His eyes narrow. “Who got it for you?”
“Nobody. I poured it myself. But I gave the bottle to Luisa when we were dancing.”
“Lu wouldn’t do this. Was she the one who gave it back?”
“I don’t remember.” I rack my brain, trying to recall who handed me the bottle when Gray and I rejoined the group. Something else suddenly occurs to me. “What if I drank from someone else’s bottle?”
He sucks in a breath. “Good point. For all we know, you weren’t even the intended target.”
“Should we tell the Authority?”
“No. I think this stays between us.”
“I agree. I say we keep a watchful eye. Maybe we can somehow use this information against the culprit. Drop a hint or two. Get them to try again.”
He sighs. “You’re proposing using yourself as bait?”
“If we need to.” I shrug. “For now, I just won’t accept any drinks that I haven’t poured myself.”
Gray traces the line of my jaw with his fingertips. “This isn’t happening again,” he says, his tone as deadly as his expression. “If someone tries this shit again, they’ll have to go through me.”
Before I can respond, Fiona’s voice sounds from the doorway. “Wren,” she says. “Good. You’re awake.”
I’m surprised to find genuine concern on her face as she stalks over, her shoes slapping briskly on the floor.
“How do you feel?” she asks.
“Totally fine. I heard you’re the one who resuscitated me. Thank you for that.”
She shifts her gaze to the testing kit before frowning at Gray. “You ran a tox?”
“We did, yes,” he says lightly. “Just to be sure there was no foul playinvolved. Considering Wren isn’t prone to heart issues. But the bloodwork was clean. Whatever happened tonight, it wasn’t in Wren’s blood. I deleted the results in case someone did try to hurt her. I don’t want them thinking we’re asking questions.”
“The blood was clean…” Fiona seems troubled by that. When Gray and I both nod, she fixes her eyes on me. “No prior heart conditions at all?”
“None. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have some random cardiac episode tonight. Maybe I overdid it on the dancing or did too many stims.” The lie comes out smoothly, and I notice the quick gleam in Gray’s eyes. He approves.
“You were on stims?” Fiona says sharply.
“Yeah,” I fib, because it’s been known to happen, people dropping dead from stim overdoses. “I don’t usually indulge, so maybe my body couldn’t tolerate them?”
“That could be a possibility,” she says. “Yes. Perhaps that’s it.” She makes a tsking sound. “I’m always telling everyone to stay away from that poison.”
I choke down a laugh.
Yeah.
I need to stay away from poison, all right.
Interrogation Transcript
Date:05/12/11 NE
Time:21:03 P.M.
Conducted by:Captain Jerrika Quinn, Silver Elite
Suspect:Colonel Marina Serrano, Tin Block
