“No doubt,” Doctor Franklin assures him. “If he survives, he’ll be completely deranged for at least seven days. No hospital in the world would question committing him.”
Father huffs, cracking his neck while his eyes trail across the room. He walks to my old desk, pictures of Mother and me still there. He picks one up and holds it to his chest. He turns and asks Robert, “Everything ready?”
“The press should arrive at 10 AM. Will you need a speech drafted?”
Father shakes his head. “No, I’ll do this one on the fly. Stumbling over my words will read better.”
Father reaches into his back pocket, pulls out a wad of cash, and hands it to the doctor.
“Do I look miserable?” Father asks Robert.
“Very.”
He then gives the doctor a playful nudge. “I imagine you can’t clean up this bite wound on my face.”
Doctor Franklin shakes his head. “Different kind of medicine, I’m afraid.”
“No matter. It will read well on camera.” Father turns tome. “You may have saved this election for me.”
The three of them walk out of the room together. I scream at them, begging to be released, but the door closes.
I hear them locking it from the outside. It’s all too much. The room starts to spin, my vision goes dark, and I pass out again.
Chapter 38
Torren
The thumping of my heart drowns out the sound of the hail crashing against my helmet. My body is numb, and the freezing rain does nothing to my skin.
Tobias trails behind with Elias, our staff doctor.
It’s morning when we make our way to my shop. I’ve searched for Felix all night, cursing at myself the entire time. The Hellcats are still out, scouring Belmont and the surrounding area for any signs of him.
The only evidence I have is those fucking pills sitting on my bedside table. If my suspicions are correct, then whatever happened to Felix involved more than just his father.
If it did, then we could find who gave him those pills and force them to talk.
The garage of my shop opens, and the two motorcycles roll inside and come to a stop.
“This way.” Every second I don’t know where Felix is feels like a life-or-death situation.
We trudge into my bedroom. “Here.”
Elias approaches, picking up the pills and examining themone by one. He studies them for a long time, his attention zeroing in on one in particular.
“This one.” He holds up an oblong-shaped pill. “I can’t be sure without my lab equipment, but this is the only one that doesn’t look like your typical run-of-the-mill SSRI or antipsychotic. The rest have lettering on them. You see?”
He holds one of the pills, pointing at the tiny lettering. “These I recognize,” he explains as he sets the pill down. Then he shows me the pill in question. “But this one. This doesn’t have an imprint. It’s bigger than the others, and the seal is sloppy. Look.” He holds up the capsule, showing me the imperfections.
“Any idea what it could be?” Tobias asks.
Elias shakes his head. “I need my equipment. Let’s take it back, and I’ll examine it. That said, whoever was responsible for giving Felix his pills should be questioned. None of the bottles has a doctor’s name, which is unusual.”
I pull out my phone. “I’ll call Lars. He’ll find out who Felix’s doctors are. I want him to look up the housekeeping staff, too. There may be witnesses too afraid to cross the Mayor.”
I’m about to call Lars when my phone rings. My heart leaps into my throat. It’s Mac.
“Talk to me.”
