First Do No Evil: Blood Secrets, Book 1 (26 page)

Panting, Danny catapulted himself to a stand, but the earth was no longer solid beneath his feet. Disoriented he looked around, and then down at the man lying on the ground. His head reeled from confusion and pain, but one thing he knew for certain: those were brains dripping out of the spot where the goon’s ear was supposed to be.

The goon had shot himself in the head.

Danny spat blood. His thighs shook until his knees gave way. He collapsed alongside the corpse.

Chapter Nineteen

“So what’s this big news? What’s so important I had to charge out to Doney Park at ten o’clock on a Monday night?” Garth’s cheerful tone mitigated his complaint.

As Sky closed her front door behind him, sealing out gusts of sleet and snow, and sealing in the toasty warmth and spice of burning juniper, curiosity drew her eyes to the object he carried at his side. A black leather doctor bag. Since Garth didn’t have a clinical practice, he had no need to carry one, and since she didn’t recognize this one, she figured it must be left over from his med school days. “Why did you bring a black bag?”

He winked playfully at her. Removing his overcoat, he shook the weather from it and lovingly smoothed the fabric with his hands, then arched a dismayed eyebrow at the coat-hook in her entry-hall before bypassing it for the closet and a cloth hanger.

Ignoring her query, as she’d ignored his, he said, “Not that I mind the summons. I’d come at midnight in a blizzard if you called. It’s only that you’ve got me worried.”

Dressed in a sweatshirt, jeans, and his favorite oxfords, Garth didn’t look worried in the least. She cocked her head and surveyed him carefully. She would’ve sworn her brother didn’t even own a sweatshirt, but seeing was believing.

“Let’s sit.” She motioned for him to follow her into the living room.

Tonight Garth looked for all the world like a regular Joe who’d been hanging out on the couch watching the game. She knew better of course. That couldn’t possibly be what her brother had been up to when she’d called and asked him to come over to her place—Garth disdained televised sports almost as much as he disdained off-the-rack suits. Besides which she was quite certain he had not been at home when she’d called. It’d taken him twice the time it should have to get here, and he’d apparently been somewhere he needed that bag. Unless…he’d brought it along thinking he might persuade her to take Bella.

Her hand went to her throat, then drifted back to her side. No. That wasn’t right. He’d already left a syringe containing the vaccine in her refrigerator, and as far as he knew, it was still there. So that couldn’t be the reason he’d brought the bag with him. She hadn’t told him she’d given that syringe of Bella to Mrs. Porter. Glancing down, she saw Garth’s knuckles blanch around the handle. Following her gaze, he loosened his grip, let the bag slide from his hand. It hit the floorboards with a thunk.

“I’m actually glad you called,” he said. “Because I also have something to say to you: I’ve got a good feeling about things. I know it seems like the world is crashing down on you right now, what with the lawsuit and all. But you and I are going to get through everything together. Just wait and see.”

Garth’s grin was so broad it was heartbreaking. How was she going to tell him what she’d found in those files? Twisting her hair around her index finger, she forced the edges of her lips into a smile that felt all wrong. This wasn’t going to be easy, but better her than a stranger. Better her than the FDA.

She sighed and let her rigid smile relax into a more natural expression. Rising on her toes, she gave her brother a hug, and he squeezed her in return, holding the embrace longer than usual.

“Garth…”

“Yes?”

He still hadn’t let go, so she broke the hug and sat down on the couch, patted the spot beside her. Smiling paternally, he sat down next to her. How to break this to him? All at once or just ease into it? She’d never been one for easing into things. “Garth, I found the missing files.”

His lips parted. She heard a soft wheeze. The color drained from his face, and he raised a shaky hand, raked it through his hair. Lowering his eyes, he whispered, “Where?”

“I don’t think that’s important. I’ll explain how and where I found the files later if you like. But right now, I just need you to listen. I have to tell you what was in those medical records, and I really think it would be best if you just hear me out. Let me get through it.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he gave a curt nod of consent. Tension thickened the air between them, as if he knew what she was about to say. But he couldn’t know. She’d asked Garth directly if Edmond had discussed his patients with him, and he’d said no. There was no way her brother could already know what she’d discovered in those files, yet his demeanor had altered dramatically. Perhaps he was ill. “Are you feeling well?”

Clearing his throat, he stuck a hand out in front. “Quite. I’m simply surprised. Please, go ahead. I promise not to interrupt. Only before you begin, I just want to say to you, that I have always treasured you, and I am grateful that fate brought you into my life. I hope you know that, Sky, no matter what happens.”

Her chest rose with a deep inhale, and she fought to keep the tears from welling up. She and Garth had been through so much. And in all their time together, never had he let her down; not once had he failed to protect her. She hated to hurt him. But there was no use running from the truth. If Bella was unsafe, he had to face it, and she had to report it.

“I love you very much. And I know that you love me too. No sister ever had a better brother.”

He leaned forward.

As often as she’d had to do it, she’d never been good at delivering bad news. The words stuck in her throat, but she pushed them out as matter-of-factly as she could. “I think there might be a problem with Bella.”

Then she waited. Even though she’d asked him to let her make her speech without interruption, she gave him a chance to react.

Nothing.

Aside from a ripple in his throat, he didn’t move a muscle. Wetting her lips, she pressed on, “Tonight, I searched through all the exam notes, family histories and med sheets for Amanda Cavanaugh, Livy Petersen and Henrietta Trueblood. It seems they had been in relatively good health prior to…” First her voice dropped, then her eyes. “Prior to taking the Bella vaccine. I realize that doesn’t
prove
a connection between Bella and the deaths of these three women, but I thought I should give you a heads up before I pass the information on to the FDA.”

Now
Garth reacted. Jumping to his feet, he yanked her up with him. His face reddened. A vein bisected his forehead, and a muscle vibrated in his jaw. Squeezing her hands so tight she thought her bones might snap, he said, “You can’t, and you won’t report anything about Bella to the FDA.”

Releasing her, he whirled around and bent to his medical bag. He jerked something out, and keeping his hands behind him, turned back to her. “There’s absolutely
nothing
wrong with Bella. So you see, there’s no need to report anything to the FDA.”

She cocked her head to the side, but she couldn’t see what he held. His strange behavior puzzled her. Garth didn’t seem himself tonight. “You can’t know that for certain.”

“Of course I can.” His jaw relaxed, and his complexion returned to its usual cream. “I’ve seen the clinical trials. I know every nuance of every study. I’m telling you, Sky, Bella is safe.”

“I have a duty to report.”

“Yes.
If
there’s a problem,
then
you have a duty to report. But I’m telling you there’s
not
a problem. And, Sky…” Easing his hands from behind his back he showed her what he held: A syringe.

Her breath caught in surprise. Did he think she would take Bella now, under these circumstances? Shaking her head, she stepped back.

He closed the distance between them. “What about your duty to me? After all we’ve been through, don’t you owe it to me not to rush to judgment, not to knee-jerk a report without taking the time to investigate matters further?”

Conflicting emotions battered her heart, while a flurry of thoughts swirled in her head. Garth made a legitimate point. She’d only had the files a few hours, and she hadn’t had time to dissect them in their entirety. Perhaps there was something else in them that would explain the women’s deaths and clear Bella.

Raising the syringe, Garth took a step in her direction. He uncapped the needle, and depressed the plunger slightly with his thumb, suspending a droplet of amber fluid on the tip. “If there was anything wrong with Bella, do you think I’d inject my own sister with her?”

Planting her hands on her hips, she retreated once more. “I don’t want to take Bella. Not right now.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“This isn’t about trust.”

“Oh, but it is. If you trusted me, if you believed in me, the way Isabella always did, you’d roll up your sleeve.”

She took another step backwards, and her shoulders bumped against the wall.

Garth matched her retreat with a step forward. “Well, Sky, since you clearly don’t trust me enough to take the vaccine voluntarily, I’m afraid I’m going to have to find another way to convince you.”

A sickening wave of anxiety tightened her abdominal muscles, like she was bracing for a blow. Surely he wouldn’t inject her against her will. With increasing discomfort, she watched his elbow straighten, his arm go rigid. She wanted to cry out, to scream. Her throat burned, and she swallowed hard. She clamped her lips together.

Garth was her brother.

He would never hurt her.

Hands extended, she met his eyes. “Garth,” she said. “Don’t do this. I know you would never do this to me.”

He flashed his teeth. “Oh, no?”

In a blur of motion, he whipped his hand through the air, crossed his chest and jammed the needle into his opposite arm.

She gasped.

He yanked the needle out of his arm. “What the hell’s the matter with you, Sky? I wasn’t going to inject you. I was only trying to prove a point.” He rubbed his deltoid. “And I believe I have. If Bella isn’t safe, then I’m the one who’ll be paying the price.
Now
will you believe me?
Now
will you hold off on making that report?”

She nodded mutely and felt her heartbeat quiet. Garth knew more about Bella than anyone on the planet, and if he was certain it was safe, certain enough to inject himself, the least she could do was hold off on filing. A few days would give her time to investigate more thoroughly. But after that, no matter the results, she’d have to turn over all of her findings to the FDA, and she was about to tell Garth that when the doorbell rang.

“Thank you,” he said on top of the bell.

She moved toward the door, but Garth bolted ahead of her. By the time she got to the entry hall, he was already conversing with two policemen.

Sky shivered. She was in a tunnel. A cold, dark, concrete tomb of a tunnel. A place she hadn’t been in so long. Voices were transmitting through the thick walls that surrounded her, but the words themselves were difficult to make out. Peering down the length of the tunnel, she could see an opening, light, the world outside herself. And in that world she saw her cozy kitchen. Her Wedgewood sugar bowl, placed just so, to cover the jelly stain on her lace tablecloth. She saw a policeman’s cap hooked over the ear of a chair. Two uniformed officers.

Garth.

Glancing down she saw her hand resting on the kitchen table, and Garth’s hand resting on top of hers. Her brother was with her, and she was glad.

One of the officers kept looking at her and moving his mouth. His face was flat, but kind. Yes. That was the thing she noticed most about him, he looked very kind. Pushing her hair off her face, she opened her mouth to speak but no sounds came out. The kind-faced officer stopped moving his lips. She tried again, and this time she heard herself speak the words she needed to say. “Casey Collins.”

“Beg pardon?”

A small relief loosened her shoulders. Though she hadn’t fully emerged from her tunnel, at least she could hear and talk. She could communicate. “The baby’s father is Casey Collins. You need to find him.”

“Yes ma’am.” The officer flipped a page on a notepad and wrote something down. “I’ll take care of that right away.”

“You think the infant will live?” It was Garth.

“They say he’s not bad off. Apparently, whoever set fire to the clinic…” The officer’s face went ghostly pale, and a retch, an actual retch, broke one sentence into two. “Whoever set fire to the clinic and butchered the mother, bundled the little boy in the mother’s parka before abandoning him in the dumpster. We’ve already called social services, and I’m sure they’ll want to locate the baby’s father as soon as possible.”

“Social services?” Garth’s hand spasmed around hers, and his voice rang with alarm. Like smoke from dry ice, a myriad of emotion billowed across his face, and then dissipated into nothingness. His brow smoothed, and his hand relaxed atop hers. “Certainly. Social services will step in. As they should. Casey Collins is the father. He will be contacted. Now, gentlemen, as you can clearly see, my sister is in no state to answer any more questions. If you’ll be so kind as to take your leave, I’d appreciate it.”

“No.” She bolted out of her dark tunnel like she was being chased by the devil himself. If she hid from the truth, she would never find it. “I’ll answer your questions. Ask me anything you want.”