A sob caught her breath. “The doctor said the tox screen came back and he has warfarin in his system.”
“Warfarin? Like in rat poison? Do you have any of that in the house?”
“No,” Callie wailed. “I would never keep anything like that in the house, and if I did, I would certainly never leave it anywhere Jonathan could get at it.”
Her eyes glared daggers at him and she pushed him away. Not that he blamed her. She’d never knowingly put their son in danger. His fear notched up at the thought of his son consuming poison that could kill him.
Needing her warmth, he pulled Callie back again. “I know you wouldn’t. I’m sorry. I’m just scared. How much did the doctor say he had? Is it—”A lethal dose?No, those words stuck in his throat and couldn’t get past his lips. The thought of losing Jonathan, even with the small time they’d had together, was enough to send him to his knees. Moving over to the bed, he sank onto the edge, getting a closer look at the child.
Callie moved with him and rubbed her hand over his shoulder as she stood by his side. Trying to console him or herself?
“The doctor said he thought Jonathan would eventually recover as long as he could get through the next twenty-four hours. They’ve got him on medication to try and counteract the effects.”
Slipping his arm around Callie’s waist, he settled her on his knee. No protest. He reached to grasp Jonathan’s tiny hand and leaned into Callie’s shoulder, closing his eyes. Her comfort was something he’d missed, could have used it so many times in the past few years. Not that he’d admit it to anyone because they’d think he was weak. She never had though. During their short time together, she’d allowed him to take comfort in her friendship at a time where he was deeply immersed in undercover work. She’d been the one person he’d confided in how lonely it could be. How isolating. It had been nothing, though, compared to the last three years.
“He’ll be all right,” he tried to convince her, or maybe he was trying to convince himself. “Everything’s going to be fine, you’ll see. He’ll be up and about it no time.”
She rested her head on his and sighed. “The doctor said even if he’s fine, he’ll still need to stay here for at least a week. They don’t want to take any chances. He said sometimes symptoms show up days after the ingestion.”
Lifting his son’s hand he pressed a kiss to his fingers. He squeezed them tight, hoping maybe Jonathan would feel him here, feel the love they both had for him. Then he gently put his hand back down to pick up Callie’s, the one not around his shoulder.She’s still sitting in your lap.Normally she would have pulled away by now. It always stabbed deep inside when she did.
“Tell me what Jonathan’s done for the past few days. He must have gotten the poison somewhere. We need to figure out where.”
She sighed, her eyes roaming the ceiling as if trying to recall a memory. “Yesterday we were home all day. It was Saturday so I didn’t need to work and he doesn’t go to school. It was kind of chilly so we stayed inside and made cookies. I let him watch children’s movies and read him about a million stories. It was a super nice day for the two of us.”
Her recitation made him swallow hard. He’d kill for a day like that with his son. For a day like that with Callie too. So often they’d snuggled up on her couch and watched movies, simply enjoying being together. It was how she knew what a softy he was. He’d loved the quiet time and had told her often enough.
“Today,” she began again then glanced at her watch, “or maybe now it’s yesterday, we went down to the community center to have breakfast and socialize. A bunch of retired people go every week and they love seeing Jonathan. He gets off on the attention they give him when he sings and dances around the room.”
“Did you have the same thing to eat as him? Do you know if anyone else got sick?”
Callie stroked her hand down his back and he tried to suppress the shiver it caused. Amazing.It could make him forget almost anything. But not the fact their son was lying here incredibly sick.
“The doctor asked me the same questions. I ate everything he ate. He usually eats from my plate. His appetite doesn’t warrant an adult serving. And they checked to see if there were any other reports of these symptoms. None so far, though he said it sometimes can take up to a few days for symptoms to show up. They probably showed up in Jonathan quicker because he’s smaller.”
“So, you could be sick too?” he asked, his heart suddenly somewhere near his throat. “Did you have them do a blood test on you, too?”
Callie nodded. “The doctor insisted on it. It was negative so he didn’t think the drug came from the food.”
So where had Jonathan gotten the poison from? “Did he have anything you didn’t have? Anything at all? Like a piece of candy or fruit? Did any of the retired people give him something?”
Callie’s eyes roamed the ceiling again. “They don’t usually have anything except what the community center offers. He ate what I ate…although he did have a juice box. One of the workers was handing them out to the kids. I hadn’t seen this guy before but there’s always lots of turnover in volunteers when we go.”
“A juice box?” His mind went into overdrive. She’d said no one else had come down with the same symptoms as Jonathan so had he been the only one with tainted juice? And why? Why would someone want to hurt their child? One answer kept jumping out at him, loud and clear. He was the reason. Someone knew Jonathan was his son and was trying to get to him through the child. But there wasn’t anyone beside Scott and Heather, and of course Callie, that knew. They’d never say anything, he’d bet his life on it. No one else—Steve. Steve knew.
