Chapter 7 - Dr. Lane's Warning
Dr. Lane waited in his private office.
He looked exhausted.
Rafe entered first.
Sloan followed.
The doctor locked the door.
“I've been trying to tell you.”
Rafe stared at him.
“Tell me what?”
“Your illness isn't poisoning.”
Sloan's eyes narrowed.
“Then what is it?”
“Withdrawal.”
Rafe frowned.
“From what?”
“Something you've been given for months.”
Dr. Lane explained that tiny doses of a sedative had been entering Rafe's system.
Not enough to kill him.
Enough to create dependency.
Then the doses were periodically reduced.
The result was weakness, nausea, tremors, anxiety, and confusion.
Rafe stared at the doctor.
“Who administered it?”
Lane hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Sloan stepped forward.
“You do.”
Lane looked at her.
“I know who had access.”
“Who?”
He handed her a file.
Three names.
Margarite.
Rafe's former fiancée.
And one employee.
Elena Voss.
Head of household care.
Rafe's face changed.
“Elena has worked for my family for twenty years.”
“That makes her difficult to suspect,” Sloan said.
Dr. Lane nodded.
“Exactly.”
Rafe sat down.
For the first time, his confidence seemed to disappear.
Sloan placed her hand on the desk.
“We don't accuse her.”
“Then what?”
“We watch.”
They returned to the mansion.
Elena greeted them normally.
But Sloan noticed something.
When she saw the doctor's file in Rafe's hand, her expression changed for less than a second.
Fear.
Then calm.
May you like
Sloan knew that expression.
Someone had just realized the plan was collapsing.
