Henry was in panic. “Don’t touch her,” he warned John Steward when the man tried to get hold of Angelica once again.
He lifted her in his arms and started for the door.
“Henry! We should wait for the ambulance!” Pamela shouted behind him.
He was not listening anymore. He couldn’t. All he wanted to hear that moment was Angelica’s voice telling him she would be okay. But she was unconscious now, lying limp in his arms. As he stepped out the doors, an ambulance siren was approaching and he ran to meet them.
“I think she’s poisoned,” he informed the paramedic.
They took her from his arms and strapped her to the stretcher.
“What did she eat?”
“A salad. I think it’s cyanide,” he informed them. He knew the effect of the chemical. “She was suddenly grasping for breath not a few minutes after taking her first bite.” He raked his fingers through his hair.
The men wheeled the stretcher inside the ambulance. He jumped after them and they were off. “Give her an antidote or something!” he shouted.
“We are,” the man said, searching inside the cabinet for some drugs.
“Will she be okay?” he asked anxiously.
The man looked at him with patience. “Her pulse is weak and she can still breathe on her own. But we still need to rush her to the hospital. We’re going to do some lavage and then we’ll have to monitor her status until tomorrow if…”
“If what?”
The paramedic looked at him straight in the eyes as he said, “If she survives this. If this is cyanide poisoning, it is serious.”
Henry nodded, took Angelica’s hand and squeezed it. “Just do everything that you can.”
*****
They arrived in the emergency room not five minutes after the pick-up and the doctors and nurses immediately attended to her. Of course they would, they were her colleagues. Henry was not a prayerful man, but at that moment, as he waited anxiously outside, he made a silent one. He bargained what he could think of.
“Is Mr. Bell around?” A doctor came out and Henry jumped to his feet.
“Yes,” he uttered, his eyes full of questions.
The doctor smiled and said, “She’s asking…no, actually, she’s demanding to see you right now.”
Henry wasted no time and followed the doctor with swift strides. When the curtain was pushed aside, he saw Angelica’s pale face, a nasal cannula attached to her nostrils, and he sighed with relief after seeing her eyes flutter open. “Hey,” he croaked. “How are you feeling?”
“I shouldn’t have eaten after all,” she said, her voice dry.
He gave a weak laugh. “So you’re okay now? No complications?”
“She has to go back for a neurological check-up,” the doctor answered behind him.
He saw Angelica roll her eyes. “No, I don’t need to do that,” she said dryly.
“Yes, you do, Angelica. Cyanide poisoning can damage your brain.”
“I have a genius brain, Max, and if it is in anyway damaged, I would still be intelligent,” she bragged icily.
“But—”
“Yes, we will come back for the check-up,” Henry interrupted, squeezing her hand to shut her protest.
“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.
Sleep came to her while she was in that train of thought.
*****
“What if he sees us? That’s possible, you know,” she pointed out, munching popcorn.
“No, he won’t…” Henry said patiently, holding his binoculars. “Why did you get popcorn? We’re not watching a movie,” he added, frowning.
Angelica rolled her eyes, “We’re close to that. We’re spying an old man,” she nodded her head toward Stan’s big house. “This is what you call real live streaming.”
“And you missed your appointment again,” he said, tackling another topic all of a sudden.
“I was busy at work and I forgot,” she lied. She didn’t want to see a neurologist because they were afraid she had some kind of neurological problem. Neurological? No. Psychological? Now, that could be something she would be willing to discuss.
“You’re thinking you’re a doctor and you think you know your body so well,” he scoffed.
Well, he was right about that, but she was not going to admit that so she chose to take the topic on another level. “You know my body well enough,” she chided.
“Do you really want to talk about this?” he asked, his face full of amusement.
“Why not?” she shrugged. “It’s getting really boring in here anyway,” she winked at him.
A fire flared in his eyes as he looked at her and she was starting to regret ever challenging him. It would not be good if they got killed having sex inside the car. If he as much as kiss her, she couldn’t promise she would be sane.
But he did it anyway and for a long moment, they were lost. She couldn’t remember how she crossed over and was now straddling his lap. She must be a psychic. She had guessed she was going to be poisoned three days ago and it happened. She guessed she and Henry would end up making out in the car and it was definitely happening.
His hands were everywhere after he tore her shirt open and Angelica was breathless, tugging his head back from her breast to have another taste of his mouth.
But they had to stop this if they wanted answers and she surprised them both when she got the courage to push away, her hands on his heaving chest. She gripped his shirt and took a deep breath. “We have time for this later,” she panted.
He nodded, his eyes still on fire and she scooted back on her seat. “Oh my God…” she groaned.
“What?” he snapped, obviously pissed because one, they had quite gone too far and two, well, maybe because they were not able to get further.
“You managed to unbutton my pants that fast?” she gaped as she righted her clothes.
A grin crept up his face. “You managed to jump on my lap that fast,” he countered. He took his binoculars back in his hands and sighed.
“I think someone’s coming,” Angelica uttered while tucking her shirt back in her pants. “Isn’t that John’s car?”
Henry snapped his head to the right and saw what she meant. “Yes, it is,” he validated.
“What is he doing here?”
“Probably to confront his killer?” he asked.
“You think he suspects Stan? He wouldn’t be that stupid to go here alone,” he shook her head. “My bet is still on Garrett.”
“Why do you think so highly of Stewart anyway?” he snapped.
She gaped. “Really? You want to talk about that right now?” she repeated his words earlier. “You’re just jealous.”
“I’m not,” he said stonily.
“Jealous…” she said in her sing-song voice again.
“Remember what happened when you did that?” he arched an eyebrow.
Angelica blushed and held up her hands. “Okay, fine, whatever.”
“I’m going in,” he stated. He looked at her pointedly.
“I’ll stay here, I promise.”
He continued to stare.
“I promise!” she cried out.
Convinced, Henry got out and started walking across the street. John’s car was welcomed inside the gates minutes ago.
She watched anxiously as Henry jogged to the wall and climbed up without any problem. She shouldn’t have promised to stay in the car, she thought.
*****
Henry knew Stan’s house was secured and that he had no other choice but to get what he could from the window. He had been here only once but he could still remember where the study was. Stan always received his associates in his study.
He peeked through the window, thankful that one was left open, enabling him to hear audibly the conversation that was going on inside.
“What makes you sure it’s him?”
“Because he’s the only one who’s been acting different lately,” John’s voice answered. “Do you believe Pamela broke her wrist because of a fall?”
There was a long silence before Stan answered, “Does he know you’re having an affair with his wife?”
“What?!”
“You’re having an affair with Pamela, right?”
There was another long, deafening silence.
“Son, you don’t have to deny it. Everybody knows you’ve been sleeping with that woman,” Stan said with a chuckle.
“And you think he wanted to kill me because of that?”
“You’re having an affair with his wife, you son of a bitch. That’s reason enough.”
Henry was frowning. That was a shock even to him. Pamela? She was old enough to be Stewart’s mother. The information was enough to make him sick.
*****
“What did you find out?”
“It’s Garrett,” he answered, starting the car.
“How did you know?”
“Your dear John Stewart is having an affair with his wife.”
Angelica’s eyes widened and then she crunched her face. “That’s gross.”
“Let’s go home,” Henry uttered and drove away.
“But it doesn’t mean Garrett’s my killer, right?” she asked after a while.
“I thought you suspect him?”
“Well, he was suspicious because he was treating his wife in a scary way. But now that we know she’s having an affair, that’s understandable.”
Henry nodded. She got a point there. They couldn’t just focus on Garrett. John and Stan were obviously closer than he thought and they might just be planning something else. “But we still have to check on Garrett,” he stated.
Angelica nodded. “I kept my promise,” she reminded him.
“Fine, you can go with me next time if you continue to be a good girl that you are.”