The woman sounded wide awake when he’d finished talking but had no idea what Trudy could’ve eaten. “I can’t imagine anything, Jethro. Besides, Trudy hasn’t been in daycare. Well, I did give her this week’s goodies, but I gave that to all the kids, and it’s normal stuff I usually make or buy. The kids ate them happily today at day care, and I assume Trudy hadhers as well?”
The doctor skidded into the room on her tennis shoes. “We’re getting reports of at least three other kids in emergency rooms right now with thesame symptoms.”
Jethro stood. “Barb? Call parents of the other kids to make sure this didn’t originate at the day care.” Maybe a bad flu was going around, but his instincts started to hum. “Call me back.” If it wasn’t salmonella or E. coli, what could it be? First he had to figure out where Trudy had been exposed, even if it was just the flu.
He needed his entire family on this, so he called Angus Force and explained the situation. With all of them on it, they’d help Trudy.
The doctor checked Trudy’s vitals. “I’m brainstorming with the other doctors in a few minutes after we share information. Maybe we can figure out where the kids caught this or what they ate. The cases have to be related,” she said.
Jethro’s phone dinged and he answered it. “Hanson.”
“Oh God, Jethro,” Barb said, sounding as if she was hurrying through her house. “I talked to both Tyler and Jimmy’s parents, and they’re in emergency rooms right now as well. I’m running to the school to grab all the food and anything they could’ve eaten. One doctor called the CDC and they’re sending techs to the day care to conduct a search. Maybe there’s some bad chalk or something? I just don’t know.”
“Call me if you find anything out,” Jethro said, clicking off to give the doctor a full report while his mind reeled. What in the world could those childrenhave ingested?
She nodded. “Good. The more information we have, the better.”
“Will she be all right?” he asked, for the first time in his entire life needing reassurance.
“Her vitals are stabilizing and she has stopped vomiting,” the doctor said. “We need to find out what this is, but I’m hopeful right now.”
Hopeful? He didn’t want the doctor to be fucking hopeful. He wanted her damn-assed sure. “Thank you,” he said, watching Trudy for any sign of new distress.
Female voices came from the hallway, and he recognized Nari’s calm tone. Good. The unit was arriving. The more people around to support Gemma, the better right now, and he wanted backup in every direction. No doubt Gemma was filling everyone in.
He couldn’t think. He’d been captured before. He’d been brutally tortured before. Yet never in his entire life had he beenso terrified.
Gemma’s little girl had to get better. He’d give her a safe life. Already she’d slid herself right into his heart, as had her mother. He loved them both, and he’d protect them until the end of his days. “Just get better,” he whispered, his voice ragged.
Nari strode into the room, her hair disheveled, as if she’d jumped from bed and headed right there. “How is she?”
“Hopefully a little better,” Jethro said.
Nari looked around. “Where’s Gemma?”
The world narrowed with a slash of sound. Jethro stilled. “I thought she was out in the hall speaking with you.” He stood, gently releasing Trudy’s hand.
“No. I was talking to the doctor,” Nari said, herbrow furrowing.
Angus Force strode inside the room, along with the doctor.
“What?” Jethro asked.
The doctor checked Trudy very quickly, her hands sure and her motions efficient. She listened to Trudy’s heartbeat and then straightened, her stethoscope hanging from her neck. “I have a colleague over on the north side working on one of the cases. He lived in Utah about ten years ago and said this reminds him of a suicidal patient who ingested the pulp of a bunch ofcastor beans.”
Jethro frowned. “Ricin? You’re talking about ricin poisoning?” It was rare and impossible to detect. Castor beans? No way had the kids gotten their hands on castor beans.
The doctor shrugged. “It’s a long shot and there are numerous other substances this could be. I just thought I’d mention it. Is there a chance any of these kids could be a targetfor somebody?”
Reality hit hard. Jethro slowly turned. “Gemma!” He ran out into the hall, careened off Wolfe, and barreled into the women’s washroom. His heart stopped. The far window was open, with snow covering the sill. Wolfe emerged on his side, took in the open window, and hurriedly searched each stall. At the far one, he turned, shaking his head.
“He has her,” Jethro said, the world halting. “Fletcher has Gemma.”
Chapter Forty
Cold. She was so unbelievably cold.
Gemma’s eyelids slowly opened and a hard cement floor came into view. She lay on her side, facing a metal wall. Where was she? Groggy, her head bursting with pain, she planted a palm on the cement and forced herself to sit up.
