Unforeseen Danger (18 page)

“Thank God.”
 
He winked at Darcy and pushed away from the table.

It wasn’t much of a reprieve.
 
Evan Stephens waited on the line.

Jake explained that he’d been working on the plans and arranged to meet with him the next morning to discuss the changes.
 
As he hung up the phone, Jake felt a little flushed and hoped he wasn’t coming down with something.
 
He didn’t have time to be sick right now.

“Are you okay?
 
You look pale,” his mother said as he sat back down and forced himself to eat another bite of casserole.

But he didn’t.
 
He didn’t feel okay at all.
 
Jake’s pulse thudded in his ears and the room swam.
 
His throat felt funny, constricted.
 
Suddenly, he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs.
 

Panicked, Jake clawed at his throat.

“Jake Hawthorne!”
 
His mother frowned.
 
“That isn’t funny.”

“Mom,” he gasped, and fell out onto the floor.

***

Catherine’s scream scared Nikki so badly that she nearly screamed herself.
 
She and her therapist, Theresa, looked at each other, and then ran to the kitchen.
 
Jake lay in the floor beside the kitchen table with a frantic Catherine hovering over him.

“I’m calling 911!” Darcy shouted.

“What happened?” Theresa asked.
 
She was already on her knees beside Jake.

“He was eating, and then he grabbed his throat, like he couldn’t breathe, and fell onto the floor,” Catherine cried.

Theresa opened his airway and peered into his mouth, then peered at the angry red welts on his neck.
 
“It looks like an allergic reaction.
 
His tongue is swelling.”
 
She jumped up and ran out the door.

Nikki fell down beside Jake and pressed her hand to his throat.
 
His skin felt cool and clammy.
 
His pulse was shallow.

“Jake.”
 
Panicked, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
 
“Jake!”

Theresa ran back in, clutching something that looked like a fat, yellow ink pen.
 
She pulled off the cap with her mouth and stabbed Jake’s thigh.

“
EpiPen
,” she said.
 
“I’m allergic to bee stings.
 
This will put epinephrine in his system, help counteract the swelling.”

Within seconds, Jake’s pulse beat stronger, faster, beneath Nikki’s palm and he began to stir.

“What’s he allergic to?” Theresa asked.

“Penicillin.
 
But he knows that.
 
He wouldn’t take—” Catherine said.

“What was he doing in the last few minutes?”
 
Theresa glanced at the plate on the table.
 
“Was he eating that?”
 

“Yes, but it’s just chicken casserole—”

“Wrap it up and take it to the hospital with you.”
 

Catherine hurried to do as she said.
 

“Nikki, what…happened?” Jake gasped, and tried to sit up.

Nikki heard the faint scream of sirens.
 
“Lie back down, honey,” she soothed.
 
“It’s okay.”
 
She stared up at her therapist.
 
“Thank you, Theresa.
 
Thank God you were here.”

“I think I’m all right now,” Jake said.

“The
epinephrine will
last 15-20 minutes.
 
Let them take you to the hospital to check you out.
 
You might need another dose.”

Theresa let the ambulance workers in and told them what she’d done and what time she gave him the shot.
 
Nikki rode in the back of the ambulance with Jake.
 
Catherine and Darcy followed behind in Catherine’s car.

Sheriff
Garrettson
met them in the emergency room.
 

“I heard Jake’s address on the dispatch,” he asked.
 
“What happened?”

“Oh, Matt,” Catherine said.
 
“I’m not sure.
 
He had some sort of allergic reaction after eating this.”

She handed the foil-wrapped plate to Matt, and he peered underneath it.
 

“What
is
that?”
 
He made a face as he sniffed it.

Catherine gritted her teeth.
 
“It’s chicken casserole.”

“If you say so,” Matt said doubtfully.
 
“Yep, I’d imagine this dish could definitely land you in the emergency room—”

“Pardon me?”
 
Catherine’s face flushed.
 

Darcy turned on her heel and walked away.
 
Nikki quickly glanced at the floor.
 
Matt continued, oblivious.
 
“Poor kid had to be pretty hungry.
 
Is that
cornflakes
?”
 
He muttered something unintelligible, then said, “First, we need to find out who made this,
if
they’ll confess to it—”

“I did.”
 
Catherine crossed her arms over her chest.

“You did what?”
 
Matt repeated.
 
He kept his face expressionless, but Nikki saw the twinkle in his eyes.
 
Catherine must’ve seen it, too.
 
She punched his arm.

“Would you be serious here?” she demanded.

Matt held up his free hand in surrender.
 
“Okay, okay.
 
So what is Jake allergic to?”

“Penicillin.”

Matt sniffed the dish again.
 
“Could be that, or maybe some sort of poison.
 
I’m taking it to the lab.”

His words stole Nikki’s breath as it sank in.
 
A wave of ice washed away the strange calmness she felt on the way to the hospital.
 

“Matt!” she yelled.
 
Glancing at Catherine and Darcy, she said, “I’ll be right back.”

Matt waited by the corner and Nikki jogged toward him.
 

Tears burned her eyes as she gasped, “Can I talk to you…in private?”
 

“Sure.”
 
Matt frowned.
 
“Just let me…”
 
He held up the container and Nikki nodded.
 
She stood outside the lab door, hugging herself, as Matt talked to a technician.

He stepped back outside and took her arm.
 
“Nikki, are you okay?”

“No,” she whispered.
 

She shook so hard her teeth chattered as Matt led her to a waiting room.
 
A group of people looked up as he opened the door and Matt gently shut it.
 
He steered her outside to the small, enclosed courtyard and motioned to a wooden bench.
 
A cold November wind gusted around them, but at least they were alone.

“There’s something I have to tell you.
 
Something I should’ve told you yesterday when we found out this man was alive—”

Matt shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
 
“What is it, Nikki?”

“I was afraid.
 
Afraid Jake would hate me.
 
It’s been so hard for him, and I can’t remember any of it.”
 
She took a deep gulp of air and said, “My lover called me at the hospital.
 
I think – I think I might’ve known he was trying to kill Jake.”

She burst into tears and Matt waited patiently as she struggled to relay the conversation through her sobs.

He studied her with kind, brown eyes.
 
“You listen to me, girl.
 
That conversation isn’t enough to incriminate you.
 
The fact that you drove Jake’s truck that morning tells me that you didn’t know about the brakes.
 
When he told you he was ‘taking care of
things’, that could’ve meant a number of things,
not just killing Jake.”

“Do you really believe that?”
 
Nikki covered her face with her hands, and then dropped them.
 
She jerked her head toward the glass doors.
 
“What about this?
 
If it was an allergic reaction like Theresa thought, how would this man have known if I didn’t tell him?”

“Hospital records.
 
Or maybe a lot of people know.
 
I haven’t asked Cat when Jake found out he’s allergic.
 
It might be common knowledge in his circle.”
 
He stared at his hands.
 
“But I’m glad you told me about the phone call.
 
Maybe we can trace something through the hospital switchboard.”

“I want to set a trap for him.
 
Maybe if my lover believes I’m getting my memory back, he’ll contact me.”

Matt sighed.
 
“Jake will never go for that.”

“He will if he doesn’t know.”

Matt held up his hands.
 
“Just hold off for me until we get the lab results, okay?
 
This could be some freak thing, a new allergy or something.
 
It could be an accident.”

“The fire at Jake’s building wasn’t an accident.”

“This guy’s moving too fast, Nikki.
 
We don’t have to smoke him out, he’s going to make contact regardless and it would be dangerous to toy with him.”

“He’s not going to hurt me.
 
He’s trying to kill Jake, and I have to stop him.”

“Please, just give me time to figure out a plan.
 
We need to be careful, okay?
 
If you do something rash, it could put Jake in even more danger, okay?”

“Okay.”

He stood and held out his hand.
 
“Now come on, I need to ask Cat some questions.”

They stepped back inside the corridor and Nikki nodded at the bathroom.
 
“I’ll be there in a minute.”

She locked the door behind her and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
 
Swollen, red eyes.
 
Flushed cheeks on a pale face.
 

The face of a murderer?

Nikki splashed her face over the porcelain basin and then patted it dry with paper towels.
 
Closing her eyes, she leaned against the stall and wondered if any of them would still be standing when this mess was over.

She gave them a wan smile as she rejoined them in front of the emergency room doors.

“Are you all right?” Darcy asked.

“Just a little shaken.”

Matt turned to Catherine.
 
“Next question,
who’s
been in the house today?”

The women stared at each other and Catherine sighed.
 
“Nikki had a houseful of visitors today.
 
I couldn’t begin to tell you who was there.”

Matt’s sharp gaze
traveled
to each of their faces.
 
“All of you, start making a list.
 
When did you first realize Jake was allergic?”

“When he was five.”

“Who knew he was allergic?”

Catherine pressed a hand to her forehead.
 
“I’m not sure.
 
Not many people.
 
Family, I guess.”
 

Jake stepped out of the emergency room, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.
 
Nikki hurried over to him.
 
Red welts marred the skin on his throat and chest.
 

“How do you feel?” she asked.

He exhaled and gave her a rueful smile.
 
“Not so hot.
 
Jittery.”
 

“And they’re releasing you?”
 
Nikki finished buttoning his shirt.

“Yeah.
 
I’m okay.”

Matt asked him a series of questions and then cautioned, “Don’t eat or drink anything unsealed until I get the results from the lab.
 
Could be some freak thing, but I don’t believe in taking chances – so don’t eat any more of your mom’s cooking.”
 

Catherine’s elbow caught him squarely in the midsection.

“Justin always told me you were a rotten cook, but I figured he was trying to console me for stealing you away like he did.”

“Stealing me away!”
 
Catherine rolled her eyes.
 
“Please.”

Matt gave her a woebegone look from underneath his bushy eyebrows.
 
“Bet you don’t snore either, do you?”