Fallen Angel (14 page)

The sound of approaching riders caused her to pause half way to the barn. As she waited six mounted men came into view along with one saddled but empty horse.  She scanned faces Matt, Luke’s brother that she had met briefly, was in the lead next was a dark haired man with graying temples and a moustache, she gasped and her knees suddenly felt weak. It was her father she recognized him. As she stood there watching him get closer a flood of images ran through her mind, her house, her name, her life. She remembered all of it as if she had never forgotten. The sudden onslaught left her nauseous she was afraid that she was going to vomit right there it the yard. Her father would not like that. She took a deep breath and forced herself to stand tall and wait as he approached.

“Angelica, I can’t tell you how overjoyed I am to find you safe.” He said when he reached her, but he didn’t sound overjoyed, he sounded as if he could have been commenting on the weather. 
That was her father, he never showed any emotion. Angelica could only nod, she was too stunned to form a coherent sentence.

“Well come on and I’ll take you home.”

“Of course, one moment.” She turned and walked back to the house on autopilot, she knew she was wearing Ella’s clothes and she had to change. She put on the gown that Ella had washed and hung in the bedroom then unbraided her hair and wrapped it up into an elaborate style on top of her head.  Just before she left the room she took one last look, on impulse she pulled open the closet that she had never looked in. Just as she had suspected this was Luke’s bedroom, he had given it to her and moved out into the bunk house. Well now he could have it back. She squared her shoulders and walked out the door only to come face to face with Ella.

“Are you alrig
ht dear, you look a little pale?”

“I am fine thank you.” She passed by Ella toward the kitchen door. She was almost to the door when she thought better and went back. She
threw her arms around the shorter woman’s neck and choked back a sob.  “Thank you so much for everything, I can’t even explain what you have done for me.”  Ella pulled back and smiled at her putting her hands on her face.

“You take care of yourself and remember you’ll always have a home here if you need it.”  Angelica just smiled and dried her eyes, she knew that wasn’t true, it had ceased being her home the moment Luke had ended things between them but she wasn’t going to argue with her.  She took a deep breath then continued out the door.

“Mr. Harrison I would like to compensate you for taking such good care of my daughter.”  She heard her father say as she walked toward the waiting horse.

“I am not interested in your m
oney Mr. Austin.” She heard Luke respond, unable to resist she looked over her shoulder and saw him leaning easily against the corral railing. His posture looked relaxed but his eyes looked angry. He didn’t look the least bit surprised though. He knew, of course he knew. She mounted the waiting horse anxious to get underway.

“Well you have my gratitude then.” She heard her father say. She didn’t wait for him she turned the horse and kicked it into a canter. The other men in the group followed suit surrounding her as she rode. She didn’t recognize them, she wondered briefly if she was still missing part of her memory but she thought it was more likely she just didn’t know them. She had recognized her father
and her father’s chief of staff, Thomas Mann, who pretty much never left his side but these other three men she was pretty sure she had never seen before.

“Where is my horse?” She asked absently.

“We have not located your horse.” Her father said. He had taken the lead once they were away from the buildings.  She fell silent again as they rode, she stared across the landscape, she had found everything so mesmerizingly beautiful and this would probably be the last time she ever saw it. She tried to memorize the last images at least she could keep them.  As she watched the landscape drift past she saw a familiar form, a rider sitting on a low hilltop. She squinted trying to tell who it was then she recognized James. She lifted her arm in a silent goodbye and he waved back.  It would have been nice to have said good bye in person but she didn’t know what she would have said anyway.

Every time Luke thought he couldn’t feel worse he proved himself wrong. First the idea of letting her go made him feel sick but then he had to actually do it. Telling her what had been between them was wrong, was the hardest thing he had ever had to do, but watching her go had been downright painful.  He couldn’t get a read on her at all. She didn’t look unhappy to be leaving but she didn’t look happy to be going home either. Granted she probably didn’t remember her father so that could explain why she hadn’t even smiled, but it didn’t explain why he didn’t. If he had really thought his daughter was dead he should have been thrilled to see her alive.

“Do you
think we’ll ever see her again?” George’s voice snapped him back to the present and the supper conversation.

“No, it’s not as if we ever saw her before.” Charlie laughed.

“Yeah but now we know who she is, if we saw her we would know.” George said.

“George, she went back to her high class life, she is the mayor’s daughter for christsakes. If you see her on the street I can guarantee she won’t acknowledge you. If you knock on her door you’ll get turned away now just like you would have before.” Charlie said and laughed again.

“You’re wrong.” James said, it was his first contribution to the conversation.

“You think she would give you the time of day if you saw her on the street?” Charlie asked.

“I am sure of it.” He said blandly. Some of the men around the table perked up.

“You didn’t see her when she left, she couldn’t get out of here fast enough.” John said looking at James as if that should change his mind.

“Maybe she had her own reasons for that.” James said but he wasn’t looking at John, his eyes were locked on Luke’s. Luke heard him loud and clear but there was nothing he could say to justify his actions.

“Care to put your money where your mouth is?” Charlie asked staring
at James.

“No,” Luke interrupted his voice quiet, “she was one of us for a while even if she is gone now, no one is betting on her.” The table fell silent and Luke tried to concentrate on his plate but he had no appetite so he just pushed his food around until everyone was done.

Angelica looked up at
the huge mansion where she had spent the last ten years of her life, she felt hollow, it should feel like home but it didn’t.

“Welcome home M
iss. We were so happy to hear you are safe.” Angelica frowned as the housekeeper rushed forward.

“What did everyone think had happened to me?”

“We thought the slayer had gotten you ma’am.”

“Who?”

“The slayer. That is what they are calling that maniac that is abducting and killing red headed women.” Angelica turned and looked at her father, he looked rather irritated at the housekeeper. 

“Angelica, come with me please.”  She followed her father into his study and shut the door.

“I apologize for Mrs. Carter’s crassness, but I suppose it was only a matter of time.”  He stopped and looked at her for a long moment. “I was led to believe that you had lost your memory.”

“I did lose my memory, but it has been coming back to me since I saw you today.”

“Very good. Well you may remember before you left there was a killer on the loose, a manic that was abducting red haired women and then leaving their mutilated bodies for someone to find.”  Angelica nodded, she did remember reading about that. “Well since you have red hair when you went missing the media assumed that he had abducted you.  I never believed it of course but it has been media frenzy, I am sure when they find out you’re back it will start all over again.” Angelica nodded and closed her eyes trying to remember where she had been going that had led her so far from home.  “Don’t worry dear.” Her father said misreading her expression. “I have hired a whole team of bodyguards the best money can buy. They will keep you safe until the killer is caught.”  Angelica nodded again.

“I just have one question, where was I going that day?”

“You don’t know?” He asked studying her face. She shook her head.

“I can’t remember that day at all.”

“Well I don’t know specifically where you were going, you just left for your daily ride like every other day but on that day you didn’t come home. I was really quite beside myself, you know after your mother.” His voice trailed off. “I am very glad to have found you safe.” He said with renewed vigor.

“I am quite tired, I think I am going to go to bed early.” She said and turned toward the door.

“That is a good idea, get a good night’s sleep I am sure Brent will be here tomorrow.”  Angelica closed her eyes and barely suppressed a groan. She had almost let Brent stay forgotten.

“Of course.” She said not turning.

“Oh and Angelica dear, I must insist, until this killer is caught don’t do anything routine. If you must go out take the bodyguards with you and certainly don’t go out at the same time every day as you did before.”

“Yes, of course father.” She agreed and then quietly
left the room.  She climbed the stairs slowly grateful for the privacy when she closed the door to her suite of rooms. She could feel the eyes of the household staff on her all of them staring at her, wondering where she had been, if she had left on purpose.  Now she was in her own sanctuary, it was little comfort but little was better than none.  She sank into the chair in front of the fireplace and gazed up at the painting above the fireplace.

“Well Mom, what do I do now?” She said aloud.  The painting just stared back at her.
What she wouldn’t give to hear her mother’s voice again. It had been twelve years since she had vanished. She opened her locket and looked inside. She could still hear her mother’s voice in her head but it wasn’t the same. ‘Always follow your heart Angelica, if you let your heart guide you you’ll never be lost.’ She used to say that to her every day.  She would be so disappointed if she could see her now. She wasn’t following her heart until recently she had been ignoring the fact that she even had a heart.  Funny that it took not knowing who she was for her to find out who she really was.

“Did you finally follow your heart mom? Is that where you went?” She said staring at the smiling face in the locket.  She had always hoped her mother had run off with a lover, that’s what the whispered rumors were, but realistically she thought if her mother were alive somewhere she would have contacted her by now. 

She sighed and stood to change her clothes. She had been given a gift, the opportunity to see herself objectively. As much as it pained her to admit it now everything that Luke had ever said to her or about her had been the truth. She was a spoiled princess, he had seen that in the beginning but he didn’t know the half of it. He had no idea how deceitful she could be, how well she had used her princess persona to get what she wanted.  He had told her that most people grew up to be what they were taught to be. That was true of her too, her father had taught her to be the perfect political pawn and she played her part well, but now that she had gained some perspective she knew she wanted a new life. She also knew that her father wasn’t going to just let her walk away. She was going to have to plan her actions very carefully to get what she wanted.

She sat back in the chair and looked up at her mother’s portrait again. Her mother was a truly honest and caring person she would take her new found perspective and become more like her mother.
The first situation she was going to have to deal with very objectively was Brent. Brent Westbrook, her betrothed, a match that had been carefully arranged by her father. Brent came from a very wealthy and influential family, and he had political aspirations as big if not bigger than her father’s. She was merely the commodity that was being traded, her father gained influential in-laws and Brent gained a wife that could play the political game with the best of them. Now her cause would be her own.

“Brent, so good of you to come.” Angelica smiled and grasped his hands and kissed his cheek as he kissed hers.

“Of course, I came. I was so relieved to hear that you were safe.”  Angelica sat on the sofa opposite him and he resumed his seat.  She poured him a cup of coffee from the service on the table between them and sighed.

“It was a very harrowing experience, I am glad to be home.”  Seeing Brent for the first time after Luke she couldn’t help but compare them. She had always found Brent attractive but now he seemed to pale in comparison. He was tall, probably as tall as Luke but he didn’t have Luke’s broad shoulders and strength earned from years of hard work. His hair was dark where Luke’s was light. He did have blue eyes but they were an ordinary everyday blue not the pale piercing blue that commanded your attention. Still despite the fact that he didn’t hold a candle to Luke he was still an attractive man, and after all Luke didn’t want her anyway. Curiosity got the better of her and she stood, he had been telling her what had been happening while she had been away but her sudden movement caused him to abruptly stop and stand. She stepped in front of him and looked up at him he looked confused and a little nervous.

“Brent,” she said in what she hoped was a seductive voice, “do you mind if I make a somewhat inappropriate request?”