“Angelica, I’m serious! Turn the car around!” Henry was shouting now.

“Don’t shout at me! I’m driving!” she shouted back.

“Let’s go back home,” he said once again for the nth time. “I have work to do and a briefcase to return to my superior.”

“Come on, it’s not that important,” she said dismissively.

“It is important,” he insisted.

“It can wait,” she reasoned out with a wicked grin. “Right now, I need to get away from all this shit,” she added seriously.

  *****

Henry was quite taken aback by her last statement. It was the first time he actually heard Angelica say something like that. And as he looked at her with that determined face of hers, he was certain he couldn’t make her go back. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. She wanted this, and somehow, a part of him yearned for it as well.

Escape.

Such a tempting and exciting word and he would give anything to make it possible. And if there was anyone whom he would make that happen with, it would be Angelica. But that would not be possible and he knew that.

He had too many secrets that would be impossible to bury and forget. And there was one in particular that he would not dare tell her. It would either scare her away or hate him. Leaving her when the time came would be easier than telling her of what he had done in the past.

“Assuming I’m going along with your plan, where are you taking us?” he asked when he knew he had no choice.

“No assumptions, Henry. You are going with me and we’ll go wherever the road takes us.”

A distant part of his brain looked forward to what she had on mind.

  *****

Angelica was on the verge of throwing Henry’s phone out of the window. It kept on ringing every freaking minute. “If you don’t turn that off, I’ll throw it out,” she said seriously.

“It’s my superior. I should be meeting him hours ago with the briefcase which I have right here with me but I can’t very well hand it to him because I’m in a car driven by a crazy woman who thought it would be fun to kidnap me,” he said in one straight sentence that she could barely follow. And when she did, she threw a glance at him and saw that he was not looking at all serious about what he said. In fact, he looked relaxed.

He’s enjoying this, she thought with a smile.

Angelica knew they would eventually have to go back and face the crazy world full of suspense and murders and secrets, but right now, she wanted to have a rest. She wanted to be with him for once without thinking of anything other than their next destination.

“Then turn it off,” she ordered and she was greatly surprised when he actually did. “Good,” she beamed and stepped on the gas.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know, I want to drive for now. We’ll stop at some town when I feel hungry,” she shrugged.

“That’s not really a plan,” he stated.

“Who said I have a concrete plan? I planned for us to have a little getaway, that’s all.”

“And when did you come up with this plan of yours again?”

“When I was in the shower,” she uttered.

“No, I don’t believe so,” he shook his head.

“You don’t? Why?”

“Because I believe you came up with the decision the moment you heard Cassandra say she was going away.”

“Hmm…you’re probably right,” she smiled and he gave a lopsided grin before he stared out the window. The sun had already risen and the morning heat it gave off washed over them.

  *****

Three hours of driving from New York City finally had its toll on Angelica. She had had a road trip before with Chanty and every moment she was behind the wheel was not at all fun. But right now, knowing Henry would immediately try to talk her out of this trip if he as much as see any sign that she was tired, she pretended to feel like her back was not killing her.

“I’ve been here before,” she uttered as they entered the village of Andes. “There’s this chicken restaurant somewhere…”

“You went here with whom?” he asked.

“Chanty,” she answered. “Okay, there it is,” she pointed and relief washed over her. “Woody’s Country Chicken. Yes, that’s it.”

She parked the car outside and almost limped her way towards the door. She was not the driver type, especially when it took hours behind the wheel. “Are you okay?” Henry asked behind her.

“Yes, of course,” she lied. “How’s your shoulder?”

“It’s fine,” he said nonchalantly. They entered the restaurant and were immediately greeted by locals. The thing about small towns or villages was that they would either make you feel welcome or weird. But right now, they sure were lucky to receive great service and company. And they were left alone while they ate which was a good thing.

  *****

“Can I ask a question?” she asked, breaking the comfortable silence. They were back on the road.

“What?” he asked, shifting his body to face her, his face relaxed.

“Do you have a family? I mean, being an agent—especially an undercover one—requires a lot of sacrifices, right?”

At first, Angelica feared that he would throw her question off, but he didn’t. In fact, he answered her with a smile. “No, I don’t have any even before I entered NSA.”

“Really? Are you an orphan?”

“I won’t exactly say that,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “My mother died of cancer when I was twelve and my dad had a stroke when I was eighteen. And no distant relatives either,” he added when she opened her mouth to ask.

“Ex wives?” she asked uncomfortably.

“None, but I almost had one.”

“It didn’t work out?”

“No, I left her to join the NSA.”

Angelica was stunned. “You did?” He actually did that for NSA?

  *****

Henry almost punched himself when the words escaped his mouth. He didn’t want Angelica to think he could do such a thing for his work.

“No, it’s not like what you think. I just knew that we wouldn’t have worked anyway,” he said in a hurry, wanting to explain. Shit, why did he want to explain such things to her anyway? It’s not like he wanted to be with her.

Do you want to? A part of him asked. He ignored that question because he didn’t want to give an answer that he would surely not like. “Why weren’t you close to your father?” he asked to change the subject.

“I was once. I mean before my sister died.”

Henry saw the hurt in her features, her knuckles tightening on the steering wheel. “I’m sorry,” he said in a low tone. “I didn’t know you had a sister.” For all the years he had known Patrick, he never mentioned a dead daughter.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. She was my twin,” she said in a strong voice.

Henry was shocked to know that. Angelica Dalton had a twin? Wonder how it would be if there were two Angelica Daltons? One side of his brain thought. One was enough to make the world go crazy as it was.

“She died with Leukemia,” Angelica continued and he was proud by her will to share something that was obviously still painful for her. He saw a smile creep up her face as she began to reminisce. “We were inseparable, you know. She was the bubbly one and I was the quiet one.”

“You were quiet?” he asked incredulously. “I don’t think I want to believe that.”

She nodded her head, her smile growing. “Believe it or not, I was the nerdy sister. Jessica was the strong one even after she was diagnosed. She made it look like a flu—like it was nothing. But I knew she was suffering.”

“When did she die?”

“Before high school,” she answered. “Everything changed after that.”

“Including you,” he stated without a question.

Again, she slowly nodded. “Yes. I completely turned upside down. She made me promise to be strong, you know. And I did what I had to. Mom was completely heartbroken and Dad, well, he became obsessed with the firm.”

Henry nodded, not intending to ask about her mom. He knew about that part and he didn’t want to go there.

“Okay, enough with that,” she said in a lighter tone. “I don’t want you to see me crying.”

“I think we’re entering Barneveld in an hour or so,” he said, studying a map they bought at the gasoline station earlier.

“Good. I just realized we need fresh clothes,” she said, leaning forward to turn on the radio.

Music filled the air and they fell quiet for some time.

Henry just realized that what Angelica said was true. She was quiet and unlike what he thought, she was comfortable with it. She was hiding her real self behind a façade of a strong, aggressive woman and a part of him wanted to see the silent, nerdy, and serious Angelica Dalton. But he was not sure if he would like that. He was just starting to get used to her. On the other hand as well, he could see that there was no other Angelica Dalton hidden deep inside her. She was honest enough to say she changed. And he was wise enough to note that she did not change and that she merely mixed her frail personality with the one that of her sister. He was sure as well that her tendency to chase men was because of her lack of a father figure when she was young. He understood that part of her now.

They stayed on sitting and driving down the countryside without a word, just the sound of music from the radio, and he appreciated it. It was not everywhere that you could find a person whom you could spend countless hours of silence with without feeling uncomfortable. Maybe this short getaway—as what he preferred it to be—could be good in some point.

  *****

They found a store called Northam and Williams at Barneveld where they bought some fresh clothes.

“I don’t think you need that many,” he pointed out when he couldn’t see her face behind the pile of clothes she had in her arms.

“And you can’t possibly have just those,” she said, leaning her head to the side to look at him. They were already in the counter and the casher was looking at them with a patient smile. “I’m serious when I said we’ll go away for a few days, Henry. And if you’re thinking of spending them inside a bedroom naked, I’m fine with that. Otherwise, go get more clothes.”

Henry saw the teenager behind the counter colored. He gave Angelica a look and walked back to the row of racks.

“He’s so cute, isn’t he?” he heard Angelica ask the girl. He clenched his teeth and grabbed a handful of shirts without looking at any of them.

  *****

“You should bring your quiet side a lot,” he muttered a few minutes after. They walked out the store with fresh clothes. He was wearing a green one with Barneveld logo on it and a pair of dark pants, wearing the same pair of boots. She on the other hand, bought a whole new set of wardrobe. She said her boots got ruined and were getting uncomfortable so she bought a pair of walking shoes and a number of shirts and shorts. But at the moment, she was wearing a yellow-green shirt and black shorts. “And I can’t believe you wore the same color as my shirt.”

“Henry, yellow-green and green is not exactly the same, okay? And I think that girl approved of us wearing a couple t-shirt.”

“Couple t-shirt?”

“Well, they’re not really a couple,” she said, looking at her shirt and at his green one. “But they’re close to that,” she finished with a grin, putting on her sunglasses which of course, she bought from inside. “Let’s go! Someone told me Galway Lake is amazing.”

“We’re going to Galway? It’s like a two-hour drive away and I’m tired,” he chased after her, carrying their shopping bags.

“Are you driving?” she asked and when he didn’t answer, she smiled and said, “That’s what I thought. And you can sleep in the car.”

  *****

“There are camp grounds there,” she said, pointing with a finger.

“Please don’t tell me you’re planning on camping right now. I actually want a real bed for tonight,” he said dryly. They had been driving all day and it was getting dark now.

“I’m just saying, okay? And do you really expect me to love camping?” she asked with horror.

Henry couldn’t help by smile. “I know you’re going to say that.”

“I just want to see the lake,” she explained.

It was a really, really, really big lake. There were housings, hotels, restaurants, and cabins. There were families fishing and some teenagers hanging out. Henry had to admit it was a great place and the lake looked tempting for a dip. They sat on a log near it, just watching the waters and some men wrapping up their fishing gears for the day.

“Do you fish?” Angelica asked.

“No, but I swim like one,” he answered.

“I never liked swimming. It’s such a hassle,” she offered. “You always have to dry up and dress all over again.”

Henry gave off a soft chuckle and looked at her. “What do you like to do then?” She was about to answer when he added, “Aside from shopping and chasing guys.”

“Hmm…I like reading,” she admitted.

“You’re a doctor so that’s given.”

“No. I mean I read fiction.”

“You do?”

“Why? You think I only read those damn heavy textbooks?”

“Okay, what else?”

“I like to travel a lot,” she said with a nod, looking ahead. “It’s such a nice thing to do, right?”

Henry nodded. Yes, it was a nice thing. You never had to think about what to cook because there would always be a nice restaurant or diner along the road. You would not think about flipping your mattress every once in a while because there were hotels and inns to do that for you. And most of all, you wouldn’t have to think about what you had to do next or where you ought to go because there would be a map full of wonderful places to guide you.

  *****

They would have reached Altmar before the sun was gone but they kind of got lost along the way.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you did not maul that poor map,” she said grudgingly, turning off the engine. They had no choice but to rest and it seemed that Salmon Heaven Lodge was the only choice.

“I did not maul it, okay? I was trying to hold on to it before it flew out the window. And you were driving too fast. Tomorrow, I’ll drive.”

“Fine, fine,” she said, getting out of the car. “Let’s go. I’m tired.”

They entered the Lodge and Angelica walked straight to the reception area. “One room please. For my husband and I,” she said with a sweet smile.

“Of course, I should have known,” Henry murmured beside her with a sigh. She threw him a glance and he raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“You were saying?”

“Nothing,” he said. “I knew I’d still end up sharing the same bed with you, so I’m not complaining.”

“Good, sweetheart,” she said and reached up to plant a kiss on his lips.

They took their keys and went to their room. “It’s pretty good,” Angelica said when she turned on the lights.

“Yeah, I know,” Henry said dryly.

The lights suddenly went out and Angelica started to turn around. “What’s happened—”

“Nothing happened,” she heard Henry say above her, his arms snaking around her.

“Henry, I don’t think…your shoulders are—” he silenced her with his mouth.

Angelica gave in and wormed her arms around his neck. It wouldn’t be her problem if his wound would start aching again.