They couldn’t attend to another stakeout night the next day because they had a sudden dinner invitation from the Strindbergs. And if Strindbergs invited you, you just had to come. Phillip and Cassandra had just returned from their second honeymoon. Of course, everyone didn’t know that Angelica nearly got killed from cyanide poisoning.
But Chanty and Cassandra seemed to have been talking a lot lately because they cornered her and bombarded her with questions.
“Chanty told me you were harassed in the Philippines inside the bathroom,” Cassandra uttered in a low voice. They were huddled away from the other groups. William, Henry, and Phillip were at one corner of the house talking business. Hope and Mary were busy taking care of baby Willie at the living room. Dinner had just finished and they were having some drinks.
“Yes, and she doesn’t want to talk about it,” Chanty nodded at her sister-in-law.
Angelica sighed patiently. “Ladies, look, I’m safe and I’m getting over it,” she looked them in the eyes as she said so. “Henry’s taking care of me and…really, I’m safe…”
“So, this thing between you and Henry, it’s really real?” Chanty asked her doubtfully.
“Well, you can say that. I’ve been staying in his place most of the time,” she answered, hoping with all her heart what she said was true. Well, the ‘staying in Henry’s place’ was so true, but the relationship wasn’t. It was just complicated. It was like a partnership with some benefits.
“Chanty, Willie pooped,” Hope called out from the living room.
“Oh, hold on. Get this for me,” Chanty sighed, giving her the glass she was holding and walked away to get Willie.
“Why does it sound like I don’t believe you at all, Ange?” Cassandra whispered. “I know you and Henry are in some deep trouble that includes bullet wounds and all, and I just got this feeling that what happened to you in the Philippines was not just some simple harassment.”
Bummer, she and Cassandra was alike at almost everything and the lady just knew how to read her. Of course, she was there when she was fixing Henry’s bullet wounds. “Cass, look, I don’t want to alert everyone including Chanty. I promise, I will explain everything once it’s over.”
“And Henry?”
“What about Henry?”
“Henry’s not really…you know, your boyfriend, right?”
“How do you know?”
“You’re just leading everybody to believe that you are, but actually, you’re just having sex,” Cassandra said with a smile.
“How can you say that?”
“Oh, nothing. Let’s just say I’ve been there…”
Angelica narrowed her eyes at her friend, “What do you mean you’ve been there?”
Cassandra shrugged her shoulders. “I won’t tell you if you won’t tell me your story.”
She chuckled and said, “I think we got a deal. When the time comes, I’ll tell you my story and you’ll tell me yours.”
Cassandra nodded and stated, “Fair enough.”
*****
“Babe, drop that thing this instant,” Cassandra cried out as everyone started for the door. “What the hell’s wrong with you? Drop it,” she ordered.
Phillip looked up from what he was doing around the table and sighed. “Fine,” he said and walked toward them.
“He’s the worst neat freak alive,” Cassandra murmured under her breath. “What did your parents do to him when he was young?” she asked Chanty.
Chanty giggled and said, “I don’t know. He’s always like that.”
“He’s getting worse,” Cassandra rolled her eyes.
“Who’s getting worse?” Phillip asked innocently as he came up behind his wife, planting his hand on her waist.
“Willie,” Cassandra lied, giving Chanty and Angelica a wink. “His running and walking are getting worse.”
“Yeah,” Chanty added with a nod.
“Ange, let’s go?” Henry asked behind her.
Angelica took her eyes from the happy couple and nodded. “Yeah,” she answered and gave Cassandra a peck. “You’re lucky I got that guy or I’ll still be after your husband,” she joked.
“Yeah, lucky me,” Cassandra laughed.
“Bye, Phillip,” she gave him a peck as well and turned.
After saying goodbye to Chanty and the older Strindbergs, she walked with Henry to the car.
“So, are we going on a stakeout again?” she asked.
“No, we’re going on a date,” he grinned.
“What do you mean? It’s nearly twelve,” she looked at her watch.
“Let’s just take a little break for now,” he wheeled the car to the road and they drove on. “I need some bottles of beer,” he added.
*****
Henry took her back to his apartment with six beer cans in hand.
“I thought we’re going on a date,” she said with disappointment on her face.
“We are,” he said gently. “Go grab a blanket and some pillows,” he ordered. Reluctantly, she did as she was told.
“What now?”
“We’ll go upstairs,” he said with a shrug. “And watch the stars. The view’s great up there by the way,” he took her hand and tugged. “Come on,” he motioned with his head, his grin growing wide.
What was wrong with him? He seemed different.
*****
Nothing was really wrong with him. He just had a sudden attack of this feeling that the end was nearing. His innate instincts as an NSA agent were telling him they were on the right track and that they were near to catching who the killer was. And he wanted to spend some time with Angelica as much as he could without thinking of tasks or killers.
He led her to the roof deck without a problem, helped her spread the blanket on the ground, and lay there with her with a can of beer.
“Phillip said Cassandra likes stars,” he started with a frown. “I don’t see anything great about them.”
Angelica turned her head to look at him, amusement in her eyes. “You liked her before, right?”
“Who?”
“Cassandra. You liked her.”
“No,” he answered with a sigh. “I liked taunting her for some reasons I can’t share.”
“What reasons?”
“I just said I can’t share them.”
“What reasons?”
“It’s confidential. Forget about it.”
“Is it something about her and Phillip?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re not going to share that with me,” she said without question.
“Yes.”
“Just as I thought…” she uttered. “Yes, Cass likes the stars. Phillip even got the IAU to name her one.”
“You like them too?”
“What? The stars? No,” she shook her head. “But Jess did.”
“Your twin?”
“Yes, she said once that if she dies, she wants to be one of the stars. It’s creepy, I know, talking about her with the possibility that she is actually one,” she shivered. “I just can’t imagine her being up there watching me right now. That’s creepy. So, no, I don’t really like stars.”
Henry took a deep breath, held it for a long while and then let it out.
“What?” she asked with a huff.
“You’re trying to convince me you’re not Cassandra when in fact—aside from your bratty behavior— the two of you are so much alike.”
“Of course I’m not like her,” she lied.
“And why is that?”
“She is strong,”
“You’re strong. Too much for my opinion even,” he argued.
“She is strong in some ways,” she snapped.
“In what ways?”
“I don’t…I don’t want to talk about it, really.”
“In what ways?” he repeated.
Just to get it over with, she answered, “She’s strong because she got the courage to fight for Phillip and when she thought it didn’t work, she was even stronger by deciding to leave him.”
Henry regretted prodding her for an answer. He knew what she meant by that answer. And he had no consoling words to tell her at the moment. “And you’re not that strong? You have been after Phillip for years and you were strong enough to give up. That’s pretty much strong for me.”
Angelica scoffed. “Do you really think I was head over heels over Philip? He was someone I couldn’t get my hands on and I like challenges. He was a challenge and when the game was over when Cass came in the picture, I was happy enough to step back. I even considered you as my next motive, you know, before you even came to me and announced you’re my guardian.”
Henry chuckled, saying, “Like you would have succeeded.”
“Somehow, I did, didn’t I?” she asked with a glint in her eyes.
“Somehow, in some matters, yes,” he agreed.
Angelica laughed. “I still can’t believe I’m like doing this, you know. I never pictured my life to be in danger with kidnapping, guns and everything.”
“And poison,” he added.
“And poison,” she nodded with a smile. “You think this is going to be over soon?”
Henry wasn’t sure what she was asking about at all. Was she asking about the matter about catching the killer? Or was she asking about them? “Yes,” he answered anyway.
“If we find out who the killer is, what happens then for you? Aren’t you going to use me to get into the organization? After all, I own part of the firm.”
“No,” he answered quickly. He would never use her or put her in any danger if he could help it. “If we catch the killer, I think the firm has to close down—that is if the killer is one of the partners.”
“But what about the organization? You’ve been working with my father to get into the firm and then into the organization, right?”
“Yes, but consider the killings. Patrick and Kevin are dead. Stewart almost got poisoned.”
“And?”
“What I’m saying is that the organization is not that stupid. The moment they realize the partners are going to be sent to prison, they will step back, find another firm, and disappear once again.”
“So you’re saying that if we catch whoever is after me, you will have to start from scratch to get in the organization?”
“That’s not certain yet. Whatever we can get from the firm can be used as proof against the organization. There might be some names that we can dig up as well. That’s why my superior is still letting me handle this case. There might just be a chance that we can get something from the firm without making actual contact with the organization. I will just have to be careful that none of the partners suspect me as the one Patrick was working with.”
“You said the killer might know that my father was working with someone, right?”
“Yes,”
“And that’s the reason why they are after me.”
“Because you might just share your father’s sentiments about having a change of heart, yes, that’s the best guess we got so far,” he nodded once again.
“This thing, this stuff people do for money and power is just killing me,” she said with frustration. “And the secrets, I don’t like secrets.”
And I bet you won’t like mine, he thought silently. Once again, he was reminded of the reason why he couldn’t be with her. He shoved that thought for a while. He’d deal with it when the time came.
“I don’t really want to talk about this right now,” she sat up and looked up at the sky. “I just want to relax.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed.
They spent the next few hours talking about everything else that had nothing to do with killing and tomorrow. They talked about what they liked best during each season and what they hated during airplane rides. They talked about how they would plan a perfect murder—just for fun, of course—and how they would cover their tracks. Henry of course, had the best plan, but Angelica had the safest one.
They also talked about how they would survive in the mountains for months and this time, Henry had the edge. She listened while he talked about his days in the mountains without food as training. And she shared about that one time she went to Africa for a medical mission and got lost in the dessert with some of her colleagues.
Then they talked more about their lives during their childhood, leaving the parts that were painful, and laughed a lot about their freaky accidents.
And when it was time to go back to the apartment, they fell into each other’s arms, lost in a dream they both wanted and longed for, but couldn’t and would never get together. A night of passion from time to time was what they were willing to accept for now and they were both glad to have it. Everything else would come later. Maybe it would be hurtful, yes, but at least they took what they could.
*****
The next day, they did not waste time. They followed Garrett’s movements everywhere.
They had followed Garrett into the firm where he went with Pamela and they had been waiting outside ever since. Aside from Pamela’s obvious distraught look when they entered the firm earlier, nothing else was new. Garrett was still shadowing and hovering over his wife like a mad man.
It had been hours since the couple came in and it was getting boring. Angelica was about to say something about it when Henry straightened in his seat, his face alert.
“What is it?” she asked.
“He just left the building,” he answered, putting the car in gear.
Garrett was on the way to his car, his head looking from left to right and over his shoulder. When he was sure no one was around, he climbed inside and drove away. Henry trailed him without sweat.
“What is he doing here? A meeting?” Angelica asked aloud when Garrett parked his car outside a diner.
“He’s meeting someone, alright,” Henry nodded across the street.
Angelica frowned with confusion. And then she saw who Garrett planned to have a date with in a diner. “He’s meeting with Stan? What the hell is this about?”
“Well, I’m not so sure, but I think it’s not about business because a diner is no place for that,” Henry answered, taking out his binoculars.