Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Alisa gasped, his words echoing around her head in a confusing blur. "Are you serious?"

"I'm afraid so," Dr. Grayson replied gravely.

"Her condition has been going on for ten days," she said, trying to make sense of what he'd just said.

"And it gets better, then worse, as if she's being repeatedly dosed."

"That's true. When she first came into the hospital, she was in terrible shape, but with IV fluids and rest, she got better. You're saying she didn't get better because of those things…"

"The fluids may have helped, but perhaps it was also because of a lack of exposure to the toxin."

"What kind of poison are you talking about?" Jason asked. "I'm not just Alisa's friend; I'm also an FBI agent. If her mother is being poisoned, we need to find out who's doing it and how."

"It could be something she inhaled or ingested," Dr. Grayson said, his tone cautious. "Given how her symptoms have fluctuated, I'd suspect it's something introduced into her environment—food, drink, maybe even something in the air. I'd like to move her out of this room, restrict visitor access, and ensure that anything she's consuming has been kept in sterile conditions. "

"Oh, my God," she murmured. She turned away from the doctor and opened her mother's door. Her mother was asleep in her bed, so she stepped quietly into the room, searching for contaminants.

Dr. Grayson and Jason came in behind her.

"The flowers," Jason said sharply. "Who brought those?"

"Henry brought the vase on the dresser. I don't know who brought the other one next to the bed. My mother said it was there when she woke up yesterday. We both assumed it was from my father." She started forward, but Jason called her back.

"Don't touch anything," he said. "What about food? Has she eaten anything from outside the hospital?"

"I don't know. She hasn't been hungry. I brought her cookies yesterday, but she only took one bite. Henry brought her the chocolates last night, but I'm not sure if she ate one."

"Let's go into the hall," Jason said.

When the door closed behind them, she turned to the doctor. "What do we do in terms of treatment?"

"I'll get more insight into that after we get the results of her next blood work. In the meantime, I want to flush her system out and hydrate her to get rid of the toxins as soon as possible. I think some have already left her system, which is why her numbers have improved. Whatever she was given was not enough to…" His voice faded away.

"Kill her?" she finished, feeling shocked that someone could want to kill her mother, to kill her.

"Yes," he replied grimly.

"So, if we make sure she doesn't eat anything or breathe anything that could be toxic, she should recover."

"I believe so, but I have to caution you not to get too far ahead, Alisa. I'll run another blood panel later today and see where her numbers are. In the meantime, I think we should take steps to isolate her and control her environment. I want to move her to the sixth floor, where we have more stringent protocols in place. "

The sixth floor was where they treated highly infectious patients and also VIPs who needed more security. All rooms were cleaned to a higher level of standards, and the nursing staff worked under a stricter protocol for food delivery and visitor access. "That's a good idea," she said. "How soon can we do that?"

"It will probably take about twenty minutes to ready the room, but I'll make it happen as soon as possible," he said.

"Thank you. I don't want her to stay in this room a minute longer than necessary."

"She's doing better, so whatever it was, it's no longer having a strong effect on her. However, I don't want her to eat or drink anything in the room. If you can make sure that happens, that would be helpful."

"I'd like to take things a step further and get security during the transfer and stationed outside her room upstairs," Jason said. "I'll talk to hospital security and my team as well."

"Whatever you feel is necessary," the doctor replied, glancing at his watch. "We'll do her next blood work at five and should have the results around seven. That will tell us if her numbers are going in the right direction. I hope to consult with another physician later today. In the meantime, it's fine if your mother sleeps. Her body needs rest to recover."

"Thank you so much," she said. As Dr. Grayson left, she looked at Jason. "What do you think?"

He gave her a sober look. "You and your family are caught in the middle of something, and we need to figure it out fast. Which brings me to your father…"

"I know. We need to find him."

"You're not going to like this next question, Alisa."

"Then maybe don't ask it," she said quickly, feeling overwhelmed.

He gave her a sympathetic look, but he pressed on. "Is there any chance your father could have been involved? The poison had to start somewhere—before she got to the hospital. How long was she sick before you brought her in?"

"About a week. Her symptoms fluctuated. She'd feel sick, then better. It was a strange pattern, but now it makes more sense. My father is the one who brought her in on Monday, so he couldn't have been the one who was poisoning her."

"When was the last time you saw your father or that he was with your mother?"

"I saw him Tuesday evening. When I went to her room after my shift on Wednesday, she told me he'd gone out of town. I don't know when she last saw him, but it might have been Tuesday as well. As I mentioned before, she made light of his absence. Since she was doing much better, I wasn't that concerned until everything else happened."

"Got it. Do you live with your parents?"

"No. I have an apartment a few miles from here. It's just the two of them in the house." She paused, realizing another disturbing fact. "We can't go to her house and look for poison because the house caught fire. Do you think that's why?"

"Possibly. It would make sense to destroy the evidence. The way the toxin is being used—it’s calculated," Jason said, his voice hardening. "Whoever’s behind this is keeping her on the edge, making sure she’s sick but not killing her outright. It’s deliberate, and that makes it even more dangerous."

She could see the wheels turning in his head, but she didn't know where he was going. "What does that mean to you?"

"It feels like someone is threatening her life, holding her hostage in a way, and I think that ties to the one person who isn't here."

"My dad," she said with a sigh. "It's not like him to be gone. He and my mother are so in love with each other, it's almost unbelievable. After thirty years together, they still have all the passion, the fire, and the trust. They never go anywhere without the other. Which is why I don't understand where my father is, why he would let her suffer without being here to comfort her. Do you think you could use your FBI resources to find him?"

"Yes. I'm also going to get a forensics team over here to go through your mother's room after she's moved upstairs. Have you felt ill while you've been with her?"

"No…I've been tired, but the past few days have been stressful."

"What about the man you mentioned—Henry? Who is he?"

"Dr. Henry Cavendish. He's a good friend of my parents. He runs a medical research lab in the building next door. His team's focus is oncology."

"When did he meet your parents?"

"It was about ten years ago at a high school science fair. Henry's son was in my father's class."

"Your father is a teacher?"

"Yes. He's been teaching high school biology forever. And when he met Henry, he found a friend who also loved science. Henry's wife, Jill, and my mother got along well, too. They were a foursome until Jill died several months ago. Anyway, Henry wouldn't do anything to hurt my mother." She frowned. "There were two vases of flowers in her room, though. I assumed my father had given her the other, but maybe it was someone else."

"We'll check out the flowers and everything else. Let me make some calls, get things going, and we'll talk after that. I'd rather you wait out here than in your mother's room."

"I can't leave her alone in there."

"Alisa, you need to stay as healthy as you can. Otherwise, you won't be able to help her or your father. She's improved. It's most probable that whatever she was exposed to has dissipated or hasn't yet been consumed again. But you need to be careful."

"I won't touch anything, but I'm going to stay with her until she's moved. If there's no danger to her, there's none to me."

He didn't look happy at her response, but he gave a quick nod of resignation and walked away. She opened the door and walked into her mother's room .

The first thing she did was open the window. It would only open a few inches for security reasons, but the small crack allowed some air to flow into the room.

Then she moved to her mother's bed and checked her monitor. Her pulse, heart rate, and oxygen saturation were stable. Her mother was sleeping peacefully.

She was careful not to touch anything. She didn't even want to sit back down in the chair. So, she stood watch over her mother, wondering what the hell her family was mixed up in and what fresh horror might come next.

Two hours later, Jason had his team working in a half-dozen different directions. Alisa's mother had been moved into a new room upstairs, where the air had been tested for toxins and every surface had been wiped down and sterilized. In the room that Pamela had left, a forensic team was still conducting tests to determine where she might have been exposed to a toxin.

Flynn had volunteered to speak to the fire investigator about the fire at the Hunts' home and would send an agent there to see if there was anything salvageable.

Savannah and Nick were still trying to trace Novikov's route after leaving the fast-food restaurant. And Beck was looking into Dan Hunt.

Victor Kashin still wasn't talking, but he would be transferred from the hospital to a holding cell later this afternoon.

There were a lot of balls in the air, and Jason was happy to see his new team jumping in wherever he needed them. But they were still a long way from figuring out why Novikov was in LA, what he planned to do, and how they could stop him.

When he walked down the hall to Pamela's new room, he saw a security guard outside her door. After showing his badge, he entered the room and found Alisa with her mother. Pamela seemed to be confused by the move, but she was more alert than she had been previously, which would hopefully give him a chance to ask her some questions.

Alisa gave him a tired smile. She looked as ragged as he felt. Neither one of them had showered or changed out of their dusty clothes, and he didn't know about her, but he had some aches and pains that were getting worse as the day went on.

But there was no time to rest or think about any of that. It was now almost four o'clock in the afternoon on Thursday, and Novikov had arrived in town on Tuesday night. That was almost forty-eight hours, an amount of time in which he could have done many things and met with many people. Unfortunately, there had been no sightings of him and no chatter in any of the underground networks. But he was somewhere, and he was planning something, and hopefully finding out more about the Hunt family would provide vital clues.

"What have you learned?" Alisa asked as she stood up.

"An orderly wearing a mask delivered the vase of flowers next to the bed," he replied. "No one on the hospital staff could identify him, and the security footage of him didn't reveal his face. He was in the room no more than two minutes and left about fifteen minutes before you arrived yesterday."

"So, the flowers were poisonous?" she asked.

"Wait—what?" her mother interjected, surprise in her gaze. "What are you talking about?"

"You haven't filled her in yet?" he asked.

"I was just about to," Alisa said.

"Fill me in on what?" Pamela asked as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, but she was still so weak, she immediately slid back against the pillows. She struggled again to sit up.

"Mom, just rest," Alisa said.

"No. I need you to talk to me, Alisa," she said firmly, getting herself upright again. "What's going on?"

"Dr. Grayson believes your symptoms are because of some type of toxic exposure or poison," she said .

Pamela's eyes widened. "What on earth? Are you serious? Someone has been poisoning me? How is that possible?"

"That's what we're trying to find out, Mom. That's why we moved you to this room. It's been cleaned and sterilized. There's a guard outside the door. And no one will come in or out without us knowing. We're going to limit outside food as well until we know what's going on."

"I can't believe this." Pamela's gaze moved to him. "You said you were Alisa's friend, but I can't remember your name."

"Jason Colter. I'm not just Alisa's friend; I'm an FBI agent."

"Oh," she said, her gaze turning wary. "I see. Did you make my daughter eat something?"

"Not yet, but I will," he said, giving her a smile. "First, I have some questions for you."

"I don't think I have any answers. I can't believe someone would poison me. And I got sick at home, so…"

"It would have had to start there," he said. "Were there any visitors to the house before you started feeling ill?"

"I don't know. I can't remember. The last week is fuzzy in my mind."

"Let's start with your husband then," he said. "Where is he?"

"He went to see a friend."

"The name of the friend?"

"Greg Palmer," Pamela said. "I don't have his address or phone number."

"How about a city or state?"

"Um. I think it was Florida, maybe Miami. I don't know. I wasn't thinking clearly when Dan left, but he assured me he'd be back as soon as he could. And I shouldn't worry about anything."

"Unfortunately, you have a lot to worry about," he told her.

Her gaze darkened. "Not about my husband. If you're suggesting he poisoned me, you're completely off base. He loves me, and I love him. He would never hurt me."

"But he's not here, and Alisa says his phone is off. He's completely unreachable when you are very ill. Surely, you can see why that raises doubts about his disappearance."

"He didn't disappear; he left," Pamela said stubbornly, showing the same fighting determination he'd seen in her daughter's eyes.

"Mom," Alisa interrupted. "Jason is right. Dad is missing. And unless you can give us more details or a way to reach him, the FBI is going to look for him."

"There has to be a mistake. I couldn't have been poisoned. I don't want the FBI to get involved in this because of me."

"It's not just you, it's also me," Alisa told her mother.

Pamela's eyes filled with worry as she looked at Alisa. "What do you mean?"

"The cuts on my hand and arm, the dirt on my clothes—I was in an accident, Mom. Someone tampered with the brakes on my car. If Jason hadn't been driving, I wouldn't have survived."

"Oh, my God," Pamela whispered, her hand going to her mouth in horror. "When?"

"Today." Alisa drew in a deep breath. "I don't want to stress you out even more, but you need to know what's going on because then you'll understand why we need to find Dad. Last night, after I left your room, someone attacked me in the parking garage."

"Oh, no," Pamela said, shaking her head. "This can't be. What happened?"

"I thought he wanted my car, but he was trying to get me into the vehicle. Jason caught him and arrested him. He can't hurt me anymore, but obviously, he has friends who can. He was under arrest when someone did something to my brakes."

"This is unbelievable. You should have told me sooner, Alisa."

"I was going to tell you this morning, but you weren't doing well." She paused and drew in another breath. "There's one more thing, Mom. Jerry called me earlier."

"Jerry, my neighbor? "

"Someone set fire to your house. I haven't seen the damage, but he said it's significant."

Her mother's skin turned so white that Alisa gave the monitor a quick look, then said, "Do you want some water?"

"I—I don't know," her mother said somewhat breathlessly. "I can't believe what you're telling me. It feels like a horrible dream."

"I wish it was, Mom. The last thing I wanted to do was dump all this on you now, but your life is in danger, and so is mine. Maybe Dad's, too. We have to find him. Do you know where he is?"

"I don't," she said, her gaze moving from Alisa to him. "I'm sorry, but I don't. He didn't give me any more information. He said he'd be in touch soon, and I believe him. I don't know what else to tell you."

There was a sincerity and a fear in Pamela's eyes that suggested she was telling the truth. "Okay," he said. "I believe you, Mrs. Hunt. Let's talk about the week before you got sick. You said you don't remember visitors, but did your husband get any phone calls he seemed concerned about? Did his behavior change in any way? Was he worried? Was he home or away at unusual times? Did he take any money out of the bank?"

He could see her demeanor stiffen with every question.

"Please," she said, putting up a hand. "I'm so tired and confused. Can we do this later?"

"Maybe we should do this later," Alisa said, giving him a worried look.

"Just think for a minute," he told Pamela. "I'm sorry to press you, but I want to protect you and Alisa, and I don't know how much time we have."

"Okay. You're right," Pamela said. "Let's see. Dan got worried when I became ill. I heard him on the phone with Henry once, and he seemed upset about something. I didn't know if he was just worried about me or if there was another matter. I remember hearing him raise his voice, and he rarely did that. He's normally very soft-spoken."

"Did you ask Henry about it?"

"No. But Henry asked me where Dan was last night, and he seemed concerned, too, that he was out of touch." Pamela paused, her gaze troubled. "I feel like he said something else, but I can't remember what it was. Anyway, I told Henry the same thing I told you, that Dan was confident he'd be back soon, and everything would be fine."

"If only we could tell him we were in trouble, so he'd come back now," Alisa said, with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I'm sure he would come if he knew," Pamela said. "How are you going to be safe tonight, Alisa? Maybe you should stay here with me."

"We'll put Alisa in a safe house," he said. "She'll be more comfortable there, and I'll make sure she's protected."

"Will you make sure? Didn't you promise me you'd make her eat today? Has that happened?" her mother asked with a tart note in her voice.

"Mom, he's not responsible for me eating. I can take care of myself," Alisa said.

"But I will make sure she eats tonight," he assured Pamela, needing to get this woman to trust him.

"You better take care of my girl," Pamela said. "I'd do it myself if I could."

"I believe you would."

"I'll think about your questions," Pamela added. "Maybe I'll remember more after I take a nap. I'd like to rest before the nurse comes back to stab me with more needles. And you need to get something to eat, Alisa."

"All right. I'll check in with you later," Alisa said, leaning over to kiss her mom on the cheek. "I love you, and I'm going to make sure you get better."

"I love you, too. Please be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you, Alisa. "

"Don't worry about me. Just rest. We'll talk again later."

"It's all going to work out, Alisa. Your dad will return, and everything will go back to normal. You'll see."

Alisa didn't look like she believed her mother any more than he did, but she just nodded and followed him out of the room and into the hallway.

As they stood outside her mother’s door, Jason clenched his fists, resisting the urge to pull Alisa into his arms. She looked exhausted, fragile—everything in him screamed to comfort her, but he knew he couldn’t cross that line. He could, however, keep his promise to her mother.

"Let's get you something to eat," he said.