…freaking…don’t bother, I’m still processing how you think, so just…shut up.”
“What’s your problem? I was sitting here quietly just one minute ago and you asked me a question. I answered, and now you’re pissed. Sure, fine, I’ll shut up as long as you keep your opinions about me all to yourself!” she said the last few words with enough emotion that made him glare at her. He started to maneuver the car back on the road.
“Impossible,” she heard him mutter.
“Irresistible, you mean,” she shot back, held up one hand to silence his protest, and turned to her side to glare at the window.
*****
“Make it quick,” Henry told her when they arrived near Chanty’s house and she opened her side of the car.
“I’ll take my own precious time, thank you,” she said gracefully before slamming the door.
Henry wanted to shout to his lung’s content and let out every infuriating feeling he’d been holding out since he met the lady. He decided against it, suspecting she’d only enjoy torturing him more often if she heard his outburst. He turned off the car’s ignition and watched her make her way across the street towards Chanty’s house.
He also noticed that Philip’s car was already parked outside and his friend was probably inside with his wife. For a moment, his thoughts wandered around Philip’s situation with his transient wife. As his friend’s lawyer, he was the only person who knew of the real reason why his friend went to all the trouble of buying a wife. Maybe Cassandra knew about it now, he was not sure.
Philip had always been controlled by his dad and his family had been bugging him about getting a wife and that was why he finally thought of an outrageous answer to his problem when Cassandra’s father approached him to loan some money. Henry was the one who checked out Cassandra’s background and he was the one who told Philip Cassandra might be the perfect wife. But now, every time he saw his friend, he was not sure which of the couple was suffering more. He never really thought his friend would go as far as what he did, but maybe—as Henry still suspected—his friend was getting attached to his wife. Maybe he should delay getting those divorce papers done just in case his friend changed his mind.
As his thought drifted back to matters at hand, Henry alerted his senses and looked around the premises for any suspicious activities. Nothing so far, but he with Angelica Dalton, things could always go wrong.
*****
“What the hell happened to you?” Chanty demanded the moment she got inside the house. Angelica knew everybody’s eyes were on hers, including baby Willie’s who appeared to be playing with Philip in the living room.
“Don’t ask. It’s confidential,” she said, tying her red hair in a bun and wiping her face with a towel. She knew Cassandra and Chanty were looking at her like she was completely a different person and she knew why. They were so used seeing her in her usual glamour of dresses and make-up, but right now, she was far from that. She knew she smelled unpleasant and that she might as well throw her clothes in a garbage can.
“You’ve been saying that a lot,” Chanty told her, which was true, because her friend had been calling her, wanting to know what she was up to and all she could tell her was that everything she did was confidential.
“Go have a shower, will you?” Cassandra told her, covering her nose. “You really stink.”
“Ugh, don’t mention it, I know,” she went to the direction of Chanty’s room. “Oh, hi there, Philip,” she waved and disappeared behind the door.
“What happened to her?” she heard Philip ask.
“Don’t ask, we don’t know,” Chanty answered. “Hey, Ange! Don’t use my soap!”
Angelica just rolled her eyes, grabbed a clean towel and entered Chanty’s bathroom. She took her time, submerging her body under the tub full of water with rose-scented soap and closed her eyes. She felt tired all of a sudden. Hell, she felt exhausted. Who wouldn’t? She met a group of lawyers working for the freaking Mafia, made an act of being a bad guy, almost got killed in a blasted explosive car, and watched that precious Porsche shatter into tiny pieces and then was sent to be buried in a dozen black garbage bags.
She spent almost an hour in the bathroom before she urged herself to get out the tub and borrowed one of Chanty’s dresses. Later, she joined her friends to plan Willie’s party.
Since they were done with the most important details, they did not really do anything more except calling a lot of people about the food and the balloons and some bubble-maker machines.
But Angelica literally slept through half the time, just nodding at whatever suggestion she heard.
She forgot about Henry waiting for her outside until Cassandra and Philip got ready to leave. She envied them, really. They looked perfectly happy together and it seemed that it would be for the long haul. Some part of her wanted to be at Cassandra’s place. She wanted to be the one Philip was looking at lovingly and to feel his touches. But that would be impossible now. She knew that he would never be like that with her, and she knew that she could never make him smile like that. She was no Cassandra and she was perfectly fine with that. Philip was just a passing infatuation—a dream she knew she didn’t want to pursue.
What about Henry, then? That voice asked out of nowhere.
Ah, yes, Henry Bell. That man was difficult and difficult was her game. She smiled inwardly, thinking what life would be like with an NSA agent. Far from Cassandra, obviously, she thought. It will be full of excitement and fun, and I like excitement and fun. Her train of thought was getting bolder by each second and she found herself giddy to be with the man again. All thoughts of Philip and Cassandra went out the door with them as the couple took their leave.
“I have to go as well,” she announced to Chanty, taking baby Willie from her and kissing him on the cheek. “Bye, buddy. See you at your party.”
“You seem different today, you know that?” Chanty pointed out.
“Of course I’m not. I’m just tired, I guess,” she said, in a hurry to leave. “I’ll be here the day after tomorrow, okay?”
Chanty just gave a nod and kissed her friend on the cheek. “Be careful, okay?”
“Yeah,” she smiled. I should be more careful, really.
*****
“What took you so long?” Henry complained when she appeared.
“I fell asleep,” she replied, climbing inside the car. “Let’s go before Chanty spots us,” she told him, strapping her seatbelt.
“I’ve been thinking...” he started, but she suddenly turned her head towards him with a crazy grin.
“You’ve been thinking about us?”
Once again, he was lost for a moment there, and when he realized what she meant, he closed his eyes and let out a breath—a new technique he developed to keep his cool around Angelica. “No, and stop right there. I was thinking that we should set up a party.”
“What for?”
“A welcoming part—an acquaintance party— as the biggest shareholder in the firm. It will give me time to talk to them freely now, get as much information as I can--the works. I decided that we should find out who the mole is first before I can do my work with the organization.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
“Okay?”
“Of course,” she grinned at him. “Parties are my specialty, don’t you know that?”
Henry groaned, “I should have figured that one out by now.”
“And you’ll be my date. How exciting, don’t you think?”
He just pursed his lips to close his mouth. If he would utter another word, it would surely not be nice.
*****
If there was anyone who could put up a party in just a day, it was Angelica. Not that she had hosted a lot herself, but she had been to a lot of it—crashed or not—that she knew the works and knew the right people to call.
She spent the next day calling some friends who would be glad to offer their services and Henry watched her do the work, from invitations to the food, with ease and comfort that it amazed him. She had decided to hold the party the next day, same day as Willie’s party.
“We don’t have to waste time,” she had replied when he suggested they take time and do the party by next week. “I’ll probably be dead next week.”
With that statement, he decided to keep his mouth shut and let her do the works. And she really did it without any evidence of difficulty. All the partners confirmed their attendance by phone, and the other lawyers who worked at the firm were itching to meet her.
“I should have put on a theme or something,” she said, pouting her lips, the night before the party.
They were seated in his living room and Henry looked up from the book he was reading when he heard her. “I would have disagreed on that,” he said flatly.
“It would have been amazing. A Greek-themed party, or a Poker-themed party, or a Vegas-themed party—”
“Can you picture out Kevin dressed as Hermes? I think no,” he interrupted dryly.
Angelica laughed with mirth and he found himself liking the sound of it. It was like that of a child’s, innocent and fresh. “No, I don’t think it will work. Yeah, you’re right. A formal cocktail party is enough.” She gave out a long sigh and stretched out on the couch. Henry’s eyes looked over the edge of the book he was reading and studied her. She was wearing a white spaghetti-strapped shirt tight enough to show her curves and a pair of short brown shorts. She was lying on the couch with her eyes closed, her arms over her head, her breathing even. His eyes landed on her breasts, then down her flat stomach, her gorgeously curved hips, her slender legs, then back to her lovely peaceful face that was free of make-up and foundation. His eyes devoured her full, parted lips, her smoothly shaped nose and her long lashes shadowing her high cheekbones.
“A kiss will be payment enough for your little wanderings,” she uttered, breaking the spell he was in.
Henry blinked his eyes a few times and cleared his throat, “What?”
“You were looking me over, weren’t you?” she asked, eyes still closed.
He forced a dry chuckle. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
“I know you were looking at me.” He saw her lips twitch into a smile. Henry caught his breath, seeing that smile of hers. It was the first time he saw that smile. It was far from her usual flirty ones. It seemed natural and he found it to his liking that he would give anything to see it again.
“You have a very wild imagination, Dalton,” he said, closing his book, and stood up. “I’m going to sleep. You should too. You have two parties to attend tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know,” she answered, not moving an inch.
“Go to your room and sleep,” he ordered.
No answer.
“Dalton,” he called out once again.
Just a sleepy silence followed. He heard her even breathing and he smiled. She was probably too exhausted with everything she did today preparing for the party. He walked towards her and tried for the last time, “Hey, Dalton…” but she was too asleep to even answer a moan.
Having made up his mind, he gently lifted her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom. He tucked her in without waking her, turned off the lights and said, “Night, Dalton,” before closing the door to go to his room.
*****
Angelica woke up the next day in a hurry for Willie’s party.
“You have to take me to Chanty’s place,” she told him as they were eating breakfast he prepared.
“Fine,” he replied.
“Like now,” she urged.
He looked at her, munching his eggs, swallowed, sipped his coffee and stood up. “Fine.”
Angelica frowned. “What’s wrong with you today?”
“Nothing,” he grabbed his keys and added, “let’s go.”
“Fine,” she said, mocking his word of the day.
*****
“Call me if you need me to pick you up,” Henry told her as he dropped her off three houses away from Chanty’s.
“You bet I will,” she winked at him and took off.
Henry was shaking his head as he maneuvered his car back on the road. He was worried someone might be following her. Her killer probably knew already that she was staying with him considering her outrageous announcement about the two of them being together, so he chose to be in the area in case she got into trouble once again.
He even thought of crashing the party and Chanty wouldn’t even complain if ever he did that. He decided against it after some time though, mainly because he didn’t want to meet Philip since he wasn’t able to start on those divorce papers yet.
It was almost two hours later when he noticed some commotion going on at Chanty’s yard and people were huddled together, looking down on the ground. He was just about to run out and look for Angelica when he saw her running towards whatever it was that caused the commotion and parted the crowd, shouting whatever it was. Henry smirked, wondering what she said that made the guests of the party step aside to let her pass. He calmed his nerves, thinking she was not hurt or directly involved to the incident, and watched with caution. Not less than a minute later, he saw her carrying Philip along with some big guy towards his friend’s car.
He narrowed his eyes, knowing very well Philip was hurt, probably injured. Then he saw Cassandra running after the group and got into Philip’s car and the couple drove away. Picking up his phone, he dialed Angelica’s number.
“What happened?” he asked before she could say hello.
“You’re here?” she whispered.
“Yes, I’m near and I saw the commotion. What happened to Philip?”
“He broke his ankle, I guess,” she said dryly. “And I guess the party’s over.”
“Okay, go back here and let’s go,” he ordered. “We have another party to attend to.”
“Fine, but I have to attend to the other guy first,” and then she clicked off and he saw her go back to the spot in the yard where the incident happened. She started to give out orders, her head bent in concentration to whatever she was doing. For the first time, he saw Angelica work as a doctor, not as a rich, stalking bitch most people knew her of. Five minutes later, an ambulance rushed past Henry’s car and stopped outside Chanty’s house. When she was done talking to the EMS guys, she went back inside the house. When she reappeared, she was carrying her bag, ready to leave.
He drove back to their meeting place, somehow thankful it was not her who got into trouble.
*****
“How long is five minutes, Dalton? You’ve been telling me that for nearly an hour now,” Henry said by her door, looking at his watch.
“I’m coming!”
“How long is ‘I’m coming’?” he asked irritably.
“Now!” and she surprised him by opening her door with a smile.
Henry was lost for words. Like really, words escaped him as he looked at her. Yes, he had seen her during parties during those times when she was stalking Philip around like a dog, but he had never really looked at her. And now he did and he had to finally admit that lovely would not fit the description. She was wearing a silver cocktail dress, a Venus cut with a round golden ornament crusted with multi-colored gems on her left shoulder strap. The fabric flowed down her curves down to the floor. She wore her red hair up in a simple tidy bun, her lips the same color as her hair and he felt a sudden urge to kiss her right there and then.
Of course he didn’t.
It was the slit that ran about a foot from her hips that made him uncomfortable though. “Is the slit really necessary?” he asked as he frowned.
“Why? Want to stitch it yourself?” she asked, her smile completely disappearing. “You’re such a jerk, you know that?”
“What?”
“Forget about it,” she snapped and brushed him aside and made her way to the door. “I’ll go get that compliment from someone else later. For now, let’s go.”
Henry did not answer but followed her out the door. He had a strong feeling he just made a big mistake by not complimenting her.
*****
Almost everyone made it to the party which made Henry even more at awe. It seemed that Angelica had that power to make everyone drop everything they’d been doing to go to her party. No, scratch that out. She probably said something like, “I’m going to chase you around if you don’t come,” or maybe worse, she scared them with her words which was probably the case. And he wouldn’t be at all surprised if that were true.
As they entered the room full of lawyers dressed for the party, Henry felt a burst of pride just standing beside her. He pushed that thought aside, reminding himself that Angelica Dalton was supposed to be out of reach.
“Lovely as ever, Angelica,” a man’s voice said beside them and when he turned his head, he saw John Stewart looking at his ward like he was about to devour her.
“Stewart,” he cut off Angelica’s reply by holding out his hand to shake the other man’s. “We are glad you came.” He deliberately stepped between the two and he could feel Angelica’s gaze behind him.
John Stewart just nodded, looked over his shoulder and was about to say something to his ward when he turned around and said, “Sweetheart, why don’t we go grab a drink?” he sent her a message with his eyes that she should follow his suggestion.
The curious look on her face was washed away by something very close to amusement. “Of course, sweetheart,” she emphasized the last word. “I’ll see you around, John.”
“Yes, of course.” Henry saw Stewart throw a wink at her and he fought the urge to drag her all the way across the other side of the room.
“Hey, you’re hurting me,” Angelica hissed beside him. “What was that about?”
He stopped walking and looked at her stonily. “You can’t play with him, okay?”
“Why? Jealous?” she pushed him playfully.
“I’m serious, Dalton,” he hissed at her ear. “He could be your father’s killer, remember?”
“I don’t think so,” she threw back. “Now, please, let me do my job and be a good host. Stop pulling me around like a dog, okay?”
“What job? No, your job is to stay beside me and be safe. It’s my job to investigate.”
“I’m really hating you tonight,” she groaned, pulling away from him. “I need a drink.”
“No drinking for you,” he whispered and pulled her towards a group of just a few meters away. “We need to talk to the partners.”
“I was just talking to one of them when you shunned him off,” she pointed out.
He ignored her because she was partly right. Honestly, he couldn’t understand why he did that back there. The moment he saw John Stewart’s gaze on his ward, he knew he had to take her away. This is not good, a part of him warned him. Yes, he already knew that.
He really had to control his feelings tonight if he wanted to have progress.
*****
“Oh, my dear, this party is amazing!” Pamela said to her hours later. Angelica had found a good company with the only woman among the partners and she was enjoying it. Pamela always had something interesting to say. But there was something about her that bothered her. She could see it in Pamela’s smiles every time her husband, Garrett, was near. She couldn’t figure it out yet, but there was just something wrong with the man. It seemed as if her wife was afraid of him.
Angelica was trying her best throughout the party to try to study everyone’s gestures so she could get a feel around each of them, as Henry suggested, but that lingering thought that one of them was the one who wanted her dead was ruining her focus.
“Thank you,” she answered Pamela’s statement.
“But I’m afraid we have to leave,” Garrett said, approaching them. Pamela suddenly looked ashen and Angelica was afraid she would faint on the spot.
“What? Now? But the party’s not yet over,” she tried to protest.
“No, dear,” Pamela shook her head, looking at her husband anxiously. “Garrett is tired and I myself need a rest. Tomorrow’s a big day with the clients,” she said.
“So, do I get to meet them?” she asked eagerly. She saw Henry from the corner of her eye getting still when he heard her question. He was standing just a meter away talking with Stan Howe.
“We still have to talk to them, I guess,” Garrett answered for his wife, his light blue eyes looking at her blankly.
“Okay, but I’m really hoping to meet them soon,” Angelica forced out a smile and turned to Pamela. “Be careful,” she said as the woman hugged her to say goodbye.
And there was something in that hug that shouted “help!”.
As the couple walked out after saying goodbye to the rest, Angelica stared at them with concern. She knew, deep in her gut, that Pamela was somehow in trouble. And she had a very strong feeling Garrett Baldwin was one scary man.
“Hey,” a man’s voice said beside her.
She snapped her head up and saw John Stewart grinning down at her. “Hi, John.”
“I was hoping to get you alone tonight, but your fiancé is making sure that I don’t,” he uttered, looking her in the eyes.
Fiancé? Ah, yes, of course. She had forgotten about that little lie.
“Well,” she faked a sigh, “he’s just being protective.”
“Why? Does he think I would dream of harming you?” he feigned hurt.
Angelica chuckled, “Of course not. He’s just like that to almost everyone.”
“John,” Kevin’s voice interrupted them.
Angelica turned to see the old man with his cane and said, “Hello, Kevin,” she smiled.
“Hello, dear,” he greeted back, but his eyes couldn’t meet hers. He knew she knew his secret about wanting out of the group. “John, can you drive me home now? I feel exhausted.”
“I won’t hold you back, Kevin,” Angelica told him, “I know you hate parties.”
“Exactly,” he chuckled and looked at John expectantly.
John, in return, turned to her with a slight bow, saying, “See you next time, Angel.”
Angelica frowned. Angel? She didn’t think she liked that name.
“They’re going home?”
She almost jumped on her feet as Henry’s voice spoke beside her. “Jesus, you startled me!”
But he was not hearing her. “I’ll go to Kevin after the party,” he said.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No—”
“You can’t leave me here, can you?” she challenged. He must have realized that would be a big mistake so he nodded.
“But you stay in the car. No more eavesdropping. I’ll just have a few words I need to say to him.”
“You could have said it earlier.”
“Not with so many ears around,” he shook his head.
“What are you two lovebirds whispering about?” Stan asked behind them.
They turned with smiles and said in chorus, “Nothing.”
“Angelica, why don’t you honor me with a dance?” the old man held out his hand and she took it willingly, leaving Henry behind to talk to some more lawyers.
*****
“He might already be asleep, you know,” she told him hours later. They were outside Kevin’s home and the lights were out except the one at the porch.
“He’s a light sleeper so it’s not a problem waking him up,” Henry said, unbuckling his belt. Then he looked at her pointedly, “Don’t get out of this car, understood?”
Angelica shrugged.
He climbed out and jogged his way across the empty, dark street, up to Kevin’s porch and rang the bell. The wind was getting chilly and he rang the bell once more. He breathed a sigh of relief when lights went on from the front window.
“Who’s there?” a woman’s voice asked from behind.
“Hey, Nora, it’s me, Henry Bell,” she said, addressing Kevin’s maid.
“Oh, Henry!” the door suddenly burst open to reveal an elderly woman dressed in sweater. “And who’s this lovely lady with you?”
Henry frowned and snapped his head to where Nora’s gaze was directed and saw Angelica’s beaming face.
“I’m Angelica,” she held out her hand and shook Nora’s
“Oh, come in, come in. It’s chilly out here!” Nora ushered them inside. “Mr. Barnes is upstairs but he will come down once I tell him it’s you, Henry,” the lady chattered on, her back at them.
“That will be great,” Henry said, not really hearing the woman’s words because he was glaring at Angelica who was looking at him innocently.
“You two wait here while I go upstairs. Did I mention that John was here just moments ago? You must have passed him in the streets.”
“Yes, I know he took Kevin home. But no, we didn’t notice his car.”
“Okay, then, I’ll go get Mr. Barnes.”
The moment the lady was gone, leaving them inside Kevin’s lovely, cozy living room, Henry turned sharply towards Angelica, his eyes furious. “I told you to stay in the car,” he hissed.
“Did I say yes?” she hissed back.
“When are you going to follow anything I say?” he cried in frustration.
“Not ever going to happen—”
Her words were cut off by a sudden shriek from upstairs. Henry ran to the stairs immediately, shouting over his shoulder, “Stay there!” He reached the top of the stairs in a matter of seconds and bumped against Nora. “What happened?”
“He’s dead! Mr. Barnes! He’s dead!” Nora’s face was covered with tears.
Henry gently brushed her aside and ran towards Kevin’s study. There, lying on the floor, his cane beside him, was Kevin’s unmoving form.
“What happened?” Angelica’s voice asked beside him, her eyes wide.
“I told you—” he started but said, “Forget it. Call 911.”
She nodded and fumbled inside her purse for her phone while he ran towards Kevin’s body and felt for a pulse.
There was none. He looked up at Angelica’s expectant face, his mind racing. There was only one person aside from Nora who had last seen Kevin: John Stewart.