“That’s right, I didn’t,” she said. “Neither did my family or my grandfather, and what your brother said about—”
“Stop,” he said. He didn’t want to hear her litany of accusations. He could answer every one of them, but that didn’t mean he harbored a grudge against her. He admired her too much. It took a lot for a woman to walk into a group of rowdy men and handle them as masterfully as she just had. All except him, and that was entirely his fault. “Let’s not talk about our families. They’re never going to get along, but I like you too much to be mean to you. Here. You dropped this.”
She sucked in a quick breath when she saw the list and snatched it from him. “Thank you! I’d be in trouble without this.”
“The assignments look interesting, except the one at the DC Jail.”
“I think it will be the most interesting on the list,” she replied. “Not particularly fun, but interesting.”
“Have you ever been in a jail before?”
She laughed a little. “Never.”
“They are neither interesting nor fun.”
The thought of stepping back into a jail was enough to makehis entire body break out into a sweat even though he was freezing as he hugged himself on the sidewalk. He probably shouldn’t have darted outside without a coat, but he needed to catch her.
“Let me go with you,” he said impulsively.
“To the jail?” He nodded, and she asked why on earth he would want to go.
Luke was ready with an answer. “Because the people at the jail aren’t going to be rowdy men playing tennis, they’ll be rowdy criminals who haven’t seen a woman in ages.”
“Luke, you’ll catch your death of cold out here. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
He shook his head. “Promise me you’ll let me take you to the jail. You shouldn’t go alone.” He blew into his cupped hands and hopped in place, anything to keep his blood moving.
“Yes.”
He grinned. Even with the chill, he wished he could linger more, but a three-course lunch was about to be set out, and he needed to be there.
“Until Wednesday, then,” he said, loving the sparkle in her eyes. “I’ll meet you at the Michigan Avenue streetcar stop at one o’clock.”
He darted back to the boardinghouse and sprang up the steps, already counting down the hours until he could see Marianne again. She was like an itch he couldn’t scratch, and he just wanted to be with her, even if it meant he had to walk back into a jail.
But first he had to survive lunch with the Poison Squad.
Lunch.
That innocuous word had never sounded so ominous before, but Luke sensed the tension the moment he entered the dining room. It was a spacious room with plain walls, two windowsfacing the street, and two large tables. Such a mundane room for an extraordinary experiment. The overturned chairs from the impromptu tennis match had been put to rights by the time Luke entered.
Dr. Wiley assigned each man to a seat. Everyone already knew that one table would be the control group, which would be served untainted food. The other table would get a meal laced with a hefty dose of preservatives, but no one knew which table would get the adulterated food. The first round of the experiment would last for two weeks, then the control group would get the toxic hash and the first group would earn a reprieve.
Luke was seated between Big Rollins and a loud-mouthed Italian named Nicolo. That was good, because he liked the tall blond giant, and they were going to be stuck together for months to come.
“Here we are,” Nurse Hollister said cheerfully as she rolled a stainless-steel cart into the room. The nurse would be on hand for every meal, helping serve the food and wait on the tables, but also to keep an eye out in case anyone fell ill.
Dr. Wiley stood in the corner, a balding man with widely spaced eyes who peered at them intently, almost like an owl. “It’s important that you eat everything on your plate,” he said. “Each serving has been weighed and measured. I certainly hope you find it tasty.”
Was it possible for poison to be tasty? Luke might be about to find out. The tomato soup looked perfectly ordinary in the plain white bowl that was set before him. The first course came with a slice of bread and a pat of butter.
Luke bowed his head and silently prayed.Lord, thank you for this food. I knowwhat it is to be hungry, so I’m grateful for whatever is before me, even if it’s tainted. I pray that this experiment will be successful and makethe world a better place. I pray it will helpmake me worthy in your eyes.
He straightened, picked up his spoon, and dove in. The first spoonful of soup tasted fine. So did the second. He glanced around the room. No one else was eating. They were all just watching him, waiting for his reaction.
“What are you namby-pamby weaklings waiting for?” he taunted.
The challenge jolted the men into action, and most of them immediately picked up their spoons and began to work on the soup. Little Rollins hesitated until heckling from his brother goaded him into eating.
