Chapter 106: Chapter 106

She turned while furiously wracking her brain for a plausible excuse, to find the maid from earlier standing in the doorway and watching her suspiciously.

"Christ! You startled me. What am I doing? I'm not doing anything. I'm only tucking Mr. James into bed. He said he is feeling very tired and sleepy. Oh, and he asked me to get something to give to Carol from his room. I don't know where his room is and I don't want to have to wake him up. Can you please point me in the right direction?"

"Sure, I can." The maid replied. The wary look was still on her face and it was only when Charlotte moved away from the side of the bed and the woman could see the uneven rise and fall of Mr. James' chest that she relaxed a little.

"Alright. Come along. I'll show you his room." She said, waiting for Charlotte to move past her and then locking the door firmly behind her.

Charlotte followed the woman, her heart beating really fast. If only this woman was not following her as though she were a common criminal whose every move had to be monitored as closely as possible. Within minutes, they were in Mr. James' room. Charlotte did not bother herself with how the room looked or anything like that. The only thing that was on her mind was how to get the will and beat it the hell out of there, but it was not possible to do so because the maid stayed with her the entire time. The man must really trust the people in his house, to just leave his will lying around so carelessly.

"What did he say you should bring, anyway?" The maid asked when Charlotte kept walking aimlessly around the room as though she was looking for something.

"It's just a necklace that he said he bought for Jessica. He forgot to tell me where he kept it. Maybe I should go wake him up to ask where exactly it is." Charlotte replied, eyeing the drawer with the will in it longingly. If only this imbecile would just leave.

"No, don't go to wake him up. He needs to rest. That is what the doctors asked him to do. Rest all the time. Maybe you should just forget about the necklace. We'll ask him about it when he wakes up and they can give it to her later." The maid said. She had just finished talking when they heard the sound of a doorbell.

"That should be Miss Carol coming back. I'll be back shortly. Let me go let her in. The other maids are busy." The maid said and hurried away.

Charlotte immediately sprang for the drawer, going as fast as she could through the documents in it as she frantically searched for the will. She was searching so frantically for it that she almost missed it, but caught herself just in time and immediately folded and stuffed it inside her bra just as she heard footsteps come up the stairs. Looking around quickly to make sure that everything was in its right place, she removed a necklace from her purse and held it in her hand as she walked to the door and out of the room to see Carol and the maid headed her way.

"Found it." She exclaimed triumphantly. It was a long time before her heart stopped beating so fast.

"Mr. James sent you to his room?" Carol asked.

"Yeah. He asked me to get this necklace and give it to Jessica as a get-well-soon gift. Anyway, we should leave now. He's sleeping but before he slept off, he asked me to tell you not to bother waking him up as he was really tired. You were right. I guess I wore him out with my chatter. I should have gone easy on the man."

"Okay. I'm sure he didn't mind though. He loves to have some company. Let's go visit Jessica. The plane is waiting for us."

They both left the house and before long, they were on their way to Sacramento to visit Jessica. It was the first time that Charlotte had ever been on a private plane, but the gravity of the situation at hand did not allow her to enjoy the ride. She was scared that Mr. James was going to die earlier than she had anticipated from the dose that she had given him and that the death will be linked to her. If he remained unconscious for a while, as though he were merely sleeping, the way he had been when she left him, then she would not incur any suspicion. Another thing that could go wrong is if someone decided to wake him up for whatever reason and found him unconscious. That would be a disaster because, although she had used a brand of drug that made the victim unable to remember the events within the time frame that the drug had been used, there was no telling if that would be the case with Mr. James. Imagine he was treated and remembered everything? That would be the end of the road for Charlotte and she would no doubt, lose her inheritance.

While she had been lucky so far, there was no telling if this was when her luck would finally run out and she will either be unable to get Jessica alone or worse, Jessica would recognize her and say something as soon as she entered her hospital room. She just had to hope that her luck would hold like it had all this while. How she would get Jessica alone with all the protection that Sebastian had around her was a problem she had not thought of, but then, she never bothered herself thinking about her problems. Instead, she faced them as they came to her. The only consolation she had was that very soon, she would be able to enjoy this sort of luxury too if everything went well. If not, she would make sure that she took as many people down with her as possible, starting from this self-righteous bitch who was on the plane with her. She could hardly wait.

"What's up with you? You've been moody and quiet since we left. Are you okay?" Carol asked, after trying unsuccessfully to get her to talk right from when they left the house.

"I'm fine. I'm not just in the mood to chatter. Seeing Mr. James got me depressed. I mean, the man was in so much pain. Do you know what he told me that got me so sad? He said he was not sure he was going to last more than today, or at most tomorrow. Do you know how creepy it is to hear such a thing from someone who is terminally ill, and even worse, know that he might be right?" Charlotte said, thinking that it was better for her to begin to prepare Carol's mind for what was to come so as to avert suspicion from her.

"Oh, you should have seen him the last time I saw him after I came back from the burial. He looked to be a few minutes away from the grave. I can assure you that he looks far stronger now. He's such a fighter, that man." Was the reply.

In a shorter time than Charlotte had imagined possible, they were at the hospital and on their way to Jessica's room. Charlotte's heart was beating a mile per minute as they walked down the sterile corridors silently. If Jessica could talk and recognized her, then it was all over. Praying that that will not be the case, she squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and followed Carol into the room where Jessica was laying on the bed and being watched over by one of the guards that Sebastian had employed.