“I need to talk to you.” His face was an unhealthy mix of pallor and blotchy red spots. He clutched at her hands. “Alone. Quickly, before she sees us!”
Responding to his urgency, she opened the door to one of the nearby anterooms, and seeing it was empty, gestured for him to come with her. He paced in and ran the brim of his hat over and over through his hands, eyes darting to the door.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“I called Miriam, and she confirmed what you said.”
“Miriam?”
“Mrs. Woodson.”
Cara was surprised. “She told you about the food.”
“Yes.” He shook his head, pacing back and forth. “But it doesn’t make sense. The first battery of tests we ordered, after the specialists had ruled out a cancer, was to test for common toxins. They were negative.”
“You had my father tested for poison?” Shock laced her words, bringing the older man to a stop, and he spun to face her.
“We’d tested for everything else. He was scheduled for more tests, but his heart gave out before. I know you don’t believe me, but I would never physically hurt your father.”
Something in his words sent up Cara’s antennae.
“But you would hurt him in other ways? Were you sleeping withCrystalbehind my father’s back?”
He blanched at the nickname, and a sheen of moisture appeared above his lip, his face becoming waxy.
“Never while they were married—before. It was a long time ago.”
Cara hadn’t expected him to admit it.
“I introduced them, you know. She was Crystal back then. We lost touch for a bit. When I met her again, she had changed a lot. She created a business for herself, and after my wife died, I thought maybe we could make a go of it. She had become respectable.”
“She wasn’t before?”
Dr. Keller didn’t seem to hear her. “But the minute I introduced her to David, it was all over.” He opened his arms and gestured down his body. The doctor’s body was soft, and like most men as they age, he had developed slight jowls and thickened around the middle. Cara could see why Courtney had chosen her father. David Bloom, handsome and still physically fit, would have eclipsed the doctor—and that was before you factored in her father’s billion-dollar media empire.
“Did you hate him?”
His gaze met hers, and she saw the truth. “I wouldn’t have killed him.”
Voices sounded in the foyer, and Keller’s panicked gaze flew to the doors. “I truly believed he died from whatever illness he had contracted. I never thought…”
The door handle turned, and Colin’s ginger hair popped through the opening, a smile on his face. “I was looking for you!”
Go away!
“I should go.” Dr. Keller scurried toward the door.
“Wait! I have more questions.”
He stopped outside the door and turned his head back. “Not here. Call me when you get back to the States. I might need Luke’s help.”
Cara wanted to chase after him and make him answer her questions, but the hall had filled with people coming to say goodbye. There was no way he would talk now. She needed to tell Declan what Dr. Keller had said right away. Cara was certain the doctor knew more than he had told her, or at the very least, he suspected something.
“Cara!” The way Colin said her name, she suspected it wasn’t the first time.
“I’m sorry,” she said absently.
“Was he threatening you?” Colin’s fists clenched. “Is he after you, too?”
