Josh made a pained noise.“Please tell me you haven’t.”
“Haven’t what?”
“Contacted her grieving husband.”
“I haven’t ...yet.”
“Please, Chad,” Josh pleaded.“You’ve got to let this go.”
“I can’t.”
“Can you not see there’s too many missing pieces for me to even consider what you’re suggesting—”
“Then help me find them.”
“Those drugs were out of your system.They would not have led to suicidal intentions.”
“They shouldn’t have been there, though.”
“No,” Josh sighed.“They shouldn’t have been.But Alexandra, you know nothing about her or about her circumstances.She could’ve been using it to self-medicate and you can’t go harassing her husband.It’s a coincidence.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Chad...”
“What about these?”Chad said.
Romeo frowned.He closed his eyes in the hope it would somehow enhance his hearing.
“What are they?”
“They’re capsules to help with insomnia, or so the box claims.There’s no direction for use, no signature from the pharmacist, no receipt of the prescription, and yet I had them with me.I took them.Four of them.What if the same person gave them to Alexandra?”
“Shit...”
Romeo’s eyes snapped open at the other voice.He’d forgotten Ally was downstairs too.
“I gave them to you, Chad.”
A heavy silence fell over the three downstairs.
“What?”
Josh asked, not Chad.
“You hadn’t been sleeping well.I suggested you call my doctor, and you did but he couldn’t make you an appointment until after your vacation.I had plenty of temazepam, so I gave you some.You were reluctant to take it from me, but I threatened to come on holiday with you if you didn’t and you gave in.I watched you put the box in your car.”
“Jesus, Ally,” Josh hissed.“You can’t go around giving out your meds.”
“I was trying to help.”
“Wait,” Josh said, “Is that why...”
“Why what?”Chad asked.
Josh’s voice took on an angry edge.“The tests.You demanded so many tests to be done on Chad when he was in the coma.You wanted to know whether he’d taken anything.You wanted to know whether you were the one to put him in there.”
“I looked up the side effects.I thought ...I thought I might’ve been responsible,” Ally sniffed, “But he hadn’t taken any.They weren’t in his system.Not even his hair, so I know they weren’t the reason.”
