| Mystery and Crime Fiction posted October 1, 2021 | Chapters: |
...61 62 -63- 64 
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Mason's Stash Reveals Many Secrets
A chapter in the book Secrets in the Wind
Secrets in the Wind - Chap 63
by Begin Again
Tango didn’t like the furrowed eyebrows and fierce look on his boss’s face as he watched Garth and Allie approach the lockers. “Hey, Boss.” He nodded at Allie. “Nice to see you, Allie.”
Garth’s response was cool and clipped, “Let’s drop the small talk and tell me what you’ve found.” Garth stepped around Tango and peered into one of the open lockers.
“Right.” Tango’s eyes widened in surprise. He glanced at Allie, and she shrugged her shoulders. Everyone got the message; Garth was all business this morning. Tango added, “We’ve got it categorized, photographed, and the guys are boxing it after your inspection.”
“Good. Anything surprising?” Garth read the labels on the boxes. “Taxes, photos, paperwork, and ledgers. You probably want to ship those to accounting, and they can pass them on to the right departments. How many years do you think they go back?”
“At least twenty. I don’t think this guy let one slip of paper out of his hands.” Tango glanced at Allie over his shoulder and then back to his boss.
Garth rolled his eyes. “She’s just along for the ride.” He gave an icy stare to Allie and continued, “Just keep filling me in. What’s in the next one?”
“Looks like guns to me.” Allie chimed, “Wow, he’s got boxes of every—”
“Tango.” Garth interrupted Allie’s comment. “What did you find?”
“You name it! Mason had it, boss. We haven’t counted them yet, but there are cases of U.S. Military Issued machine guns, grenade launchers, mortar, and shotguns. He’s had at least ten crates of assault rifles and more boxes of handguns than I’ve ever seen. This guy could have outfitted an entire army.”
“Wonder why he wanted all of them—” Allie glared at Garth as he cut her off and continued to talk to Tango as if she wasn’t there.
“Probably gun-running and selling them. The government should have records matching the serial numbers.” Garth weaved through the boxes, side-stepping toward the working agents. “I doubt he would use them for anything he was dealing with. Human trafficking and drugs might need a few guns for safety, but not this type of haul.” Garth walked over to the next locker while agents removed the crates of guns and loaded them on trucks. “How about the ammunition?”
“Oh yeah, no one has counted it yet, but we have a significant amount of various types of ammunition.” Tango nodded his head but waited for any further responses. Short and sweet was the order of the day!
“You think! Guns wouldn’t be much good without the ammunition.” Allie sneered at Garth. “Unless you know a new way of firing them.”
Tango raised an eyebrow at Allie, but he continued to direct his conversation to Garth. “The next two lockers are smaller but worth plenty. One had gold bars, and the other had stacks of money. Poppa said he thought the money was a combination of real issued currency and counterfeit. Might be some plates in there too.”
“Make sure you get the U.S. Treasury on it right away.” Garth whistled at the amount of gold and currency. “Amazing.”
“On it already.” Tango pointed at the last locker. “This one has got me guessing. It’s a temperature-controlled cooler. Most of the boxes are labeled Novartis Manufacturing—Injectable chemotherapy. There are cases of saline and empty vials as well.”
“Some of these boxes are addressed to Dr. Copeland. Why would Mason have them?” Garth examined the unopened boxes and checked the inside of the locker.
“Cassidy said—” Allie spoke, and Garth turned to walk away. She grabbed his arm. “I don’t know what I did, but you need to listen to me.”
Garth stopped walking but remained with his back to Allie, taking a deep breath. When he turned to face her, he offered a crooked smile. “You are right. My personal feelings shouldn’t taint my professional ones. I apologize.” He stretched the palm of his hand toward Allie. “The floor’s yours.”
Allie raised her eyebrow and smirked. “Thank you.” She moved over to one stack of boxes and read the label. “As I was saying, Cassidy said she had questioned Mason about the shipments just before her arrest for his wife’s murder. She said he was furious that she’d learned about them.”
“That still doesn’t tell us why he had them. It only says he didn’t want anyone to know it.” Garth turned to Tango. “Send someone over to Copeland’s office and find out what he knows about the boxes being in this storage locker. Maybe Mason was just holding them for him, though I doubt it.”
“There can’t be that many people in the area getting chemo. Of course, we know there’s Faith—” Allie gasped. “Garth, why would Mason have medicine meant to save Faith’s life?”
“I strongly doubt that he would. Tango, get over to the sheriff’s office and find out if Sofia or Miguel can shed any light on the shipments. Mason was up to something, and my guess is it was no good.”
“Today is Thursday. Doesn’t Dr. Copeland visit Faith every Thursday?” Allie moved to Garth’s side. “Maybe we should let Darryl know about it.”
“Everything is just suspicions. We need some concrete information before we rattle cages.” Garth looked at her and gave her his first decent smile of the day. “Nice catch. Though I’m not positive what Mason thought he could accomplish with the shots.”
An agent hurried toward the trio. “Hey, Garth, there’s a desk buried behind the boxes of paperwork and stuff in the first locker. We found this locked chest in the drawer.”
“Break it open. Let’s see what’s in it.” Garth waited while the agent found a screwdriver and a hammer. A few hits with the hammer and the box splintered, leaving the lock intact. “Hit it again.”
The front of the lid separated from the box, and the agent opened the chest. All eyes peered at what was inside.
Allie pointed at the faded brown paper. “That looks like the map we found in Jack’s safe. So Mason knew about the gold.”
“Could explain his interest in Sweet Haven. Between the ideal situation for running drugs and the gold, it was a sweet find for Mason.”
“These look like copies of birth certificates, boss.” The agent studied the papers.
Garth reached for them. “Let me see them.” One quick glance, and he added, “So Mason knew about Liz and Faith. Made it trickier for him to get the land.”
“That’s it! That’s the connection.” Allie shouted and struck Garth’s bicep with her fist.
“What? I’m not following.” Garth stared at Allie. “What do Faith and Liz have to do with Mason?”
“If he knew they were sisters, then he knew he would have to get the land from both of them. Liz was easy. He figured out if she thought Sweet Haven was cursed, she’d leave after Jack’s death.”
“Okay, but how would he get Faith to leave or sell him the property. Is that what Annie’s kidnapping was about?” Garth pondered the thought. “Since Faith is so sick, I doubt she would want to move anywhere.”
“You are right. She wouldn’t want to move. The cottage was perfect for her and the family.”
“Mason would have to wait for her to die—” Garth didn’t finish his sentence. He grabbed his phone and dialed Darryl’s number, hugging Allie as he waited for the foreman to answer. “You are brilliant, Allie. He’d have to hasten her death.”
“By stealing her chemo injections? Dr. Copeland could order more if his shipment never arrived.” Allie stared, confused, at Garth.
On Thursday, while Dr. Copeland tended to Faith, Darryl, Annie, and Sebastian played outside. Today was the first time since the kidnapping, and the threesome enjoyed a game of tag. Sebastian jumped and barked as Annie squealed and ran from Darryl’s grasp.
“Hold on, Annie. Let me answer my phone.” He pulled the cell from his jean pocket. “Hello.”
“Darryl, it’s Garth. Have you taken Dr. Copeland to the cottage yet?”
“Yup, we’re there right now. Playing a game of tag while the doctor’s busy inside.” Annie and Sebastian ran circles around Darryl while he talked on the phone.
“Listen to me. Don’t let Copeland administer the shot until I get there.”
“What’s going on, Garth. Doc’s been doing this for the last year. It’s nothing new.”
“Just stop him, Darryl. Do you hear me?” Garth snapped as he raced toward his vehicle, with Allie running at his side. He slipped the key into the ignition and started the Jeep, slamming it into reverse. “Get in there. Now!”
Allie hopped into the car and slammed the door. “Why don’t you want Dr. Copeland to give Faith her shot?”
“Remember all those boxes of saline and vials? I also saw several boxes labeled Atomic Number 81—Zinc blend.” Garth pounded his fist against the steering wheel. “It meant nothing to me at first, but then I remembered a case I read. A nurse slowly poisoned a Russian spy. Atomic Number 81 is the generic name for Thallium.”
Garth rounded the corner sharply, and the Jeep leaned, tossing his passenger against the door. “Are you trying to kill me?” Allie snapped.
“No, but we’ve got to get those chemo shots from Copeland. I don’t know his involvement, but if I’m guessing correctly, someone is adding Thallium to Faith’s treatments.”
“What is it? I don’t understand.”
“It’s a very slow-acting poison. Because it’s odorless and tasteless, it is almost undetectable when given in small doses. It causes loss of hair, low potassium, lots of typical signs of having cancer.”
Allie screamed, “Oh my God, instead of helping Faith, the doctor is killing her? But why?”
“Not the doctor. It was Mason. It’s all a theory right now, but I think he was replacing part of the chemo vials with saline and thallium and then shipping them to the doctor. Every time he treated Faith, he was administering a dose of poison.”
Allie grabbed the roll bar. “Can’t you drive this thing any faster?”
“Hang on.” Garth pushed the pedal to the floor and sped down the highway toward Sweet Haven.
Allie prayed, “Maybe, just maybe, it’s not too late for Faith.”
NOTE: I want to thank you for continuing to follow my story. I appreciate all your support. It's been quite a trip, but there is one last chapter after this one, and I hope I have tied up all the loose ends and leave you yelling, "More." If you notice that I might not have covered something, I would appreciate it if you let me know before I post the final chapter. Thank you, and have a great day!
Tango didn’t like the furrowed eyebrows and fierce look on his boss’s face as he watched Garth and Allie approach the lockers. “Hey, Boss.” He nodded at Allie. “Nice to see you, Allie.”
Garth’s response was cool and clipped, “Let’s drop the small talk and tell me what you’ve found.” Garth stepped around Tango and peered into one of the open lockers.
“Right.” Tango’s eyes widened in surprise. He glanced at Allie, and she shrugged her shoulders. Everyone got the message; Garth was all business this morning. Tango added, “We’ve got it categorized, photographed, and the guys are boxing it after your inspection.”
“Good. Anything surprising?” Garth read the labels on the boxes. “Taxes, photos, paperwork, and ledgers. You probably want to ship those to accounting, and they can pass them on to the right departments. How many years do you think they go back?”
“At least twenty. I don’t think this guy let one slip of paper out of his hands.” Tango glanced at Allie over his shoulder and then back to his boss.
Garth rolled his eyes. “She’s just along for the ride.” He gave an icy stare to Allie and continued, “Just keep filling me in. What’s in the next one?”
“Looks like guns to me.” Allie chimed, “Wow, he’s got boxes of every—”
“Tango.” Garth interrupted Allie’s comment. “What did you find?”
“You name it! Mason had it, boss. We haven’t counted them yet, but there are cases of U.S. Military Issued machine guns, grenade launchers, mortar, and shotguns. He’s had at least ten crates of assault rifles and more boxes of handguns than I’ve ever seen. This guy could have outfitted an entire army.”
“Wonder why he wanted all of them—” Allie glared at Garth as he cut her off and continued to talk to Tango as if she wasn’t there.
“Probably gun-running and selling them. The government should have records matching the serial numbers.” Garth weaved through the boxes, side-stepping toward the working agents. “I doubt he would use them for anything he was dealing with. Human trafficking and drugs might need a few guns for safety, but not this type of haul.” Garth walked over to the next locker while agents removed the crates of guns and loaded them on trucks. “How about the ammunition?”
“Oh yeah, no one has counted it yet, but we have a significant amount of various types of ammunition.” Tango nodded his head but waited for any further responses. Short and sweet was the order of the day!
“You think! Guns wouldn’t be much good without the ammunition.” Allie sneered at Garth. “Unless you know a new way of firing them.”
Tango raised an eyebrow at Allie, but he continued to direct his conversation to Garth. “The next two lockers are smaller but worth plenty. One had gold bars, and the other had stacks of money. Poppa said he thought the money was a combination of real issued currency and counterfeit. Might be some plates in there too.”
“Make sure you get the U.S. Treasury on it right away.” Garth whistled at the amount of gold and currency. “Amazing.”
“On it already.” Tango pointed at the last locker. “This one has got me guessing. It’s a temperature-controlled cooler. Most of the boxes are labeled Novartis Manufacturing—Injectable chemotherapy. There are cases of saline and empty vials as well.”
“Some of these boxes are addressed to Dr. Copeland. Why would Mason have them?” Garth examined the unopened boxes and checked the inside of the locker.
“Cassidy said—” Allie spoke, and Garth turned to walk away. She grabbed his arm. “I don’t know what I did, but you need to listen to me.”
Garth stopped walking but remained with his back to Allie, taking a deep breath. When he turned to face her, he offered a crooked smile. “You are right. My personal feelings shouldn’t taint my professional ones. I apologize.” He stretched the palm of his hand toward Allie. “The floor’s yours.”
Allie raised her eyebrow and smirked. “Thank you.” She moved over to one stack of boxes and read the label. “As I was saying, Cassidy said she had questioned Mason about the shipments just before her arrest for his wife’s murder. She said he was furious that she’d learned about them.”
“That still doesn’t tell us why he had them. It only says he didn’t want anyone to know it.” Garth turned to Tango. “Send someone over to Copeland’s office and find out what he knows about the boxes being in this storage locker. Maybe Mason was just holding them for him, though I doubt it.”
“There can’t be that many people in the area getting chemo. Of course, we know there’s Faith—” Allie gasped. “Garth, why would Mason have medicine meant to save Faith’s life?”
“I strongly doubt that he would. Tango, get over to the sheriff’s office and find out if Sofia or Miguel can shed any light on the shipments. Mason was up to something, and my guess is it was no good.”
“Today is Thursday. Doesn’t Dr. Copeland visit Faith every Thursday?” Allie moved to Garth’s side. “Maybe we should let Darryl know about it.”
“Everything is just suspicions. We need some concrete information before we rattle cages.” Garth looked at her and gave her his first decent smile of the day. “Nice catch. Though I’m not positive what Mason thought he could accomplish with the shots.”
An agent hurried toward the trio. “Hey, Garth, there’s a desk buried behind the boxes of paperwork and stuff in the first locker. We found this locked chest in the drawer.”
“Break it open. Let’s see what’s in it.” Garth waited while the agent found a screwdriver and a hammer. A few hits with the hammer and the box splintered, leaving the lock intact. “Hit it again.”
The front of the lid separated from the box, and the agent opened the chest. All eyes peered at what was inside.
Allie pointed at the faded brown paper. “That looks like the map we found in Jack’s safe. So Mason knew about the gold.”
“Could explain his interest in Sweet Haven. Between the ideal situation for running drugs and the gold, it was a sweet find for Mason.”
“These look like copies of birth certificates, boss.” The agent studied the papers.
Garth reached for them. “Let me see them.” One quick glance, and he added, “So Mason knew about Liz and Faith. Made it trickier for him to get the land.”
“That’s it! That’s the connection.” Allie shouted and struck Garth’s bicep with her fist.
“What? I’m not following.” Garth stared at Allie. “What do Faith and Liz have to do with Mason?”
“If he knew they were sisters, then he knew he would have to get the land from both of them. Liz was easy. He figured out if she thought Sweet Haven was cursed, she’d leave after Jack’s death.”
“Okay, but how would he get Faith to leave or sell him the property. Is that what Annie’s kidnapping was about?” Garth pondered the thought. “Since Faith is so sick, I doubt she would want to move anywhere.”
“You are right. She wouldn’t want to move. The cottage was perfect for her and the family.”
“Mason would have to wait for her to die—” Garth didn’t finish his sentence. He grabbed his phone and dialed Darryl’s number, hugging Allie as he waited for the foreman to answer. “You are brilliant, Allie. He’d have to hasten her death.”
“By stealing her chemo injections? Dr. Copeland could order more if his shipment never arrived.” Allie stared, confused, at Garth.
On Thursday, while Dr. Copeland tended to Faith, Darryl, Annie, and Sebastian played outside. Today was the first time since the kidnapping, and the threesome enjoyed a game of tag. Sebastian jumped and barked as Annie squealed and ran from Darryl’s grasp.
“Hold on, Annie. Let me answer my phone.” He pulled the cell from his jean pocket. “Hello.”
“Darryl, it’s Garth. Have you taken Dr. Copeland to the cottage yet?”
“Yup, we’re there right now. Playing a game of tag while the doctor’s busy inside.” Annie and Sebastian ran circles around Darryl while he talked on the phone.
“Listen to me. Don’t let Copeland administer the shot until I get there.”
“What’s going on, Garth. Doc’s been doing this for the last year. It’s nothing new.”
“Just stop him, Darryl. Do you hear me?” Garth snapped as he raced toward his vehicle, with Allie running at his side. He slipped the key into the ignition and started the Jeep, slamming it into reverse. “Get in there. Now!”
Allie hopped into the car and slammed the door. “Why don’t you want Dr. Copeland to give Faith her shot?”
“Remember all those boxes of saline and vials? I also saw several boxes labeled Atomic Number 81—Zinc blend.” Garth pounded his fist against the steering wheel. “It meant nothing to me at first, but then I remembered a case I read. A nurse slowly poisoned a Russian spy. Atomic Number 81 is the generic name for Thallium.”
Garth rounded the corner sharply, and the Jeep leaned, tossing his passenger against the door. “Are you trying to kill me?” Allie snapped.
“No, but we’ve got to get those chemo shots from Copeland. I don’t know his involvement, but if I’m guessing correctly, someone is adding Thallium to Faith’s treatments.”
“What is it? I don’t understand.”
“It’s a very slow-acting poison. Because it’s odorless and tasteless, it is almost undetectable when given in small doses. It causes loss of hair, low potassium, lots of typical signs of having cancer.”
Allie screamed, “Oh my God, instead of helping Faith, the doctor is killing her? But why?”
“Not the doctor. It was Mason. It’s all a theory right now, but I think he was replacing part of the chemo vials with saline and thallium and then shipping them to the doctor. Every time he treated Faith, he was administering a dose of poison.”
Allie grabbed the roll bar. “Can’t you drive this thing any faster?”
“Hang on.” Garth pushed the pedal to the floor and sped down the highway toward Sweet Haven.
Allie prayed, “Maybe, just maybe, it’s not too late for Faith.”
NOTE: I want to thank you for continuing to follow my story. I appreciate all your support. It's been quite a trip, but there is one last chapter after this one, and I hope I have tied up all the loose ends and leave you yelling, "More." If you notice that I might not have covered something, I would appreciate it if you let me know before I post the final chapter. Thank you, and have a great day!
Garth’s response was cool and clipped, “Let’s drop the small talk and tell me what you’ve found.” Garth stepped around Tango and peered into one of the open lockers.
“Right.” Tango’s eyes widened in surprise. He glanced at Allie, and she shrugged her shoulders. Everyone got the message; Garth was all business this morning. Tango added, “We’ve got it categorized, photographed, and the guys are boxing it after your inspection.”
“Good. Anything surprising?” Garth read the labels on the boxes. “Taxes, photos, paperwork, and ledgers. You probably want to ship those to accounting, and they can pass them on to the right departments. How many years do you think they go back?”
“At least twenty. I don’t think this guy let one slip of paper out of his hands.” Tango glanced at Allie over his shoulder and then back to his boss.
Garth rolled his eyes. “She’s just along for the ride.” He gave an icy stare to Allie and continued, “Just keep filling me in. What’s in the next one?”
“Looks like guns to me.” Allie chimed, “Wow, he’s got boxes of every—”
“Tango.” Garth interrupted Allie’s comment. “What did you find?”
“You name it! Mason had it, boss. We haven’t counted them yet, but there are cases of U.S. Military Issued machine guns, grenade launchers, mortar, and shotguns. He’s had at least ten crates of assault rifles and more boxes of handguns than I’ve ever seen. This guy could have outfitted an entire army.”
“Wonder why he wanted all of them—” Allie glared at Garth as he cut her off and continued to talk to Tango as if she wasn’t there.
“Probably gun-running and selling them. The government should have records matching the serial numbers.” Garth weaved through the boxes, side-stepping toward the working agents. “I doubt he would use them for anything he was dealing with. Human trafficking and drugs might need a few guns for safety, but not this type of haul.” Garth walked over to the next locker while agents removed the crates of guns and loaded them on trucks. “How about the ammunition?”
“Oh yeah, no one has counted it yet, but we have a significant amount of various types of ammunition.” Tango nodded his head but waited for any further responses. Short and sweet was the order of the day!
“You think! Guns wouldn’t be much good without the ammunition.” Allie sneered at Garth. “Unless you know a new way of firing them.”
Tango raised an eyebrow at Allie, but he continued to direct his conversation to Garth. “The next two lockers are smaller but worth plenty. One had gold bars, and the other had stacks of money. Poppa said he thought the money was a combination of real issued currency and counterfeit. Might be some plates in there too.”
“Make sure you get the U.S. Treasury on it right away.” Garth whistled at the amount of gold and currency. “Amazing.”
“On it already.” Tango pointed at the last locker. “This one has got me guessing. It’s a temperature-controlled cooler. Most of the boxes are labeled Novartis Manufacturing—Injectable chemotherapy. There are cases of saline and empty vials as well.”
“Some of these boxes are addressed to Dr. Copeland. Why would Mason have them?” Garth examined the unopened boxes and checked the inside of the locker.
“Cassidy said—” Allie spoke, and Garth turned to walk away. She grabbed his arm. “I don’t know what I did, but you need to listen to me.”
Garth stopped walking but remained with his back to Allie, taking a deep breath. When he turned to face her, he offered a crooked smile. “You are right. My personal feelings shouldn’t taint my professional ones. I apologize.” He stretched the palm of his hand toward Allie. “The floor’s yours.”
Allie raised her eyebrow and smirked. “Thank you.” She moved over to one stack of boxes and read the label. “As I was saying, Cassidy said she had questioned Mason about the shipments just before her arrest for his wife’s murder. She said he was furious that she’d learned about them.”
“That still doesn’t tell us why he had them. It only says he didn’t want anyone to know it.” Garth turned to Tango. “Send someone over to Copeland’s office and find out what he knows about the boxes being in this storage locker. Maybe Mason was just holding them for him, though I doubt it.”
“There can’t be that many people in the area getting chemo. Of course, we know there’s Faith—” Allie gasped. “Garth, why would Mason have medicine meant to save Faith’s life?”
“I strongly doubt that he would. Tango, get over to the sheriff’s office and find out if Sofia or Miguel can shed any light on the shipments. Mason was up to something, and my guess is it was no good.”
“Today is Thursday. Doesn’t Dr. Copeland visit Faith every Thursday?” Allie moved to Garth’s side. “Maybe we should let Darryl know about it.”
“Everything is just suspicions. We need some concrete information before we rattle cages.” Garth looked at her and gave her his first decent smile of the day. “Nice catch. Though I’m not positive what Mason thought he could accomplish with the shots.”
An agent hurried toward the trio. “Hey, Garth, there’s a desk buried behind the boxes of paperwork and stuff in the first locker. We found this locked chest in the drawer.”
“Break it open. Let’s see what’s in it.” Garth waited while the agent found a screwdriver and a hammer. A few hits with the hammer and the box splintered, leaving the lock intact. “Hit it again.”
The front of the lid separated from the box, and the agent opened the chest. All eyes peered at what was inside.
Allie pointed at the faded brown paper. “That looks like the map we found in Jack’s safe. So Mason knew about the gold.”
“Could explain his interest in Sweet Haven. Between the ideal situation for running drugs and the gold, it was a sweet find for Mason.”
“These look like copies of birth certificates, boss.” The agent studied the papers.
Garth reached for them. “Let me see them.” One quick glance, and he added, “So Mason knew about Liz and Faith. Made it trickier for him to get the land.”
“That’s it! That’s the connection.” Allie shouted and struck Garth’s bicep with her fist.
“What? I’m not following.” Garth stared at Allie. “What do Faith and Liz have to do with Mason?”
“If he knew they were sisters, then he knew he would have to get the land from both of them. Liz was easy. He figured out if she thought Sweet Haven was cursed, she’d leave after Jack’s death.”
“Okay, but how would he get Faith to leave or sell him the property. Is that what Annie’s kidnapping was about?” Garth pondered the thought. “Since Faith is so sick, I doubt she would want to move anywhere.”
“You are right. She wouldn’t want to move. The cottage was perfect for her and the family.”
“Mason would have to wait for her to die—” Garth didn’t finish his sentence. He grabbed his phone and dialed Darryl’s number, hugging Allie as he waited for the foreman to answer. “You are brilliant, Allie. He’d have to hasten her death.”
“By stealing her chemo injections? Dr. Copeland could order more if his shipment never arrived.” Allie stared, confused, at Garth.
On Thursday, while Dr. Copeland tended to Faith, Darryl, Annie, and Sebastian played outside. Today was the first time since the kidnapping, and the threesome enjoyed a game of tag. Sebastian jumped and barked as Annie squealed and ran from Darryl’s grasp.
“Hold on, Annie. Let me answer my phone.” He pulled the cell from his jean pocket. “Hello.”
“Darryl, it’s Garth. Have you taken Dr. Copeland to the cottage yet?”
“Yup, we’re there right now. Playing a game of tag while the doctor’s busy inside.” Annie and Sebastian ran circles around Darryl while he talked on the phone.
“Listen to me. Don’t let Copeland administer the shot until I get there.”
“What’s going on, Garth. Doc’s been doing this for the last year. It’s nothing new.”
“Just stop him, Darryl. Do you hear me?” Garth snapped as he raced toward his vehicle, with Allie running at his side. He slipped the key into the ignition and started the Jeep, slamming it into reverse. “Get in there. Now!”
Allie hopped into the car and slammed the door. “Why don’t you want Dr. Copeland to give Faith her shot?”
“Remember all those boxes of saline and vials? I also saw several boxes labeled Atomic Number 81—Zinc blend.” Garth pounded his fist against the steering wheel. “It meant nothing to me at first, but then I remembered a case I read. A nurse slowly poisoned a Russian spy. Atomic Number 81 is the generic name for Thallium.”
Garth rounded the corner sharply, and the Jeep leaned, tossing his passenger against the door. “Are you trying to kill me?” Allie snapped.
“No, but we’ve got to get those chemo shots from Copeland. I don’t know his involvement, but if I’m guessing correctly, someone is adding Thallium to Faith’s treatments.”
“What is it? I don’t understand.”
“It’s a very slow-acting poison. Because it’s odorless and tasteless, it is almost undetectable when given in small doses. It causes loss of hair, low potassium, lots of typical signs of having cancer.”
Allie screamed, “Oh my God, instead of helping Faith, the doctor is killing her? But why?”
“Not the doctor. It was Mason. It’s all a theory right now, but I think he was replacing part of the chemo vials with saline and thallium and then shipping them to the doctor. Every time he treated Faith, he was administering a dose of poison.”
Allie grabbed the roll bar. “Can’t you drive this thing any faster?”
“Hang on.” Garth pushed the pedal to the floor and sped down the highway toward Sweet Haven.
Allie prayed, “Maybe, just maybe, it’s not too late for Faith.”
NOTE: I want to thank you for continuing to follow my story. I appreciate all your support. It's been quite a trip, but there is one last chapter after this one, and I hope I have tied up all the loose ends and leave you yelling, "More." If you notice that I might not have covered something, I would appreciate it if you let me know before I post the final chapter. Thank you, and have a great day!
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