My heart stutters.
“He’s dead,” I blurt. “He died the same day Jenna did.”
Tyler nods. “I started looking into any suspicious deaths at the hospital around the time of the murder. I figured if there wasn’t a personal motive to kill Jenna and frame Bea, it could be tied to something else.”
“Like covering up a death?” Ace asks.
“Possibly.” Tyler mouses over the section of the file that describes the cause of death. He highlights it. “The recordssayit was sudden heart failure. But this guy had no history of heart problems. Seasonal allergies, type-2 diabetes, but nothing that would suggest his heart was giving out.”
Even though I knew Tyler was hacking into the hospital records, it’s still jarring to see the confidential information right there on the screen in front of me. But if it helps solve Jenna’s murder and clear my name… I’m okay with it.
“People have heart attacks all the time,” Webb says. “Just because there wasn’t a history of heart problems…”
“I know.” Tyler meets Webb’s gaze. “But out of all the deaths in the hospital during the week prior to Jenna’s murder, there were only three that weren’t linked to pre-existing conditions. So I thought they were worth looking into more. And that’s where Eden comes in.”
Eden leans forward. “Right. So Tyler sent me the medical records.” To me, she explains, “I work in medical research. Biochemistry and bioengineering, specifically. So he thought I might notice something that the people at the hospital didn’t.”
Rafe glances off camera, pride evident in his gaze. “I knew if there was something, Eden would find it.”
“The other two deaths really did look normal,” Eden says. “But this guy, John Adamson—there was something off about his bloodwork. I found evidence of abnormally high levels of a particular type of protein in his blood. Regular screening wouldn’t have picked it up. But once I saw it, I just got thisfeeling.”
“Never ignore your gut,” Rafe agrees.
“So I looked into possible causes,” Eden continues. “And at first, I couldn’t figure it out. Because there were similarities to deaths caused by fentanyl overdoses. But Adamson didn’t have fentanyl in his blood.”
“Then Eden called me.” Tyler minimizes the file and opens up a browser window. “And I started searching.”
Ace stares at the screen for a moment before cursing under his breath. “The dark fucking web.”
Tyler nods grimly. “Unfortunately, yes. I went looking for a drug that might cause similar symptoms to fentanyl. And deep in the dark web, I found it. A dupe for fentanyl called Black Cobweb.”
“Black Cobweb?” Indy’s forehead creases. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s relatively new,” Tyler replies. “It was designed to be an untraceable form of fentanyl.”
“Why would someone do that?” I ask without thinking.
Rafe scowls. “To kill people. That’s my guess. Lace something with this fentanyl dupe, the person ODs and dies of”—he makes little quotes with his fingers—“naturalcauses, and no one’s the wiser.”
My mind whirls as I try to fit everything together.
A patient dies in the hospital the same day as Jenna. The cause of death is presumed to be of natural causes, but it reallyisn’t. Instead, the man was somehow given this fentanyl dupe, and it killed him.
But why?
And how does Jenna fit into it?
How do I?
“So we’ve got a guy who died the same day Jenna was killed,” Indy says thoughtfully, “and it looks like he was murdered by someone who got a hold of this Black Cobweb shit on the dark web.” He glances at Eden. “You think the intent was to kill him?”
“I think so,” Eden answers. “Or at least, I can’t think of another reason. Adamson was recovering from ACL surgery. He was on over-the-counter painkillers, but that’s all.”
“So, for some reason, this guy’s a target,” Webb says. “Do we know why?”
Tyler frowns. “I’m still looking into it. We only discovered the connection to the drug a few hours ago. So I’m hoping I’ll have something more substantial soon.”
“Could Jenna have seen something?” Even though Jenna’s a PT and usually works with her patients in the rehab department, sometimes she’ll visit one in their room if they’re in the early stages of recovery. So it’s possible she could have been walking by, saw something suspicious…
