One Wild Night

Chapter 406: Hunch

“Where can we find Bill?” Jade asked as she rose from her window side seat and approached the couple.          

    

She didn’t know about Candace, but she was curious to know what Jero might have left her. Was it money? Documents to some secret property? Or maybe details of a trust fund account for Jamal?     

“He will find you when everything is settled and deliver the package,” Jero managed weakly, and it seemed like the more he spoke the weaker he became.      

“Don’t you think you should give us a clue as to what to expect in this package? What if Bill tampers with it?” Jade asked, wanting to bait Jero into telling them what it was.      

“He can’t. Only her can access it,” Jero said, and Jade’s brows pulled together.      

“And Andy? What about my sister? Is she safe with Cassidy?” Candace asked, and he nodded slowly as though he didn’t have the strength to speak again.     

“Where is Cassidy headed with her?” Jade asked, and he shook his head before removing the oxygen mask again.     

“I don’t know where. But I overheard something about a cargo ship,” Jero managed before replacing the mask and then he and closed his eyes to catch his breath.      

“You mean they are traveling in a cargo ship?” Jade asked, and he nodded slowly without opening his eyes.      

“He’s exhausted. We should let him rest,” Jade said to Candace who was watching Jero with a slight frown.     

Jero opened his eyes one more time to look at Candace, “Don’t let them know I’m awake,” he said, looking at Jade.     

“Why? Are you thinking of escaping from here?” Jade asked, and he smiled weakly.     

“Whatever they’re giving me for pain makes me drowsy. I don’t want to sleep. I want to feel it,” Jero said before turning his face away.     

“Let’s go,” Jade told Candace who was still looking at Jero with a frown. Seeing her reluctance to leave, Jade placed a hand over her shoulder and led her out of the room.      

“What is wrong?” Jade asked when Candace abruptly stopped walking after they      

“Something is wrong,” Candace said with a slight frown unable to shake off her worry, and Jade looked at her with a slightly raised brow.     

“What makes you think so?” Jade asked curiously, and Candace shook her head.      

“Jero would never let me go that easily…”     

“Hold on a second, let me get something straight. You were worried that he was going to try to hurt you or something, and now that you have met him and he didn’t do any of that you’re worried about him?” Jade asked incredulously, and Candace shook her head.      

“I know Jero. Something is wrong. Can we speak with the doctor?” Candace asked, ignoring Jade’s sarcasm.      

“Candace…”     

“Trust me, Jade. I know better than you how much I despise Jero. And I want nothing more than to see him die. But I can’t walk out of this place without knowing what is wrong with him. This is likely going to be the last time I see him, and I need to know what is wrong. He’s still Jamal’s dad,” Candace pleaded, and Jade frowned.      

Jade shook her head incredulously, not understanding why Candace, who had been plotting to kill Jero suddenly seemed so concerned about him, “You forgot he was Jamal’s dad when you wanted to kill him?”      

“I was going to kill him if I perceived him to be a threat not when he is being this way,” Candace insisted, and Jade sighed.      

“Fine. Let’s go see the doctor,” she said as she led the way, and Candace followed her.      

The doctor was busy attending to some other patients so they had to wait for a while before going in, and after Jade introduced herself and Candace to the doctor she gave Candace a nod to ask the doctor whatever questions she had.          

    

“Is Jero going to be okay? I mean apart from the injury he sustained, will he be fine?” Candace asked as she leaned forward in her seat, and the doctor exchanged a look with Jade who gave him a nod to answer the question.     

“I don’t know how much I’m allowed to tell you, but you should know that he’s dying. His vital organs were failing when he got here and after running some series of blood test on him we found some poisonous substances in his blood…”     

“Poison?” Jade and Candace asked in unison.     

“Can’t you flush it out of his system?” Candace asked.     

“Yes. We’ve done that, but the damage has been done already. We are still trying to identify the poison. But whatever it is has damaged his heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver so badly that he can only survive by immediate organ transplantion. I don’t know how the poison got there or how long it has been in his system but I do know it has been there for a while,” the doctor added before either Jade or Candace could say a word.      

“Do you mean it has been there for longer than Twenty-four hours?” Jade asked in confusion since she had been suspecting that the Lords of the cartel were behind the poisioning.      

The doctor gave her a nod, “I suspect it has been there for much longer. That extent of damage couldn’t have happened in such a short duration. Also we found traces of morphine in his blood, that means he must have been in severe pain,” the doctor said, and Jade glanced at Candace who suddenly stood up.      

“I need to see him again,” Candace said, and Jade gave her a nod as she stood up.      

“Thanks for your time,” Jade said as they both walked out of the office.     

Candace walked in hurried steps and Jade tried to match her pace. This time the men keeping watch by the door didn’t stop them as they walked into Jero’s room.      

“Jero?” Candace called as she stood by his bed, and he slowly turned his head to her and opened his eyes.      

Candace’s throat tightened when she saw his tearstained eyes, and she stepped closer to the bed, “Who did that to you? Who poisoned you?” She asked quietly, and Jero’s gaze shifted to Jade before returning to Candace.     

“Cassidy,” he said with a small smile as a tear slid down the sides of his eyes.      

“Cassidy? Why? When did he do that?” Jade asked with a frown.     

“It is my punishment. I deserve it,” Jero said, meeting Candace’s gaze.      

Without saying another word to him, Candace turned around and walked away from the room, leaving Jade to hurry after her. They were both quiet as they walked away from there and returned to the car.      

Candace couldn’t explain exactly what she was feeling in that moment as all her emotions were conflicted. She was still very bitter and angry with him, she was happy that he was going to die, and at the same time she felt sorry for him. She felt sorry that he was dying so pathetically.     

Pathetically? Candace asked herself as she suddenly burst into a peal of laughter, startling Jade who had been about to turn on the car.      

Jade watched as Candace’s entire body shook with laughter and just as suddenly as the laughter started, Candace broke into a sob. Jade sighed but said nothing as she turned on the car and drove away from there.      

As Jade drove she replayed all that had happened in Jero’s room in her head and her head cocked to the side when her thoughts drifted to something Jero had said and the unbelievable connection she had made.      

It didn’t make any sense, but taking a closer look at Candace, it somehow made sense. She had completely forgotten that Candace’s hair had been a long mass of curly gold hair when she met her the first time. It wasn’t until Jero had mentioned the stubborn curls that she remembered it. And once she remembered that, she recalled another face she had seen recently with similar curly gold hair. A face she had thought looked familiar but she had been unable to place until Jero referred to it.      

How did it make sense that Candace looked like the lady in the photo frame beside Harry’s bedside? It definitely didn’t make sense that Candace looked like Harry’s late mom. Perhaps she was mistaken? She needed to take another look at the picture to be sure they did look alike and she wasn’t mistaken.      

Even though it didn’t make much sense, she couldn’t dismiss her hunch. The inquisitive part of her needed to pursue it and confirm it. Maybe they were distant relatives or possibly doppelgangers.      

She briefly contemplated calling Harry and asking him for a picture of his mom, but she discarded the thought, reasoning that would be awkward. How would she explain suddenly asking for a picture of his late mom? She couldn’t ask Aaron either.     

Her eyes suddenly lit up when she remembered that Harry had mentioned that he was going to work and Lucy would be at home with Aaron. Lucy was the perfect person to ask for such a request.          

    

Away from there, Tom and Lucy walked into Harry’s apartment, with Tom carrying the pack of breakfast Samantha had prepared.     

“I’m so sorry for the delay. My twin brother got into Ludus in the early hours of this morning and we had to stop by to see him,” Lucy said apologetically as she and Tom walked into the house.     

“It’s not a problem. How is he?” Harry asked as he held out his arms to embrace Lucy who was approaching him, but she walked past him to embrace Aaron who was standing behind him, and kissed his cheeks.     

“You had all of us worried about you,” Lucy said as she pulled away from him, and Aaron grinned at her making Tom laugh at Harry who was scowling as he dropped his hands to his side.      

“I’m sorry. I got sick of seeing Harry. I feel better now that you’re here,” Aaron said and Lucy laughed as she went to embrace Harry.     

“You both should run along now. You’re late,” she said before turning to Tom who was dropping the pack of breakfast on the table.      

“The CEO is never late. The others arrived too early,” Harry said making them laugh.     

“Take care of yourself, Jewel,” Tom said as he kissed her lightly on the lips and Aaron rolled his eyes.      

“Can you just leave already?” He asked with false irritation making them laugh.      

“Dad…”     

“Take him away, Tom,” Aaron cut in before Harry could speak, and Tom jerked his head to the door.     

“Let’s go,” he said, and Harry sighed as he picked up his padded briefcase.      

“Lu…”     

“Don’t worry I’ll take care of him and if anything comes up I will let you know,” promised, cutting off whatever he wanted to say, and he gave her a nod before walking away with Tom.     

Once they left, Aaron let out a sigh, “He worries too much.”     

“You’re all he has. You can’t blame him for worrying about you. Besides, I’m sure you’d do worse if he was the sick one,” Lucy said as she walked over to the dining, and Aaron followed her.      

“Still, he worries too much. I swear I’ve told him I’m fine more than a hundred times today yet he wouldn’t listen,” Aaron complained, and Lucy smiled.      

“I believe he took after someone. Probably you or his mom,” Lucy said lightly, and watched from the corner of her eyes as the smile on Aaron’s face faltered at the mention of Harry’s mom.      

“I believe you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?” She asked, and without waiting for his response she walked into the kitchen and looked around the place before pulling out a couple of cabinet drawers until she found the drawers containing the dishes and cutleries.      

“Harry says Tom’s chef is the best,” Aaron said as he watched Lucy return to the table with the plates and cutleries.     

“I agree with him. Samantha can make anything taste good,” Lucy said with an easy smile as she set the breakfast on the table in front of Aaron and herself.     

“What do you think?” Lucy asked when Aaron bit into the biscuit and gravy, and he gave her a nod of approval.     

“She’s second only to me,” Aaron said, and Lucy giggled.     

She watched as Aaron ate, contemplating on the best way to raise the subject, and after a while Aaron looked up at her, “Why are you just watching me and not eating?”     

“Did Harry tell you we came around last night?” She asked, and Aaron gave her a nod.