Саманта Сильвер - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

“And you found the person who hurt Andrea,” Sprinkles told me. “I need to thank you for that.”

“Did you recognize him when he opened the door?”

“Yes. As soon as I saw the face, everything came flooding back. I ran out of fear, and then I remembered that Sophie was going to the movies, and I had to get her. I had to get her to save you.”

“And you did very well to do that,” Sophie said, gazing at him.

“Well, Kelly Dottory’s not going to be happy,” I said as I watched the two of them.

“Why’s that?” Sophie asked.

“Because it’s obvious who’s the best suited to adopt Sprinkles now, and it sure isn’t her!”

“You hear that Sprinkles? You’re going to live with us forever now!” Sophie announced, and Sprinkles nudged his head under her arm.

“I’m really, really glad,” Sprinkles said.

“Good. Bee, on the other hand, is not going to be happy,” I said, thinking of my already grouchy cat. I had a feeling I was going to have to start adding a line item for sushi in my monthly budget.

Charlotte looked over at us. “Now I know how Sophie’s felt all these years, I’m the only one who can’t understand Sprinkles. But all the same he’s wormed himself into my heart as well. I’m glad he’s going to be living with us for good. I had an inkling though, it was obvious from the start that Sophie had completely fallen in love with him.”

Sprinkles sat on the ground, wagging his tail along the floor, thrilled with all the attention he was getting, when a nurse came in, a bouncy blonde haired woman in her 40s who you just knew was the type who was still as friendly and amazing after a 20-hour shift than when she first got to work.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she said, grabbing my chart off the front of the bed. “How are you feeling, Angela?” she asked.

“I’m alright,” I replied. “Just a little bit weary, I think. You know, the excitement of it all.”

“Of course, you poor dear. Well I’m glad to hear it. We ran a few tests just to make sure nothing was wrong. Your sister here’s going to make an excellent doctor,” she added, beaming at Charlotte, who smiled and blushed slightly. “You’ve got the all-clear, so we’re just going to keep you here overnight, just to be safe, and Charlotte and Sophie here can come and take you home tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thanks,” I told the nurse with a smile.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked me kindly as she re-adjusted my pillow. I shook my head.

“No, I’m good, thanks.”

“Alright! Well, I’ll just remind Sophie and Charlotte not to tire you out, so they should probably leave in the next half hour or so.”

“We will, thanks Nicky,” Charlotte told her, and she got another smile in reply.

When the nurse left, Charlotte grabbed my hand. “Everyone’s really worried about you. We should go though. As the nurse says, we don’t want to overstress you.”

“I’ll sneak you in some Chipotle before we go,” Sophie told me.

“Have I ever told you you’re my favourite person?” I asked her.

“A few times, but I never tire of hearing it.”

The two of them left to get me Chipotle, and after they snuck my veggie burrito bowl back into my room, I found myself alone with only my thoughts – and my phone – to entertain me.

I played Candy Crush for a while as I ate my food, and tried not to think too hard about what had happened. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hold off for too long, as I got a visit from Chief Gary about an hour after Sophie and Charlotte left.

“Hey, Chief Gary,” I said, greeting him with a smile.

“Hi, Angela. How are you feeling?”

“Great, thanks to you,” I replied. “Thanks for, you know, saving my life. I mean it.”

Chief Gary waved away my thanks, but I did notice a bit of a blush creeping up his face.

“Not a problem. All part of the job, after all. But speaking of the job, I do need to take your statement. Gareth Sims has lawyered up, one of those big cartel lawyers from LA, and I wanted to get your statement as soon as possible.”

“Of course,” I answered, although deep down my heart sunk a little bit. The last thing I wanted to do was relive that experience right now, but I knew it was what I had to do.

For forty minutes I told Chief Gary exactly what had happened and answered his numerous questions. When he was finished, which was helped along by Nicky coming back and shooing him out for tiring me out too much, I fell back into a deep, deep sleep which thankfully didn’t involve any dreams.

Chapter 21

When I woke up again, I saw Lisa and Ken sitting in the chairs next to my bed.

“Oh, Angela. I’m really glad you’re fine,” Lisa told me. “Ken and I had a date after work and we thought we’d stop by and see how you were doing.”

“Thanks, Lisa,” I told her. “And Ken. I appreciate you guys coming.”

“We won’t stay long,” Ken told me. “We got yelled at by a nurse saying that you needed rest, and there’s someone else waiting outside who wants to see you. I did bring you this though,” he told me, handing me over a small square package wrapped in wax paper. I didn’t get halfway through unwrapping it before the familiar smell wafted up to me, and I leaned back and inhaled.

“One of Betty’s veggie BLTs. Thank you, Ken.”

He smiled at me. “I might not appreciate them – or understand your vegetarianism – but I know you love them, so I snuck it in for you.”

“Thanks,” I said again, looking at him appreciatively. Ok, so maybe he wasn’t a total jerk.

“We’re going to get going,” Lisa said, standing up and kissing me on the cheek. “You take care of yourself, ok? I’m going to come over there tomorrow and make sure you girls have enough food.”

“It’s ok, Lisa, we’re almost thirty, we can make our own food.”

“I’ve seen your fridge, sweetie. I’m amazed you’re not skin and bones. Don’t argue, I am going to come over there, and I am going to make sure you don’t have to worry about anything for a while.”

I leaned back in the bed. “Ok, fine.”

“Good. Now you rest up. Take care of yourself.”

I said goodbye to Lisa and Ken, and waited to see who the person outside was. I expected to see Charlotte or Sophie back, but I was completely taken aback when instead, Antonia deLucca walked through the door.

“Hi,” I greeted her, looking a little bit confused. I wasn’t entire sure why she was here.

Antonia looked around, and then sat down gingerly on the chair next to my bed. She looked older somehow, like the last few weeks had aged her by ten years. She had always been quite sprightly for a woman of her age, but now she looked like, well, she looked her age.

“Hello, Angela,” she told me formally. I waited for her to continue, and after about a minute, she did. “I wanted to thank you for finding the person responsible for killing Andrea.”

I honestly had no idea what to say. “Thank you,” I finally started. “It was more of an accident than anything though. But, I thought you hated each other?”

Antonia shook her head.

“No. No, Andrea hated me. She hated me for what I did.”

“When you told her daughter her true origins?”

Antonia’s head snapped up. “How did you know about that?”

“I was sworn to secrecy by the person who told me, I’m sorry,” I replied. “But you don’t have to worry, the secret is safe with me.”

Antonia sighed. “What’s the point of secrets? I knew. I knew Janice had been kidnapped. And I argued with Andrea about whether or not to tell her. We argued about it for ages. She didn’t want the girl to know, and I thought she had to.”

“Was that why you were arrested in Las Vegas?” I asked. Antonia laughed, a cold, hard laugh.