Page 68 of Sins of Seduction
The doctor held up his hands in surrender, clearly sensing Jax’s mood. “That was the initial finding, Mr. Pierce. On the surface, Ms. Wright appears fine, but she’s not. We have a nurse who saw similar symptoms on a TV show, and she thought it would be smart to test a second time.”
The doctor paused, and Jax felt the weight of the silence on his shoulders. He looked down at Raven, wondering if this was the beginning of some disease they wouldn’t be able to fight.
Jax heard the doctor talking but missed most of what he said until the tail end. Jax’s gaze snapped to the doctor’s. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”
“Ms. Wright had or has been ingesting poison. Cyanide, to be exact.”
Greyson made a coffee shop run. The coffee at the station wasn’t cutting it, and watching the captain and Cruz go to blows over Greyson’s suspicion that he’d been involved with what was happening to Raven called for something with a kick.
He pulled into Gregory’s, not surprised to see the line still long even though it was later in the afternoon. This shop had the best coffee in town. Greyson put his car in park and made a beeline for the door to pull a number from the machine. He glanced down at the piece of paper and then the number they were on and decided to grab a seat and wait.
Greyson cracked his neck, letting the sounds of the coffee shop ease the way his mind was running. He hadn’t meant to tell Cruz his suspicion before they were in the captain’s office—he still didn’t believe Cruz was behind this, but Greyson wanted to cross all names he could off the list of suspects—which weren’t many.
The sound of the door opening had Greyson pulling his gaze toward the door. Raven’s assistant had walked in wearing jeans and a hoodie, like it was a spring day and not chilly outside. She looked exhausted, and something had Greyson getting up from his seat and walking over to her.
“Excuse me, miss…?” He tapped her shoulder, and she turned around with a smile on her face, and he noticed the dusting of freckles under her eyes he didn’t notice before. Something about her face looked familiar under the lights of the coffee shop. He’d seen her around town and recently more frequently, but it was the first time he felt a familiarity to her—like he’d seen her picture in a place he couldn’t name.
“Danielle,” she stuck her hand out, and Greyson took it in his.
“Cunningham, right? You’re Raven’s assistant. We’ve met before.” She nodded, her smile widening as recognition lit her eyes.
The name on last night’s guest list was Dee Cunningham. That was why the name sounded familiar to him. It had been her. It was interesting that the number Jess Murray had on file for Danielle was not the one that the station had. Greyson wouldn’t have batted an eyelash about the discrepancy, except the number associated with Dee Cunningham had been disconnected.
“Danielle Cunningham. That’s a mouthful.” Greyson laughed. “People call you Dee?” He asked. Her smile dropped, and something about the way she looked at him sent a cold chill down his back.
“No. I actually hate nicknames. I don’t believe I know your first name. Or is Greyson your first name?”
Greyson laughed. “No, my mom didn’t hate me that much. My first name is Danny. I think there was something in the water when we were born. All these variations of Dan in Ivywood. Anyway,” Greyson waved a hand, “how’s Raven, any updates?”
Raven scared half the station when she collapsed in Jax’s arms. Jax had been frantic that he couldn’t feel a pulse, and when Greyson went to check, it had almost been too faint for him to feel as well. They rushed her to the hospital, but Greyson hadn’t heard anything yet.
“I’m sorry, what happened to Raven?” She reached for her phone, and Greyson watched her scroll through messages and missed calls.
“Jax had to rush her to the hospital. It looked pretty bad.” Greyson watched the worry seep into her eyes, but something else was there that he couldn’t pinpoint.
“I have to go,” she tried to push past him, but he grabbed her shoulder.
“Um, before you do…where were you last night?” He already knew the answer, but he was curious to see what she would say.
“I went to a party.” She looked confused by his question.
“And after that party?”
“I spent the night with a friend. Is there a reason you’re asking, Detective?” There was an edge to her voice that could very well be from him keeping her here when her friend was in the hospital.
“No reason.” Greyson dropped his hold. “Please keep me posted on Raven’s condition, and tell her I hope she gets better.” Danielle nodded and rushed out the door.
Greyson kept his eyes on her until his number was called. He ordered the largest coffee he could, needing the boost the caffeine would give him to fit the pieces of this cases together, and he felt like Ms. Cunningham might have given him the biggest piece yet.
Raven’s breathing had leveled to the point that she wasn’t struggling to get air in her lungs. She felt lethargic and weak still, and there was a dull ache in her skull, but it was manageable. She was having a hard time wrapping her head around what the doctor had told her.
How the hell did I ingest poison?
Nothing about what the doctor said made any sense. She was healthy, everything she used or was around was up to code, and if sheaccidentally—as the doctor put it—ate something with it on it, shouldn’t Jax be sick too? They had been practically inseparable since he came back into her life.
Her hospital door opened, and the sight of Jax walking in made her heart hiccup in her chest. He looked every bit the knight or maybe the villain, going by the murderous look on his face. He was angrier about what happened to her than she was. Raven watched the fear spread across his face at the thought of her being sick, and it quickly morphed into rage when the doctor uttered the poison diagnosis. He looked ready to tear an invisible foe to shreds.
“Diane is headed out, and I just called Greyson to send a uniform or himself up here.” Jax’s tone was soft when he addressed her, but Raven still picked up the hints of anger coating his words. “Did you finish the list?” Jax nodded to the notepad in her hands.
