The ambulance arrived eleven minutes later.

Mara protested until the paramedics threatened to carry her out.

“You caught a fall from a second-floor balcony,” one of them told Adrian. “You’re getting checked too.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re limping.”

Adrian looked down.

He was.

He hadn’t noticed.

Vanessa stood at the base of the staircase with her arms folded, watching the paramedics strap Mara onto a stretcher.

She looked less frightened now.

More annoyed.

That bothered Adrian more than anything.

As Mara was wheeled toward the doors, she grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t leave her alone in the study.”

Vanessa heard.

Her mouth twisted. “I’m standing right here.”

Mara did not look at her.

Adrian leaned close. “Why?”

“Because the papers may not be gone.”

“What does that mean?”

But the paramedics were already moving.

Adrian looked back at Vanessa.

She smiled faintly.

“We need to talk.”

“Yes,” he said. “We do.”

At the hospital, doctors found no broken bones in Mara. A badly bruised hip, a strained shoulder, cuts, and shock.

Adrian had a sprained wrist and deep bruising.

He considered that a bargain.

At 1:14 a.m., while Mara slept behind a curtain in the emergency department, Adrian’s phone rang.

Unknown number.

He nearly ignored it.

Then he answered.

“Mr. Cole?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Dr. Samuel Larkin. I treated your mother before she died.”

Adrian stood.

“What is this about?”

A pause.

“I called you twice after her death.”

“I never got those calls.”

Another pause.

“That concerns me.”

Adrian stepped into the hallway.

“What did you want to tell me?”

Dr. Larkin’s voice dropped.

“Your mother’s death was unusual.”

Every sound in the hospital seemed to disappear.

“What do you mean?”

“She was found with extremely low blood pressure, confusion, and neurological symptoms. The hospital diagnosed a stroke because imaging suggested one had occurred.”

“But?”

“But there were compounds in her blood that should not have been there.”

Adrian’s grip tightened around the phone.

“What compounds?”

“I don’t want to discuss specifics over the phone. I kept copies of her lab results because something about the case bothered me.”

“Why are you calling now?”

“I received an email tonight.”

“From who?”

“I don’t know.”

Dr. Larkin exhaled.

“It contained one sentence.”

Adrian waited.

The doctor read it.

“‘Eleanor Cole did not die naturally, and the person responsible is about to do it again.’”

Adrian looked through the glass at Mara sleeping in the hospital bed.

Then his phone buzzed with a text from his home security system.

MOTION DETECTED: ELEANOR COLE STUDY.

Adrian opened the live camera.

The feed showed a dark figure standing in front of the open safe.