Page 64 of A Poisonous Plot

“Fine, thank you.” He paused in sweeping the aisle between rows of plants and leaned on his broom. “How are you?”

“Very well, thanks.” Something she was currently very grateful for, considering her endeavours to poison-test her ice cream.

“Ready to pick out some plants?”

“Maybe later,” she said. “I actually wanted to speak to Gordon. Is he here?”

“Yes.” He pointed inside. “He’ll either be in the cafe or the office.”

“Thanks,” Lily said, before continuing to the door. The pungent scent of soil and leaves in the shop was becoming very familiar. When she reached the cafe, it was all quiet – devoid of both customers and staff.

Inhaling deeply, Lily once again hoped that Gordon would be alone in the office, and that she could avoid another showdown with Sally. Given everything else going on, she hadn’t given much thought to Sally’s threat of stopping supplies for the ice cream shop, but she supposed she ought to raise the subject with Gordon.

The office door was almost completely closed and Lily knocked lightly. When there was no response, she tried again while pushing at the door.

“Hello!” she called, her eyes doing a quick sweep of the empty room.

She was all set to retreat when her gaze went to the floor beside the desk.What on earth…

“Gordon!” Panic strangled her voice as she stepped into the room.

A moment passed with her brain trying to comprehend what she was seeing. Gordon was face down on the carpet, a red streak of blood across his forearm and pooling on the floor beside him.

“Oh my god,” Lily mumbled as she approached. “Gordon,” she said again, then placed a hand on his back and waited to feel the rise and fall of his rib cage. She let out a relieved sigh when she was certain he was breathing.

Her eyes darted over the room and she felt her heart rate soar before she got her brain in gear enough to realise that she needed to stay calm.

“Stop the bleeding and get help,” she muttered, then shot across the room to open the door wide. She called out for Arthur, then decided she needed to be louder and shouted again.

“Ambulance,” she said aloud, pulling her phone from her pocket. She almost hit 999 before deciding it would be quicker to cut out the middleman.

“Please don’t say you’re ill,” Flynn said, answering almost immediately.

“I have a problem,” she said in a rush. “I’m at the garden centre and I need an ambulance. Quickly.”

Flynn’s tone was serious. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s Gordon. I found him unconscious and bleeding. Can you get an ambulance and get up here?”

“I’m on it. Are you alone?”

“Arthur’s here somewhere.” She caught him walking through the cafe and beckoned to him.

“I’ll be there soon,” Flynn said. “I’m hanging up to call the hospital, okay?”

She ended the call herself as Arthur approached with his usual cheerful air.

“Did you find Gordon?” he asked, apparently failing to notice Lily’s panicked air.

“Yes. He’s had an accident.” She hurried back to stand beside his prone form. “I’ve called an ambulance, but I’m not sure what’s happened.” She frowned as she tried to figure it out. Then her eyes went to the blood. “Why is he bleeding? I need something to stop it.” It wasn’t gushing or anything, but there was a thick streak across his forearm and a circle of dark red on the carpet too.

Lily went to move beside him, but Arthur’s voice suddenly filled the silence and made her pause mid-stride.

“Don’t move!” he shouted in a commanding tone that Lily wouldn’t have thought him capable of. “Stop right there.”

“What’s the problem?” Lily asked, a sliver of fear wrapping around her spine as she turned to Arthur.

While her heart rate sped up again, she reminded herself that Flynn was on his way.

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