Chapter 3 - WHAT WAS IN HIS BLOOD
Dr. Alan Mercer had treated the Cole family for twenty-two years.
He had delivered Nathan’s cousin’s first child, sat with Nathan’s father through cancer, and once flown to London because Nathan collapsed during a board meeting.
He was not an easy man to scare.
That night, he looked scared.
He stood in Nathan’s library holding a leather medical bag while Reyes locked the doors.
Nathan remained standing.
“What did you find?”
Dr. Mercer looked toward Vanessa.
“I think this should be private.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Anything involving my fiancée stays in the room.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Thank you.”
Mercer hesitated.
“Your last blood test showed trace levels of an ototoxic compound.”
Nathan frowned.
“English.”
“A substance capable of damaging the inner ear.”
No one spoke.
I felt Sophia’s hand tighten around mine.
Nathan stared at the doctor.
“You’re saying something has been damaging my hearing?”
“I’m saying the lab found something that shouldn’t have been there.”
“What?”
Mercer named the compound.
It meant nothing to me.
Vanessa spoke immediately.
“That could come from medication.”
Mercer looked at her.
“Possibly.”
“Then why are we acting like somebody poisoned him?”
“Because Nathan is not prescribed anything containing it.”
Nathan’s face became rigid.
“How long have you known?”
“I got confirmation two days ago.”
“Two days?”
“I ordered a second analysis before alarming you.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“I’ve spent four months thinking I was going deaf.”
“I know.”
“You knew there was something in my blood two days ago, and you said nothing?”
“I was confirming it.”
Nathan turned away, furious.
Mercer continued.
“There’s another problem.”
Nathan looked back.
“What?”
“The level wasn’t high.”
Vanessa let out a breath.
Mercer raised a hand.
“That is not good news.”
Her expression changed.
“A high level would suggest a single accidental exposure.”
Nathan understood first.
“A low level means?”
“Repeated exposure.”
The rain hit the windows harder.
Mercer looked at Nathan.
“Small doses. Over time.”
Vanessa laughed.
“This is speculation.”
“It is medical interpretation.”
“Based on one test.”
“Two.”
Silence.
She stared at him.
Mercer opened his bag and removed a sealed blood collection kit.
“I want another sample tonight.”
Nathan rolled up his sleeve.
“Do it.”
Vanessa turned toward the door.
Reyes moved in front of it.
“Where are you going?”
“To call my attorney.”
“You can call from here.”
“You cannot imprison me.”
Nathan sat while Mercer tied the band around his arm.
“No one is imprisoning you.”
Vanessa pointed toward Reyes.
“He won’t let me leave.”
Nathan looked at the needle going into his arm.
“No one leaves until the police arrive.”
That did it.
Vanessa snapped.
“The police?”
“Yes.”
“You’re calling the police over a toddler’s story and a blood test you don’t understand?”
Nathan looked up.
“I understand forty million dollars.”
Her mouth shut.
Dr. Mercer filled the vial.
Then Sophia touched my arm.
She signed:
TEA.
I stared at her.
“What?”
She signed again.
TEA. BAD WOMAN. EVERY NIGHT.
My pulse jumped.
Nathan watched me.
“What did she say?”
I looked toward the serving cart.
Vanessa’s herbal tea was still downstairs.
“Sophia says Vanessa puts something in your tea every night.”
Vanessa’s voice rose.
“She’s lying!”
Sophia flinched.
I stepped in front of my daughter.
“Don’t you call her a liar.”
Vanessa stared at me like I had slapped her.
Nathan stood.
“Reyes.”
“I’ll collect the tea service.”
Reyes left.
Vanessa began pacing.
“This is insane. Does nobody see how insane this is?”
Nathan looked exhausted.
“I’d like it to be insane.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I want there to be a reasonable explanation.”
“There is.”
“Then give me one.”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Exactly.”
Ten minutes later, Reyes returned carrying sealed evidence bags.
“The wineglass.”
He placed one bag on the desk.
“The teapot.”
Another.
“Cup.”
Another.
“And this.”
He held up a small silver container.
Nathan frowned.
“What is that?”
“Found behind the tea tins in the pantry.”
Vanessa stopped breathing.
Reyes opened the lid carefully.
Inside was a white powder.
Vanessa shook her head.
“That isn’t mine.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You make the tea.”
“Staff use that pantry.”
“Not that shelf.”
She looked at me.
The accusation in her eyes was immediate.
“Oh my God.”
She pointed.
“She planted it.”
I almost laughed.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I’ve never touched that shelf.”
“You clean the pantry.”
“I don’t.”
“You have access to this house.”
“So do fifty other people.”
Vanessa turned to Nathan.
“She needs money.”
Nathan’s expression darkened.
“Stop.”
“She’s a single mother. She lives in a tiny apartment. You’ve been paying for her daughter’s therapy. Maybe she thinks she can get more.”
My face burned.
Nathan slammed his palm onto the desk.
“Enough!”
Sophia began to cry silently.
Her shoulders shook.
That soundless crying broke something in Nathan’s face.
He crouched beside her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, even though she couldn’t hear him.
Then he looked at me.
“Take her to the guest room. Stay there until I come get you.”
I nodded.
As I reached the door, Vanessa said quietly:
“You should ask your maid why her daughter was in my study in the first place.”
I stopped.
Nathan turned.
“What?”
Vanessa’s eyes locked onto me.
“You heard me.”
My stomach tightened.
I didn’t know.
I looked down at Sophia.
“Why were you in Vanessa’s room?”
She stared at me.
Then signed something I had not expected.
MAN.
Vanessa.
MAN.
I frowned.
“What man?”
Sophia pointed toward the back staircase.
Then she made a sign for CAMERA.
Reyes stepped closer.
“There are no cameras in the private west wing.”
Sophia shook her head.
She pointed to her eyes.
SAW.
MAN.
VANESSA.
BOX.
Then she signed one more thing.
KISS.
The room went still.
Nathan stared at Vanessa.
May you like
She looked away.
And suddenly, poisoning wasn’t the only secret inside that house.
