Page 73 of One Vote for Murder
“Sure. Should I order another round if Henry comes by?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
I did just that when Henry circled around to check on our table. Ten minutes later, Royce returned, looking grim. My stomach churned as I waited to hear what he’d have to say.
He sat down and met my gaze. “Kyle is in a medically induced coma.”
“Shit.” I gritted my teeth.
“They definitely think it was a peanut allergy reaction. Apparently, he had a few seizures in the ambulance, so the doctors thought it might be a good idea to put him under.”
“Probably a good call. That might protect him from any further brain injury.”
Royce sighed, his gaze worried. “What are the odds he’ll be okay?”
I grimaced. “Hard to say. He had a very severe reaction. His heart stopped momentarily, but I got it back. It’s impossible for me to say what his chance of recovery is without seeing the condition he’s in right now.”
“Yeah. I figured you’d say that.” He gave a weary smile.
“I’m still curious how he came into contact with the allergen that sent him over the edge. His brother said the only thing Kyle consumed was some water right before he went onstage.”
“I saw him drink from the bottle his brother gave him.” He frowned. “Do you suppose his brother had something with peanuts in it and drank from the bottle before Kyle?”
“That’s kind of hard to believe. Usually, people who are close to someone with a dangerous allergy are extremely careful. That would be very careless of Pervis to eat something with peanuts and then share a bottle with his brother.”
“Perhaps he was distracted by all the people and forgot he’d had something with peanuts in it. Both brothers seemed pretty nervous.” Royce sipped his beer, looking thoughtful.
“Of course it’s possible.”
Royce wrinkled his brow. “Since they’re identical twins, wouldn’t they both have a peanut allergy?”
“Not always. It sometimes only affects one twin. Many allergic sensitivities are caused by both geneticandenvironmental factors, and more importantly, identical twins are notcompletelyidentical.”
“I see. I just assumed.”
“It’s a common assumption. About sixty-five percent of the time, identical twins do share the same allergies, but not always.”
“Well, one thing is for sure—however it happened, Kyle is in bad shape now.” He stared broodingly at his mostly empty pint glass.
“Yes.” I hated the glum look on his face. Royce was generally a good-natured, happy guy. This business with Kyle and the recall election obviously weighed heavily on him. I had a sneaking suspicion not being sheriff would throw Royce into a sort of identity crisis. The job suited him, and he absolutely loved it. Starting over was never easy, I knew that only too well. If he wasn’t reelected, he’d have to figure out who he was when he wasn’t the sheriff of Rainy Dale. It was probably a scary thought.
“Let’s not think about the Raidens or Kyle,” I said brightly. “Let’s go home and go to bed.”
“Yeah?” He arched one brow. “Is that a proposition?”
“It is if you want it to be.”
He grinned. “Of course I want it to be.”
“Well then, why are we still here? I believe you promised to make me see stars and stripes the other day.” I twisted my lips so I didn’t laugh. “I’ve yet to see either.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. If you want my vote, I definitely need to see both. Preferably at the same time.”
“You’ll be pleased to know this conversation already has my flagpole at half-mast.” He smirked.
“That could make walking home troublesome.”
