Chapter 1 - The Chemical Proof
I did not touch the pill.
Instead, I placed it carefully into a small, sterile plastic bag from the kitchen first-aid kit.
Gabriel arrived at the dining room less than five minutes after my call.
My head of security was a man built like a fortress, silent and ruthlessly efficient.
I handed him the plastic bag without a single word of explanation.
"Take this to Dr. Aris immediately," I ordered.
"Tell him to run a full toxicological screen, and I want the results before midnight."
Gabriel nodded once and disappeared into the shadows of the estate.
I turned my attention back to Elena and her extraordinary five-year-old daughter.
Sophia was currently coloring a new picture on the back of a menu card.
"Elena, you and Sophia will not return to your quarters tonight," I said quietly.
Elena's hands trembled as she pulled her daughter a little closer to her side.
"Are we in danger, sir?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Anyone who breathes the air in this house might be in danger," I replied honestly.
I moved them into the secure guest suite directly adjacent to my own master bedroom.
The doors were solid steel, disguised behind expensive mahogany panels.
I locked them inside with enough food and water to last for two days.
Then, I sat in the darkness of my office and waited for the phone to ring.
At eleven forty-five, Gabriel's encrypted line lit up my desk console.
"It is potassium chloride mixed with a highly concentrated digitalis derivative," Gabriel said grimly.
"If you had swallowed that, your heart would have stopped within twenty minutes."
"The coroner would have ruled it a natural, tragic complication of your known arrhythmia."
A cold, dark fury began to spread through my chest, freezing the blood in my veins.
Victor Salvatore had planned the perfect, untraceable murder.
May you like
He had smiled at me, handed me my death, and told me to rest well.
But he had not accounted for a little girl who paid attention to the sound of plastic.
