“This is your last chance, Eli. Tell me what’s in that syringe, or I end your life.”
“You think you’ve won, don’t you?” Something unhinged seeped through his tone. “Your perfect life, your perfect job. She was supposed to be mine.” His fingers tightened around the syringe. “Everything was perfect until you showed up. And now?” A cruel smile twisted his lips. “Her organs are already shutting down. Ticktock, Doctor.”
He thought he was taunting me. And he was, but every word was a tell, narrowing the list of possible toxins.
When I’d been worried Tessa was being poisoned, I’d spend hours researching toxins, giving myself a fresh course on these agents.
“You chose a fast-acting agent this time then.”
I watched his reaction carefully while, inside, my heart thrashed against my ribs violently. Because fast-acting confirmed we needed answers now, and the only way to get them was through Eli.
“Smart doctor.” His voice dripped with contempt. “Always thinking you know everything.”
I let my voice crack with the desperation I’d been fighting to hide. “Just tell me what you injected her with.”
“Injected?” A cold smile spread across his face.
The poison hadn’t been administered via syringe then. Dermal absorption or ingestion. My mind raced through the possibilities and landed again on that flute of champagne she’d had. Something in it that could overwhelm her system before she even realized what was happening.
“She could be in agony right now,” I said, letting my mask slip further. “Tell me what you gave her so I can help her.”
“By the time you figure out what it was …” His lips curved into another cruel smile. “It’ll be too late.”
Figure it out. The words hit like a diagnosis. This wasn’t just any poison; it was something that needed its own antidote. Something specific. And whatever it was had to be accessible enough for a real estate agent to get his hands on.
I stepped closer. He raised the syringe.
“You’ve been poisoning her all along.”
This was what he craved: watching me suffer. So long as I fed that need, he’d keep talking. I slumped my shoulders, ran a trembling hand through my hair. The devastation inside me was real, but for the first time in my career, I was deliberately letting it show.
“How long does she have?” I choked.
“She’ll be gone in thirty minutes.”
“So, it’s not arsenic then. That causes organ failure and takes hours to kill. I’m guessing strychnine.” I watched his face, hunting for tells.
Eli smirked.
Not strychnine.
The sirens grew closer.
“I doubt a guy like you would have the skills to deliver ricin. One wrong move, and you’d be the one dying.”
“You think you’re smarter than everyone.” He leaned forward, eyes fever bright. “But right now? The woman you stole from me is dying. Her cells are cutting off oxygen, and there’s nothing you can do to save her.”
Cells cutting off oxygen.
“You gave her cyanide.”
The color drained from his face.
Bingo.
My mind raced with sudden, brutal clarity. Elation, that I knew the poison, knew the antidote that could save her. But right behind that surge of relief came the crushing weight of medical knowledge. Cyanide was burning through her cells. Every second it coursed through her bloodstream was pure agony. And if she didn’t get the antidote soon, knowing the answer wouldn’t matter at all.
At the far end of the ballroom, doors burst open. A gurney raced toward Tessa.
