His mother squeezed his hand, and shook her head. “Oh Henry, what if she won’t stand by you? You need someone that will be willing to give up her life in return. Do you think she will stand against her own father?” She looked up at him and he saw the tears in her eyes.
He nodded, because he knew his Jamie would be the one by his side. “She loves me, and wants us to be together.”
His mother closed her eyes, and nodded. “What do you need us to do?” she asked.
Henry smiled and looked at Cameo. “We need help getting married as soon as possible. I don’t want to go much longer without calling her my wife.” He wasn’t sure how much longer he had before he was in the tower. He had a feeling that the only reason he was still employed by the Moore family was so he could be watched.
His mother opened her eyes, and after a few seconds she nodded. “Fine we’ll work it out, Robert can marry you.”
Henry smiled at her and wrapped her in his arms. He had always known that she would do anything for him.
* * *
Jamie woke in Henry’s bed, and realized she was alone. She slowly sat up and released the breath she was holding. She wasn’t in too much pain, not like a few hours earlier. She got out of the bed and ambled to the door, following the light out to where she heard voices. She stepped into the living room, and smiled at a picture that caught her eye. It was a younger Henry standing with his high school diploma, wearing a blue cap and gown. His hair flipped under his blue cap, and his smile was huge like he was laughing at something.
“Jamie, why are you out of bed? Do I have to tie you down?”
She laughed and looked at the man that had stolen her heart. He didn’t look too happy.
“Now Henry, that is no way to speak to my future daughter-in-law,” a woman said and Jamie looked to her left. She noticed a woman with dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.
Henry walked to her and narrowed his eyes. “Sweetheart, are you in pain?” Worry was written all over his face.
She smiled and shook her head. “I woke up…you weren’t there.” She looked down and away from his worried blue eyes. She felt his hand on her cheek.
“Sweetheart, you are stuck with me.”
She smiled, and looked back up at him. He was smiling at her as if she were the most beautiful girl in the world. Jamie put her hand on top of his, and shook her head. “You are stuck with me, until the end of time.” She felt her heart race with every word she spoke and when he winked at her she nearly stopped breathing.
Henry put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. “We were talking about us getting married as soon as possible.”
She looked back at him, and saw that concern was back in his eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?” She looked from him to the two other women in the room. They both looked away from her. She knew that he wasn’t telling her everything.
“Jamie if any other Blacks find out that we are planning on getting married, I would be put into the tower. I don’t think anything would happen to you, but I don’t want to take a chance with your life.”
She knew they would put him in the tower and then put to death, and her father wouldn’t think twice about it. “I won’t let my father put you in the tower.” Her tears burned the back of her eyes. Even she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop her father.
“Sweetheart, we know he doesn’t care if you love me or not. That is why I think…I think we should get married tonight…after your party. Then at least I will have some time to call you my wife.”
Jamie nodded. She knew that she would fight for him, no matter who she had to stand up against. She listened as the biggest day of her life was being planned in just an hour.
Chapter Eleven
Friends and Enemies
Jamie and Emily pulled away from the Rich’s house. She knew that the day was going to be crazy, but that night was going to be amazing. She couldn’t wait to be married to Henry and she knew that Emily wasn’t too happy about it. She hadn’t said much since she and Mike had come by Henry’s house. She’d just sat there and said nothing as everyone planned Jamie’s wedding. It wouldn’t be much, just her and Henry saying some short vows. She would be in her ball gown and he would be in the black tux that Cameo was getting for him.
It was just three in the morning, and she knew that the guard would be changing. Jamie glanced at her best friend, and her happiness faded a little. She hated the way things were in the car. “Em, will you please talk to me?”
Emily sighed, “No. I think that my best friend is rushing into something that will change her life, and she isn’t thinking about the consequences of her upcoming actions.”
“I have thought about it and I totally understand if you don’t want to be there tonight. You would be breaking the law if you were a part of my wedding.” Jamie hoped that she would be there, but didn’t want to risk her best friend. She was pretty sure that her father wouldn’t do anything to her, but couldn’t say the same about him hurting Emily.
“Well that isn’t going to happen. I will be standing behind you as you say I do.”
Jamie reached over to take Emily’s hand. They had been through a lot together and she was so happy to have Emily in her corner. “I love you Emily, and I would love for you to be my maid of honor.” Jamie removed her hand and smiled at her friend as she drove.
Emily laughed, “You already know my answer.”
She did. Ever since they had noticed boys, they’d always planned on a large double wedding where they would be each other’s maid of honor.
“And you better love me, damn it, I’m your best friend.”
It was Jamie’s turn to laugh. “What would I do without you?”
Emily smiled and shook her head. “You would be a complete utter mess.” She parked the car and turned to Jamie. “How are you doing? Are you in pain?”
Jamie shook her head. She didn’t hurt like she thought she would. “No whatever Doctor Martin did, worked.” She would be forever grateful that ^mbpSh2em she wouldn’t be messed up for her party and wedding. But she would never forget the pain that she’d felt as the bomb went off in her hands. People always said you see your life flash in front of your eyes as you are dying, but the only things she’d seen were Henry’s eyes and his rich chocolate brown hair. Henry was all she could think of, and she knew he would always be by her side.
“Good. I still can’t believe you had a bomb go off in your hands. I wonder who the hell sent it to you and I want to know how it got past the front guard.”
The front guard normally scanned every letter and package that came to the house. Which made her think that it was an inside job, because most of the guards around her had been there all of her life. Her father didn’t like to bring new people into the house. He didn’t trust easily and it shocked her when he’d told her that he’d hired a new butler.
“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure my dad has already asked that question,” Jamie said and looked at the large black metal gate with a large M in the middle. She wondered how much longer she would be coming home to these gates.
“Hmm…I think someone in the house is behind it,” Emily said and Jamie turned her attention back to her best friend. “You don’t think Ryan would be behind this, do you?”
She didn’t think so, but they hadn’t been talking in a while and he did show up there knowing how she felt about him. But she didn’t think he was capable of trying to kill her. “I don’t think he would want to kill me,” she said more to convince herself.
Emily just rolled her eyes, and shook her head. She didn’t believe that, and Jamie knew that, but she truly didn’t believe her father would sentence her to death, just her Henry for being a Blue.
“We better get inside, before the new guard starts.”
Jamie was thankful that she wasn’t in pain anymore, because it would be hard trying to sneak into her house. She knew where the cameras were and where the new guard would be meeting before they started. It gave her
and Emily a grand total of five minutes to get down stairs. They had done this a few times before, and she hoped she didn’t get caught. She didn’t feel like getting yelled at, not when she was so happy.
Jamie rushed to the front gate; she typed in five-one-six-two and pressed enter. It was the code she used when she wanted to sneak in. One of the guards had given it to her because he felt bad that she couldn’t have a real life. She would be forever thankful to him. He had helped her more than he knew. She didn’t like to sneak out, but sometimes it was nice to get away from being watched twenty-four seven.
She and Emily hurried past the gate, and crouched down when they snuck by the window. Jamie felt her heart pounding because she knew if she was caught, her father wouldn’t be happy, and she didn’t want to deal with drama. It was supposed to be the happies ce tse she t day of her life and she wouldn’t let anyone ruin it.
She turned her head to the side and whispered, “Em, we need to hurry.” She glanced around and saw someone coming. Jamie knew that she and Emily didn’t have as much time as they planned. She reached back and grabbed her best friend’s hand.
Jamie and Emily ran faster to the back door that led to Cynthia’s basement. It was about twenty yards away. The perfect cut grass crunch under their feet, and beautiful red and purple tulips lined the pathway. Red tulips were her mother’s favorite, and the purple ones were hers; so her father had them planted a few years earlier.
Jamie reached her hand out to open the door, and was thankful that it wasn’t locked. Cynthia knew that she and Emily would be back early that morning. She must have been the one that left it unlocked.
Emily quietly shut the door behind them and they both leaned against it breathing heavily. “I think that was the closest that we have ever been to being caught. I know I haven’t run like that since we had to run a mile in school, I think I’m out of shape.”
Jamie laughed and looked at her friend; she was skinny and not even close to being out of shape. Emily worked out all the time. “It was close, but we need to get downstairs before my father checks on me.”
Silently they hurried down the stairs, and into Cynthia’s living room. It was dark, but Jamie had been down there many times and knew where she was going. She reached down and took Emily’s hand in hers. She didn’t know the way like Jamie did. There were two sets of stairs that lead down to Cynthia’s, one from the house and the one from the outside that her father had put in for Cynthia years earlier.
They walked into the bedroom she’d used earlier, and Jamie shut the door. When she knew that they were alone, she turned on the light, and glanced at her friend. She was breathing heavily and glaring at her. “What?” Jamie asked and arched her eyebrows.
“This is the life you’ve signed up for. If you marry Henry then it will be worse. Are you prepared to lie to your dad? Because that is what you will have to do!” Jamie tried to move away from Emily but she grabbed her hand. “Jamie, I’m not trying to talk you out of marring Henry, but I think you should think about it a little more. He is only the second boy that you have fallen for, and rapidly at that. You and your dad are close, and what if there is a war? What will you do?”
Jamie took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder. “I don’t like keeping things from him, I wish I could have my own father at my wedding, but that can’t happen. If there will be a war I will stand by the man I love, and fight against my father. I know that things are moving quickly with us, but I don’t want to be with anyone else. He is what I want. Ryan was my first love, and look how that ended. Henry is my world now and it would mean so much to me if you were there to support me.” Jamie kept her voice low just in case anyone was coming to check on her, and sh cn hat.e turned around to face the girl that was like her sister.
Emily sighed, and narrowed her eyes. “I would support you even if you wanted to marry a monkey.”
Jamie smiled, and saw that Emily was biting her cheek to keep her smile back. “Hmm…I don’t know if I would support you if you wanted to marry a monkey. I think it might be against the law.”
Emily burst out laughing, and Jamie smiled. “What you are doing tonight is against the law, and I’ll be right behind you. You better support my ass if I want to marry a freaking monkey.”
Jamie laughed and shook her head. That was why they were best friends. They had always understood each other. Jamie went to the bed and lay down, and Emily lay next to her. “My dad should be down here any minute to check on me,” she whispered and turned her head to look at Emily.
“Yeah I figured that,” Emily yawned, and Jamie reached down and pulled up the blanket to cover her and Emily up. “I’m going to get some sleep before we need to be up to get ready for tonight. I know you didn’t get that much sleep last night with planning, so you need your beauty rest.”
Jamie smiled and turned around, Emily was right she hadn’t slept that much. Henry, Cameo and Kerri had planned all night. She and Emily would arrive there at midnight with Matthew Rich, her new guard. He was starting that morning. Jamie wasn’t too sure about him, but Henry told her he was their only choice, and that he was a first lieutenant in the Black army. Her father wouldn’t turn him down, and he was a better choice than Ryan.
Gradually Jamie’s eyes grew heavy and she didn’t want to fight it anymore; she allowed her sleepiness to take over her.
* * *
Henry walked into the Moore house, and was greeted by William.
“Good morning Henry, I would like to talk to you about yesterday.”
He knew he would have to talk about it, and what he’d seen. “Of course, sir.” He nodded.
William turned around and indicated for Henry to follow him. They walked into the downstairs office which was done in bright colors. Cynthia must have given her womanly touch in the room, Henry thought.
William walked to the large cedar wood desk that sat in the back of the room. The carpet was a bright red and the chair candhe lar in front of the desk was white. “Sit down, Henry,” he said and nodded his head toward the chair.
Henry sat down, and William sat there staring at him.
“I have been doing extra background checks into my new employees. Did you know you are my only new hire, other than Ryan?”
He knew that it was his job to know what was going on in the Moore house. He was the newest employee William had hired in about five years. “I knew that, sir.”
William nodded, and put his elbows on his desk. He leaned forward with his face in his hands. “Since you started here, there have been two incidents. First the bloody cow’s head and heart and yesterday my daughter was almost killed when a bomb went off in her hands. It seems a little strange that nothing had ever happened until you were hired.”
Henry thought about what he wanted to say, he knew how things looked for him. The cow’s head and heart had been him, but that was before he knew that Jamie was in the house. He would never send her a bomb, but he thought he might know who did. “Sir, I would never do anything that could send me to the tower. I’m pretty sure my causing harm to you or your daughter would send me there with no hope to return.” Henry kept his eyes on William’s green ones.
“You live at Robert Rich’s house, correct?” he arched an eyebrow, and Henry felt his heart speed up with the mention of Robert’s name.
“Yes sir, my mother has been employed by the Rich family for twenty years. I live in the guest house, and she lives in the basement.” he knew there was no point in lying to him. He was more than capable of find the information without him telling him.
“It is nice of them to allow you and your mother to live with them. Do you know anything about a rumored revolution?” William asked, removing his head from his hands, as he folded them on the cedar desk.
Henry kept his face blank. “No sir, I haven’t heard any more than what you have. I might have heard something in passing at the No B Club, but that is it.” He was already prepared to be asked that question, and known what he would say.
Willia
m stood up, and walked over to Henry. “I would like it if you would keep an ear out for anything that would concern me and what’s mine. Someone knows about my daughter and I want them found.”
Henry had planned on doing a little digging anyway. “Yes, sir,” he responded to his boss, and William nodded.
“Good, thank you. Now I’m going to check on my co civ>
And Henry stood up. He moved behind the older man.
William walked out of the office and moved down the hall toward the basement where Henry knew Jamie was. His thoughts turned to the previous evening. He couldn’t believe Jamie had agreed to marry him after the party that night. He’d thought she’d want to have something bigger, and when she’d told him she didn’t care as long as she got to call him her husband, his heart soared. He’d never believed he would find someone he would love as much as he loved Jamie Moore.
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