Angelica froze, her eyes widened in surprise. She knew that voice very well and she didn’t have to turn around to know.
“Move,” the voice ordered and she felt a gun prod her forward. “You’ve been naughty, Angelica, dear,” the voice rasped too near her ear. Angelica flinched and the hairs around her nape stood up. Her eyes searched Henry’s and he looked as shock as she was.
“Pamela,” she stuttered, “what are you doing?” Yes, that was a stupid question. The woman was freaking trying to kill them with a gun in her hand and she asked what she was doing? Call that a spur of mindless blabber.
“Move,” the woman pushed harder. Angelica flew to Henry who was standing near Garrett. She looked at the man, and God, he looked really crazy crying over a dog drenched in blood.
“You killed my baby…” he moaned, looking at Pamela’s shadowed face, his eyes full of tears. “You killed my baby…”
“Shut up, Garrett! How many times do I have to tell you not to be weak?” Pamela shot him a furious, crazy look. God, the two of them were crazy! And then Pamela smiled in a very wicked way that it made Angelica’s hairs stand up all over again, causing a shiver over her spine. “We have guests, Garrett, you better hold yourself together.”
Angelica stifled a whimper as she clutched Henry’s arm with dear life. His free hand went to cover hers, trying to soothe, to calm. But there was no freaking way she could calm down! She could handle Mr. Scarred Face and his stupid men, but she couldn’t handle a crazy lady with a gun!
“Now, why are you two here in my house?” she asked, bending her head to one side with a feigned curious look.
“You killed my father,” Angelica said matter-of-factly, her voice shaking. Henry’s hand squeezed hers, probably trying to tell her to shut up. But she couldn’t. She was so damned frightened to just zip it.
Pamela sighed with exaggeration, “I couldn’t help it, my dear. He was planning to sell us all out and I can’t have that.” Her eyes went to Henry and then she added, “Drop that gun, Mr. Bell, or I will kill this pretty lady here,” she pointed her gun at Angelica.
“Don’t,” Angelica whispered at Henry.
But he did. He slowly bent down to the floor and placed the gun without a sound.
“Garrett, stop whining, you fool!” Pamela shouted at her husband. “You’re always making things difficult, you moron. Stand up and tie them up!”
Garrett whimpered, stood up, his face full of tears, his hands full of blood. He looked at Angelica and Henry. His face was completely different from what she was used to. He looked frail and weak, not the brooding, mean bastard she thought he was.
“Garrett,” Pamela called out stonily. “Get a rope and tie them up!”
Her husband flinched at her voice and slowly turned toward the door.
“I’m sorry for that. He’s kind of slow,” Pamela rolled her eyes, the gun still pointed toward Angelica. “Now, why don’t you sit down?” she motioned to the bed.
Henry took Angelica’s hand and pulled her down the bed with him.
“I want to see your hands in front of you. No tricks, Bell, I know who you are now,” the woman said proudly. “What? You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you?” she chuckled and sighed. “Oh, well, you should have stayed in the shadows like you did when Patrick was still alive. I didn’t know you were the spy, really. Good thing I stopped Patrick before you got too deep.” She walked toward the dog and crunched her face. “Poor thing’s dead. Garrett shouldn’t have provoked me.”
“Why did you kill Kevin?” Angelica asked, demanding.
“Same thing why I killed your dad, of course,” Pamela answered nonchalantly. “He wanted out, that old coward…” she scoffed. “Now, before I kill you both,” she looked at Henry, pointing the gun at him, “I want to know where the device is.”
“What device?” Henry asked.
“You know what I’m talking about, Henry, dear,” she smiled at him menacingly. “The saving device Patrick left before he died.”
Angelica almost forgot about that thing. “It was empty,” she answered.
“You really believe that?” Pamela snorted.
Angelica looked at Henry inquiringly. He did not meet her eyes. “It’s gone, I already forwarded it to my superior,” he answered. Angelica pulled her hand away from his. He lied to her about the device?
Pamela’s eyes glinted with anger for a short while when she heard his answer, and then she frowned, shrugged, and said, “Well then, I can’t do anything about that right now, can I? I can always deny it was from the firm, whatever it contained.”
“They were enough solid evidence to close the firm down. Patrick’s signature, including yours, your husband, and every other partner, are all over those documents.”
“You can’t close us down,” Pamela cried out, her eyes growing wide. God, she really was crazy. “The organization will make sure of that. They trust us.”
“Not when they find out you willingly gave us all those documents,” Henry countered.
“No, they trust me,” she said proudly. “They know I will do anything for them.”
That moment, Garrett came in with duct tapes. “I can’t find a rope,” he murmured.
Angelica could see it clearly now. Pamela was obviously the ego and her husband was the superego, the weak one. She wouldn’t be surprised if Garrett would do anything she told him. Pamela controlled him like a puppet.
“Then bind them now,” Pamela ordered and her husband obliged, his head bent.
Henry did not put out a fight when Garrett started wrapping him with the tape.
“You made us believe Garrett was abusing you,” Angelica uttered and she saw Garrett flinch by the mention of his name.
Pamela chuckled. “Of course I did! How else can I gain your trust? And plus, he was willing to break my wrist for once.”
Angelica tried to find a way to stop Garrett from what he was doing. If he could bind both her and Henry, it would be near impossible to get out. “Then why did you try to poison John?”
Pamela smiled. “He was getting into my nerves, that’s all.”
“I really thought Garrett did it,” Angelica stated, her mind reeling with the words she knew would get Garrett’s attention. “Especially when we found out you are sleeping with him,” she released her words loud and clear enough for Garrett to hear. And surely, as expected, he froze.
He swiftly straightened and faced his wife. “What?” he asked.
“Ooops, I shouldn’t have said that, should I?” Angelica asked Henry. He just looked at her and then his eyes darted back toward the couple.
“You were sleeping with John?” Garrett asked with disbelief, his voice much stronger now. Angelica saw him clench his fist. Good, just the distraction she needed. She could feel Henry’s hands moving behind him and when she looked, he was holding a blade. She took it from him and started cutting through the thick tape bounding him.
“Of course not,” Pamela scoffed. “She’s lying,” she pointed her gun at Angelica.
“I really think she wanted to poison John because she’s jealous he’s giving me too much attention,” Angelica added, increasing the fire that was building in Garrett’s eyes. Finally, the last inch of the tape snapped, releasing Henry. He pretended to still be bounded.
“Ange, I think you did your part. So now, shut up,” he whispered through clenched teeth.
She nodded. “But Henry, if we can’t get through this, I want you to know I forgive you for keeping the content of that device from me,” she whispered back, her eyes fixed on Garrett and Pamela.
“Just keep quiet and let me handle this from here,” he murmured.
“You said you will only have me,” Garrett was angry now and for a second, Pamela looked frightened and she stepped back.
“Don’t get angry on me again, Garrett or I will kill you,” she threatened.
“You’re a slut!” Garrett screamed and jumped at her.
Henry grabbed that chance to jump for the gun. It was too late for Pamela. Garrett already landed both of them on the floor, his hands on her neck, and Henry had already snatched the gun from her hand.
Angelica’s scream even started after it happened, that was how fast it was. The moment she shot out of bed and on her feet, Henry was already pointing the gun at Pamela and Garrett, who was still clutching the woman’s neck.
“Let her go, Garrett,” Henry ordered.
But the man was as mad as the devil himself. “I did everything you told me to do,” he roared at Pamela. His wife was choking, her face flushing red, her hands clutching her husband’s.
“Let go of her, Garrett!” Henry repeated louder. The man was not hearing him, he was overcome with rage. Angelica watched in horror as the demon that must have been sleeping inside Garrett for a long time finally woke up.
“I’m warning you, Garrett, let her go…” Henry said slowly, pointing the gun at the man.
Angelica stared wide-eyed. What was he planning to do? “Henry…” she whispered.
A shot rang off as Henry pulled the trigger. Garrett flew off Pamela, shouting in pain. His right shoulder was suddenly covered with red stain.
“Don’t move,” Henry ordered. “Angelica, call 911,” he added.
“What?” she asked, still in a daze.
“911.”
“Yes, yes,” she said in alarm, jumping toward the phone. Her hands were shaking as she dialed the numbers.
*****
Half an hour later, she finally got to meet Henry’s superior, Grissom. He looked like he was fresh from sleep.
“What is it?” she asked when Henry finally approached her, walking away from the man.
“It’s over, the two of them will be questioned immediately,” he answered.
“What about John and Stan? There are still unanswered questions, Henry. Why did Garrett meet Stan?”
“He was asking for help,” Henry sighed. “She had been controlling him for too long and he wanted Stan’s help.”
“What happens to Stan and John?”
“They will be arrested, of course. There was enough evidence gathered from the device to put the firm down, and that includes the partners. We will try to find something from those files to lead us to the organization.”
She was once again reminded about the device and his little trick. But that was over now. She had already told him she would forgive him even though it somehow hurt her that he lied. But then again, it was his job.
A long silence lingered between them before he said, “Come on, I’ll take you home. You’ll be safe to go back now.”
For some time now, whenever either of them mentioned the word home, it usually meant his place. But now, there was something in his tone that told her he was talking about her actual home, the one she left to stay with him. She wanted to tell him she couldn’t go back yet, that she still had to talk to him.
But what would they talk about? Pamela and Garrett? Sure, he would gladly cooperate. About them? She doubted that. He had been clear since the beginning that they would have to part once it was all over.
And it was over.
She was finally safe.
Was she ready? Oh God, she didn’t think so.