“Chanty…I…we…” Angelica stuttered, trying to think of some excuse. But how the hell could anyone make a light excuse when there were two guys lying unconscious on the floor?

“Ange, what the hell is this?” Chanty asked again, her eyes travelling from Mr. Black Guy to Mr. Scarred Face, to her, and then to Henry.

Angelica looked at Henry. He looked as stunned as she was and she desperately wanted to melt down the floor and disappear into thin air.

“Ange!” Chanty cried out, snapping her out of her panicky thoughts.

“I…we…” she stuttered once again. “These men tried to harass me,” she blurted out the best one she could think of.

“What? How? Do you know the fire alarm rang out? We have to get out!” Chanty looked at them suspiciously. “And why are you here? Oh my God, what the hell is happening here?!” she looked pointedly at Henry.

“I heard Angelica scream and luckily, I came just in time.”

“Oh my God, there’s a gun! Ange! There’s a gun!” Chanty shouted hysterically, jumping up and down when she spotted the gun at the corner. “There’s a gun!” her eyes had gone wide now.

“Chanty, calm down…” Angelica told her, and then she threw Henry a look and talked with her eyes. He got the message and he sighed.

“Chanty, calm down…police are coming. I called them,” he explained, walking closer to her friend.

Chanty still had her eyes closed, as she leaned her right shoulder against the wall, her hands fanning her face. Henry looked back at her with a pleading and frustrated look.

“What?” she mouthed at him.

“Handle this!” he mouthed back.

“You’re so useless…” she hissed under her breath only for him to hear as she rushed toward her friend. “Chanty!” she shouted to get her friend’s attention. “It’s over now. These guys came in, we handled it—lucky for us—and police are coming. We better go outside,” she took Chanty by the shoulders and turned her to the direction of the door.

“You better explain how this happened, Ange,” Chanty rasped out.

She nodded. “Yes, yes, once you calm down.” She looked back at Henry. “Handle this!” she mouthed, pointing at the two men on the floor with her finger.

  *****

For the first time since he met her, Henry was thankful for Angelica’s quick mouth. It was a nice good excuse she blurted out to Chanty.

He looked down at the two unconscious men and sighed. How the hell did they find them here? Of all places! And they bothered to go through a lot of trouble just to get to Angelica.

Who was desperate enough to want her dead?

The local police came in time, just after everyone in the airport had been relieved by the announcement that the alarm was just a false one. Henry talked with the authorities and settled the matter, making sure that the men be transferred to New York immediately.

Their flight was delayed but not cancelled, much to everyone’s relief. He was not able to talk to Angelica yet because she was busy calming down Chanty.

“Please, there’s no need to tell everyone,” he heard her tell her friend.

“But why? You almost got killed!”

“Chanty, please…”

He walked past them. He knew she could handle it alone.

He had himself to calm down as well. The realization that Angelica almost got killed was eating him up.

If something happened to her…

No, he was not willing to think along that line of thought. She was fine and she would be fine.

  *****

Angelica was finally able to convince Chanty about the story of her being harassed. She was also able to make her promise not to tell anyone about what happened.

And so, they flew back home with her nerves still jittery over what happened. The short vacation was finally over and now, real world was waiting.

Henry woke her up as the plane landed on American soil.

“We’re home,” he whispered. “Are you okay?”

Home. Yeah, right. The most dangerous place ever. And no, she didn’t think she was okay. “We should call Pamela. I’m really worried.” If the bad guys had reached her, then it would have been easier for them to get to Pamela. She was almost sure the woman’s husband was behind all these.

He nodded. “We’ll go home first and then we’ll call her.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

They said goodbye to the Strindbergs, who had no idea of what happened in the airport apart from Chanty, and went back home to his apartment.

“When are you going to talk to Mr. Scarred Face and his men?”

“Mr. what?”

“You know, the one I trampled on the ground,” she explained.

He bellowed a laugh, the first real one she heard since Woodstock. “You gave him a name?”

“Yes, why not? And Mr. Black Guy too,” she smiled at his amusement.

He laughed once again. “They will be immediately transported back to New York, but I don’t know when. My superior will inform me if that happens.”

“You’ll get them to talk, right?”

Henry’s face turned serious. “No, my superior will.”

“But—”

“Angelica, you don’t have to worry about those guys anymore. You just have to focus on staying alive.”

She knew saying anything against his words would only lead to another argument so she chose silence.

  *****

They didn’t have to call Pamela. She left them a number of messages on Henry’s phone, asking them to meet for dinner with the rest of the partners.

“I guess she’s still alive after all,” Henry uttered after listening to the last message.

“Don’t say that!” Angelica slapped his arm before slumping down the couch.

“The last message is from earlier so yes, she’s still alive,” he said, nodding.

“Shut up. I’ll call her,” Angelica said, grabbing the phone. Henry stared at her as she waited for the ring. “What?”

“You’re feeling okay?” he looked concerned.

She didn’t answer because Pamela picked up the line. “Hey, Pam, it’s me, Angelica. Yes, I’m sorry, we were out of the country. Yes, of course we got it. Yes, yes, we’ll be there. Are you okay? You’re feeling good? Okay,” she broke into a smile. “That’s good to know. Yes, of course, I’ll tell him. Bye.” And then she frowned.

“Now, what?” Henry looked at her dryly.

“She sounded…too happy.”

“She can’t be happy?”

“She’s not crazy, is she? She sounded very afraid the last time and now she’s kind of euphoric or something.”

“It’s the hormones,” he guessed. “Did she say anything about Garrett?”

Angelica nodded. “Yes, she said he’s home and that he was the one who wanted to have dinner. I’m not eating anything in that dinner.”

“When’s the dinner and why aren’t you eating anything?” He followed her with his gaze as she walked toward her bedroom.

“Tonight. And because the food might be poisoned!”

  *****

Angelica received a call from Hartman late that afternoon while she was getting ready for dinner. Henry was seated on her bed, waiting for her to finish.

“It’s Hartman,” she frowned. “What does he want now?”

“Ms. Dalton, Hartman here,” Cole said when she pushed the answer button. “I got the autopsy results.”

Color drained from her face. Once again, she was reminded by her father. “Okay, I’ll get them tomorrow.”

“I’ll be at my office.”

She looked at Henry as she placed her phone down. “The autopsy results came in.”

“And?”

“I don’t think I really want to know what happened to him.”

“We’ll talk about it after dinner,” he said gently and she nodded.

  *****

Of course, everyone was there except Kevin. of course. She remembered the last time she saw each partner and it was Kevin’s funeral dinner.

“Hey, angel, how are you doing? I see you got a bit of tan,” John said, taking her hand for a kiss. “How was Philippines?”

“How did you know I went there?”

“Everybody knows where you went,” he shrugged.

“It was great, thank you,” her smile wavered and then she saw Henry’s gaze from behind John’s shoulder. “I need to go,” she excused herself.

“I told you to stay away from him,” Henry whispered, pretending a smile when she reached him.

“He knew we went to the Philippines,” she hissed.

“Everybody knows we went there,” he stated dryly. She looked at him. Wasn’t this supposed to be the time when he would say he told her so? That he was right about John being the killer?

“Angelica, good evening, my child,” Stan said behind her. She turned and smiled at the old man.

“Stan, hi!” she gave him a hug. And then she remembered what the partners were capable of and she cut it short. She couldn’t be very comfortable with them. She had to stay alive after all.

They were at the bar freshening up as they waited for their table. Pamela called and said she and Garrett would be running late.

“So what did the two of you do during your little vacation?” Stan asked, eyeing them knowingly. John came up behind him with a glass of wine, joining in the conversation. She felt Henry’s hand on her waist and he pulled her close as he talked.

“We went to attend a wedding and enjoyed the stay. The place was amazing,” he said it like he actually really enjoyed their time there. “But there were also surprises,” he added, eyeing the gentlemen in the eyes. Angelica tensed. She didn’t want to see Henry doing his investigative work right now, really. It was just kind of weird.

“Oh, Pamela’s here!” she chimed when she saw the lady enter the restaurant. She started walking to meet her and then stop. “Pamela…” she trailed off. The lady turned and saw her.

“Angelica, dear! I missed you!” She uttered, walking to meet her halfway.

“What happened to your hand?” she looked down at the lady’s left wrist.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I slipped on the floor,” Pamela said, covering the cast with the other hand.

“Where’s Garrett?” Angelica looked over her shoulder, and surely, there he was, entering the door, his face still as blank as usual, his eyes still as dangerous as before. The hairs behind Angelica’s nape stood up in alarm. She didn’t really like Garrett’s presence. “Hello, Garrett,” she greeted anyway.

In response, he nodded at her, placed a hand over his wife’s shoulder and squeezed. Pamela cringed a little and Angelica saw it. Garrett then walked toward the other guys for further greetings.

They got their table in no time and they all sat down for dinner.

“So, what’s the occasion?” John asked.

“It’s out twentieth anniversary next week and we wanted to celebrate early,” Pamela said with a smile.

“Congratulations,” everyone greeted and Pamela’s eyes brimmed with tears. Angelica doubted if it was sorrow or real joy she felt. She looked sideways at Henry and he too was looking at the couple curiously. Pamela’s casted wrist finally got his attention after all.

“I thought you’re not eating,” Henry uttered beside her, his lips too near her ear.

“It was just a rhetorical statement,” she answered, too busy eyeing Pamela who didn’t look like she was the lady she spoke to earlier today on the phone. Fake happiness was painted all over her face. And domestic violence was written all over the cast she had on her wrist.

“This is not the salad I ordered,” John announced with a frown.

“I think that’s mine,” Angelica said with a chuckle. Mine got olives and I don’t like olives.

“And I guess that’s mine,” he smiled at her with a wink. “Want your salad?” he offered.

Angelica saw Henry’s look at the corner of her eye and she said, “No, I guess I can handle olives.”

“Okay, I guess I can handle more chicken,” John shrugged.

“So, when can I meet the clients?” she asked all of a sudden and everyone straightened in their chairs. Okay, she guessed she asked the wrong question.

“In time,” Stan chose to answer. “Not now.”

End of conversation.

One, because everyone was looking uncomfortable. Two, because Angelica was suddenly gasping and coughing up.

“Ange?” Henry asked beside her.

She opened her mouth but couldn’t. She tried to breath but couldn’t. She grabbed Henry’s shirt.

  *****

Henry knew something was definitely wrong.  He stood up and took her by the shoulders.

 “Ange?” his face was full of panic now. “Call an ambulance!” he roared. John and Stan both took their phones and dialed a number.

Angelica was gasping for breath and her face had turned red. Her eyes told him she was in panic. He had to stay calm.

“Where’s the fucking ambulance?!” he shouted. Everyone, including those at the nearby tables, was on their feet, taking to their phones or peering through the crowd. “Get me an ambulance now! Don’t touch her!” he cried when John stood up and reached out his hand for Angelica.

No one could touch her, no one except him.

How he wished someone was a doctor, but it seemed that the only doctor around was the one who needed help.