Again, Gage met them at the door. Cam smiled inwardly. He was supposed to be the security expert, always alert to everything in and around the way station, but Gage seemed to be preternaturally plugged in when it came to his own domain. “Prudence is awake,” he reported. “Her eyes popped open the moment I gave her the antidote. I was just on my way to get you.”
His eyes went to Ria.
Cam’s fingers tightened on her slender hand. “Gage, this is Ria, the woman I love. Ria, my brother, Gage. He’s the man in charge of our medical facilities, and responsible for the care your lady’s maid and her family have been receiving.” When Gage would have commented, Cam shook his head. “I’ll explain in more detail later. Right now, just take us to Prudence.”
“You got it.”
Now that they knew the toxin had been ingested, and wasn’t an airborne issue, there was nothing to stop them from conversing directly with the patients. Cam needed to find out why they’d eaten something they knew was poisonous.
Prudence, a slender, middle-aged woman with shoulder length brown hair, looked drawn tucked into one of the med center’s beds. She was awake, but obviously weak as she asked, “What happened to me?”
“You ingested poison,” Cam said from the foot of her bed.
Her brows furrowed. “Poison? What kind of poison?”
At Gage’s nod, Cam continued, “Who brought the meat to the house to grill?”
Prudence’s eyes widened. Her eyes were on Ria, who stood at Cam’s side. “Alexandria? Is that you?” The lady’s maid looked suddenly very guilty. Cam guessed it was because she’d realized neither woman was supposed to be on Earth. He’d have to question her about that, as well, but first he needed to know why she’d eaten poison.
“Where did the meat that you grilled come from, Prudence?” Ria asked.
Prudence swallowed hard. “I bought it in a little town called Skeeter Bite.” Her gaze shot to Cam. “I know I’m not supposed to be here. And I also know that I shouldn’t have ventured so far from Alienn, but I wanted to see more of Earth.”
Cam and Gage traded a look and frowned. “You bought squirrel meat?”
“No! I would never, ever get squirrel. It wasn’t squirrel meat.” She tried to sit up, but went pale with the effort.
Gage put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back to the mattress. The bed was raised at an angle so she could talk. There was no reason for her to exert herself. “I was going to get some chicken, but the man said he was having a sale on something called varmint. He said it was kind of like chicken, but better. He called it a redneck delicacy. So I brought it home and we grilled it.”
“And you didn’t think to ask what varmint was?” Cam asked.
Prudence looked confused. “No. The better question is why that man would sell me squirrel meat. Doesn’t he know Alphas are allergic to it?”
“No, I really hope not. If he was an Alpha, he never would have sold it to you. If he was a human, he shouldn’t evenknowabout Alphas. Unless you told him about us. Did you?”
She paled further. “No, of course not. I didn’t tell him anything.”
“Did you think it looked like squirrel meat?”
Her brow furrowed. “No, it looked like a small chicken. Tasted like chicken, too,” she said under her breath. “Honestly, I know what a live squirrel looks like, but I’ve never seen one cut up and ready to grill.” She looked at Cam. “This is probably a good lesson that Alpha-Prime should update its files on the Earth colony.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. One more thing: Did you invite two of your aunt’s neighbors over to eat with you?”
“Yes. How did you…oh no—” She stopped talking abruptly. “Is anyonedead? Did I kill anyone?”
“No,” Gage reassured her. “We just want to be sure we’re treating anyone who may have been impacted.”
“My cousin Cindy grilled a cow steak, but she did have one small bite of what we all thought was varmint.”
Gage nodded. “That makes sense. One of your cousins wasn’t as sick as the others.”
“I’m so sorry. Honestly, I didn’t know.”
Cam figured everyone was well appraised about the few dangers on the Earth colony. “How long has your family lived here?”
“Not too long, a few months, maybe. My uncle was killed last year in an accident on Alpha-Prime, but he’d always talked about visiting Earth. My aunt wanted a fresh start, so she volunteered to work at the bauxite plant doing inventory.”
“I have some other questions for you,” Cam said. “Gage, can you leave us?”
