“They are, sir. She and the other woman are responding to the treatment, but it’s still early in the process. I don’t have any more information for you at the moment, I’m sorry.”
My heart sinks in my chest. Nothing can happen to her. She has to be okay.
I don’t know what I’ll do if she’s not.
“Tell me you have something,”I demand to Sterling as I answer his call. It’s been three hours since Ella was admitted, and I’m losing my goddamn mind. I’ve heard nothing of use. The nurse has stopped by twice to tell me they’re still working to get her stable enough for me to come in.
Cyanide poisoning.
A very low dose, but enough that she was critical for a moment before the doctors administered the antidotes. Her prognosis is good because she got to the hospital quickly, but the doctors are being cautious.
“Forensics just got back to me. The letter is a threat.”
“No shit.”
“No, you don’t understand. It’s a blatant threat, written out. The team found a message written on the paper using a black light. The letter is courtesy of Sergei. He targeted Ella in retribution for Dimitri.”
“Why the fuck wasn’t this vetted? Those types of letters weren’t supposed to get to her.”
“The team found the original envelope. It’s just like the last ones. It came from your stalker lady in Indiana, but she didn’t do this. Someone within Langford Holdings had to have known about the stalker’s letters and decided to use them as an opportunity to send a threat that wouldn’t compromise you but would still send the message. That person had to have intercepted the letter and they either wrote the message and laced it with poison themselves, or they took it to someone to do it.”
“Fuck,” I hiss under my breath.
“I’ve gone through the cameras to see when the letter arrived and trace its route, but I couldn’t track it. It was covered well.”
“So where does that leave us?”
“Don’t worry. Not all is lost. In my searches, I foundsomething quite interesting that’s been happening up on the executive floor for the past month or so. It looks like Alan has been getting cozy with one of Ella’s coworkers. A Daphne Erickson.”
“Cozy how?”
“They’ve been having little trysts all over the floor. Bathrooms, closets, his office. And to think everyone has been gossiping about you fucking Ella in your office.”
“Watch it,” I growl.
“Hey, no judgement here. If I had a woman like Ella at work with me, I’d be hitting it as often as I could.”
“Don’t make me loosen your teeth the next time I see you.”
“Okay, okay, Mr. Sensitive. Anyway, the point is, Alan has been asking Daphne lots of questions, and Daphne has been feeding the board information about Ella. It hasn’t been anything of note since Daphne’s information was weak at best, but it looks like Alan has been using Daphne any which way he could—including making sure she was the one to deliver the letter directly to Ella. He sent her a text message with instructions two minutes before she showed up at your office door to hand the papers over.”
“Get Declan on it. I want Alan in a dark, soundproof room within the hour. And I want answers.”
“Done.”
Just as I end the call, a doctor in scrubs walks toward me. He’s tall, broad, and young.
“Mr. Langford?” the doctor says, reaching out to shake my hand. “I’m Doctor Williams. Ms. Hale is stable and doing well.”
“Thank god,” I sigh. “Can I see her?”
“Yes, I’ll take you there now.”
He fills me in on her condition while we walk. “The antidote protocol worked well, and I don’t think she will have any long-term effects from the poisoning, but it’s too early to know for sure. She also has a large goose egg on her head and a concussion from her fall, but otherwise, we’re very happy withher progress. She’ll need to stay in the hospital for a day or two, just to be safe, but as of now, I think we’re in the clear.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m actually a friend of Ella’s. I’m sorry that we’re meeting under these circumstances.”
