As Holt stood in the harsh fluorescent lighting of the hospital bathroom, he’d just gotten a direct threat from someone who had already attempted murder twice, he realized that the investigation had just taken on an entirely new level of danger.
The attacks were escalating, the perpetrator was becoming bolder, and now Holt himself had been marked as a target. The question was whether he could identify the person behind the threats before they moved from warning messages to direct action against him, possibly his family, and friends.
But one thing was certain: Holt wasn't going to be intimidated into walking away from this case. Too many people had already been hurt, and if anything, this threatening note only reinforced his determination to bring whoever was responsible to justice.
The people of Sandpiper Shores deserved to feel safe in their community, and Lacey and Margo deserved justice for the attack that had nearly killed them. Holt wasn't about to let some anonymous coward with a threatening note prevent him from doing his job.
But as he prepared to leave the bathroom and rejoin Tom, Holt made a mental note to be much more careful about his surroundings and the people he trusted. Someone was playing a very dangerous game, and the stakes were getting higher with each passing day.
13
LACEY
The hospital room felt both too small and too large at the same time as Lacey lay propped up against the pillows, trying to process everything that had happened over the past few hours. The oxygen mask had been removed, but her throat still felt raw and scratchy from inhaling whatever chemical had been used to attack her and Margo at the clinic.
Dean sat in the chair beside her bed, his presence both comforting and somehow charged with possibilities she wasn't quite ready to examine. Noah stood near the bed with his wife Ginny, both of them wearing the kind of worried expressions that made Lacey's heart ache with love for her son and daughter-in-law.
"Mom, you really scared us tonight," Noah said quietly, moving closer to her bed. "When we got the call about the fire at the clinic, I thought..." He swallowed hard, unable to finish the sentence.
"I'm fine, sweetheart," Lacey replied, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Both Margo and I are going to be fine."
"But what if the fire department hadn't gotten there in time?" Ginny asked, her voice trembling slightly. "What if the fire department hadn't been able to get inside the building?"
"We can't think about what might have happened," Lacey said firmly, as much to convince herself as anyone else. "We have to focus on the fact that we're safe now.”
The door opened with the brisk efficiency that always announced Lucy's arrival, and Lacey's twin sister entered wearing her doctor's coat and carrying a tablet loaded with medical information.
"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked, immediately moving to check Lacey's vital signs with the professional competence that had made her one of the most respected physicians in the county.
"Like I've been breathing poison," Lacey replied honestly, wincing as speaking triggered another wave of throat irritation.
"That's essentially what happened," Lucy said grimly, checking Lacey's pulse and examining her eyes with a small flashlight. "Your oxygen levels are much improved from when you were brought in, but I want to keep you overnight for observation, just like Margo."
"Lucy, I really need to get home," Lacey protested weakly, though she could already feel her energy flagging from just this brief conversation. "I have appointments scheduled for tomorrow morning. I have to find a place to temporarily house the vet clinic.” Her head started to ache as she thought about what had to be done. “There is equipment to be checked. I need to find out the damage done…” Her eyes widened. “Oh, no.”
“What is it?” Dean, Noah, Ginny, and Lucy all chorused as they stared worriedly at Lacey.
“Dr. Vernon…” Lacey swallowed, her throat feeling croaky and dry. “Dr. Vernon is coming tomorrow morning for an interview.”
“A new vet?” Noah asked. “You never told me you found someone.”
“She contacted me yesterday while I was at the Henderson farm. Right before my car accident,” Lacey explained. “She’s on vacation in Cedar Keys, and she heard from the vets out there that I had an opening for a qualified domestic and wildlife vet.”
“You never mentioned it to me either,” Lucy said, glancing at her sister.
“Honestly,” Lacey said, “with everything that happened—you know the accident, then this…”
Before Lacey could continue, there was a light knock on the door, and June appeared, supporting a protesting Margo who was clearly determined to visit despite her medical condition.
"I had to come see you," Margo said breathlessly as June helped her settle into a visitor chair. "I had to ensure you were okay and see it for myself."
“I’m fine.” Lacey felt her heart swell with affection for her niece, even as worry gnawed at her about how close they'd both come to dying. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm just so glad you're all right. I was terrified that something had happened to you when I lost consciousness."
"We're both tougher than we look," Margo replied with a weak smile that didn't quite hide the trauma in her eyes. "It'll takemore than some crazy person with gas canisters to get rid of this family.”
"Don't joke about that," Lucy said sharply. "You both came within minutes of dying tonight. If the fire department had been even slightly delayed..."
"But they weren't delayed," June interjected gently, moving to Lacey's bedside. "Dean and the other firefighters got there in time, and you're both going to recover completely."
