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87 pages

English

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Angelina’s Journey is a sequel to Gwen Thoma’s fifth book, The King of Hearts. Angelina Harper is a nineteen-year-old college freshmen at Southeast Missouri State College in 1967. She had just declared her major in the nursing program at the college when she became a key witness in the trial of John Noble, better known as the King of Hearts. Angelina had been stalked by John Noble for three years while she was in high school. She and the police had discovered that her stalker had been murdering Angelina’s boyfriends in high school and had left king of hearts playing cards with each body of these seven young men. Angelina knew she was being stalked but did not discover that he was a serial killer until she and the police realized the King of Hearts was following her and leaving king of hearts playing cards wherever she went.
Angelina thought that she was done with her stalker once he was caught and sentenced to life in prison. Nothing was further from the truth. Somehow, he knew what was going on in her life, and he sent her letters and called her with threatening warnings. Angelina’s saga continues until the dramatic and suspenseful end to her journey. This book is filled with mystery, suspense, and romance as Angelina lives the rest of her life.

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Fiction

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Publié par	Xlibris US
Date de parution	31 août 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781669837619
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Other books by Gwen Beaudean Thoma, EdD
Two children’s books
No More Biting
The Cat Named Bud
Three murder mysteries
Living with Murder for Thirty Years
Whatever Happened to Sara
The King of Hearts
ANGELINA’S JOURNEY

Gwen Beaudean Thoma, EdD

Copyright © 2022 by Gwen Beaudean Thoma, EdD.

Library of Congress Control Number:
2020913343
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-3763-3

Softcover
978-1-6698-3762-6

eBook
978-1-6698-3761-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 07/12/2022

Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
844588
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Trial
Chapter 2 The Verdict
Chapter 3 Life Goes On
Chapter 4 Returning to School
Chapter 5 The Life of a Registered Nurse
Chapter 6 Changes and Choices
Chapter 7 The Meeting
Chapter 8 The Second Date
Chapter 9 Angelina Tells Her Story
Chapter 10 The First Goodbye
Chapter 11 Angelina Blooms
Chapter 12 Angelina’s Happiness
Chapter 13 Police get involved
Chapter 14 Angelina Awakens
Chapter 15 A Night on the Town
Chapter 16 Awaiting Adam’s Return
Chapter 17 Waiting to Hear
Chapter 18 Adam’s Return
Chapter 19 Angelina’s Desire
Chapter 20 Surrender
Chapter 21 Vandalism
Chapter 22 Getting Ready for the Trip
Chapter 23 The New York Trip Begins
Chapter 24 Thanksgiving Eve
Chapter 25 Thanksgiving
Chapter 26 The Shopping Trip
Chapter 27 Exploring New York City
Chapter 28 Back to Cape Girardeau
Chapter 29 Return to New York
Chapter 30 The Holidays with Adam
Chapter 31 Wedding Planning
Chapter 32 The King of Hearts Escapes
Chapter 33 Christmas and New Year’s
Chapter 34 More Fun and Games
Chapter 35 Mr. and Mrs. Adam Harris
Chapter 36 The Endgame
Chapter 37 The Final Journey
About The Author

Dedicated to old friends and loved ones
CHAPTER ONE
The Trial
Angelina Harper sat in the back of the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse courtroom. She arrived early so she could sit in the back row in the corner behind the defendant section. She wore a navy blue skirt, a white blouse, navy blue shoes, and a navy blue large-brimmed hat with a white bow. She also was wearing sunglasses. Angelina had put all of her long black hair up under her hat, hoping that no one would recognize her. She arrived early, hoping to avoid news reporters. She was anxious for the trial to start, but then again, she dreaded all the media attention. She just wanted her life to get back to normal if that was possible.
Angelina was beautiful at the age of twenty, even more beautiful than when she was in high school. The man on trial had stalked Angelina for four years and had murdered seven young men who were her boyfriends through high school. Her teenage years had been traumatic, to say the least, and Angelina had begun to realize that her life would never be the same or normal. It was an odd feeling knowing that events in one’s life can have such a dramatic and profound impact. Angelina fought back tears as she waited for the trial to begin. She was dreading being called as the first witness at the trial. The prosecuting attorney had worked with her in preparation for her testimony, but Angelina was still emotional and afraid.
Angelina’s parents had wanted to come with her to the trial to provide her with emotional support, but Angelina did not want them there. She felt this was something she had to do on her own. She did not want her parents to have to listen to all the gory details. Angelina felt if she could do this all on her own she would become stronger. At the age of twenty, Angelina was almost an adult and wanted to take care of herself.
As people began to file into the courtroom, Angelina felt some relief that no one seemed to recognize her. The prosecuting attorney recognized her as he entered the courtroom. He smiled and nodded in her direction as he went to the front of the room. Angelina recognized some of the parents of the boys that had been killed. They did not appear to recognize her though. A few news reporters came in also. No cameras were allowed.
Right before the judge appeared, a man in a dark suit was brought in by the county sheriff. Angelina’s heart began to pound in her ears, and she immediately put her head down, hoping he would not recognize her. That was not the case. He stood at his attorney’s table, staring at her with a big, awful smile on his face. Several people in the courtroom noticed and turned to see who he was smiling at. Angelina wanted to die, but she maintained her composure. She next heard a man with a loud voice say, “All rise.” The judge entered the room just as she expected and had seen on television when she had watched Perry Mason shows. He was announced as the Honorable Judge Bartlet.
Angelina relaxed a little as the proceedings began with jury selection. That took the better part of the morning. Finally, seven men and five women were seated in the jury box. Angelina did not know any of them. The judge asked the prosecuting attorney if he was ready to present his case. He answered that he was.
“Then call your first witness,” said the judge.
“I call Angelina Harper,” said the prosecuting attorney.
The audience started whispering and turned to look at her when she stood up. The judge used his gavel and said, “Quiet in the courtroom.”
Angelina was sworn in and sat down in the witness chair. She then removed her sunglasses and looked at the prosecuting attorney as she waited for her first question. He asked her to state her name.
“My name is Angelina Harper,” she said in a quivering voice.
Angelina was asked her age and where she lived. She was then asked a series of questions about when her stalking began and how she realized it was a stalker. She had to talk about each of the young men who had been killed and her relationship to them. She had to describe receiving the king of hearts playing cards, the sympathy cards sent to her by the stalker after each murder. She described how the playing cards appeared everywhere she seemed to go, including at her house, at school, and on her car. She described her fear and pain with each murder. She talked about the four years she had worked with the police trying to identify the killer and how her life had been an emotional roller coaster. The prosecuting attorney presented the large box of king of hearts playing cards, sympathy cards, and gifts she had received over the four years of her ordeal. Angelina cried when she saw them all and had to identify them. When she was presented with the tiny silver charm bracelet that had been stolen from her house, Angelina broke down. She was given a few minutes to compose herself and have a drink of water. She stated that it was a Christmas present from her first boyfriend.
Angelina’s testimony went into the second day of the trial. The worst was when she had to answer the accusing questions of the defendant’s attorney. She had been warned about this, and she waited before responding to each question to see if the prosecuting attorney would object. The prosecuting attorney exploded when the defense attorney implied that Angelina had led the stalker on. The debate between attorneys went on for several minutes, and Angelina was trembling with anger.
Finally, her cross-examination was over, and Angelina got up to leave the witness stand. As she passed between the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney, she felt the murderer stand up, and he yelled at Angelina that she was his and he would always love her. The sheriff’s deputy had to restrain John Noble, and the judge used his gavel, telling the man to sit down and that he would be physically restrained if he tried something like that again.
The trial continued for two weeks, and every day, Angelina had to be present. She hoped and prayed that she would not have to give more testimony. She listened to the testimony of Sergeant Jones, who had been the detective working with Angelina on this case for four years. She had to listen to how each of her seven boyfriends had been killed. During the testimony, Angelina wore her sunglasses. They were her only line of defense from all the people in the courtroom. From time to time, John Noble would turn in his seat to stare at Angelina. The sunglasses prevented him from seeing her eyes. The deputy always kept John Noble from looking at Angelina for very long. Each day when court was dismissed, the deputy had to restrain John Noble from getting to Angelina.
Finally, the trial was over. Little did Angelina know