Chapter 9
Christian frowned at Nathan then released a lengthy breath. He hadn’t meant to let the cat out of the bag, especially at a time like this, but lack of sleep, blood and nutrition had just about rendered him brain dead. “Yes. Tiffany’s my life mate.”
Nathan glanced up and harrumphed. “That woman never misses a trick. Mia has been telling me for years the two of you were destined to be life mates, which gives me confidence Tiffany will survive.”
That comment shocked him speechless. He blinked at him for several moments then said, “She couldn’t possibly know that. I didn’t figure it out until very recently.”
The look he returned was cagey. “When Mia makes it her mission to pray for someone, she doesn’t let up. You’ve been a spiritual project of hers for years, due to the affection she developed for you when you cared for her after her own turning and Danielle’s.” He paused there and hunched a shoulder. “I thought she’d missed the mark on this one, regarding you and Tiffany, because it’s very unusual for a vampire to take so long to recognize his or her life mate.”
Christian glanced down and cleared his throat. Nathan was right. Generally, a vampire’s sixth sense aided him or her in identifying their life mate almost immediately once they’d met.
Something suddenly occurred to him and he speared Nathan with a sharp look. “Has Mia’s been trying to push us together lately?”
Nathan hunched a shoulder. “I don’t know if I’d put it that way. Helping the two of you discover what was already there was the way she termed it.”
He couldn’t be angry with Mia’s meddling. Deep down he’d known for a long-time Tiffany wasn’t just a passing fancy for him. “I don’t know why it took so long to recognize the truth, Nathan. I guess I had my head up my ass.”
“Maybe, but honestly, I think if you’d realized it ten years ago, you’d still be working on her because, well…she’s a piece of work.”
Christian burst out laughing. “You’ve got that one right.” After she found out what he’d done to her it might be ten more years before he convinced her to accept him as her life mate.
Nathan laughed too. “More than once, I wondered what she might be like vampire if the two of you ever figured things out. Those imaginations made me cringe with dread.”
Christian’s smile widened. “Yeah, I have a feeling my life is about to change in a few dreadful ways once she wakes up, but I’ll happily suffer the consequences.”
It was so good to be talking about Tiffany in the future tense because his mind had been caught up in the reality of her current state far too long. He sighed then confessed to Nathan, “She didn’t not want to become vampire. She let me know that emphatically. I guarantee her awakening won’t be a cheery one.”
Nathan’s brows quirked. “I didn’t know she felt that way or so strongly. I’m not even sure Mia does. That being the case, I’m sure she’ll make a fuss, but the girl isn’t stupid. She’ll realize what you did was necessary to save her life. I wasn’t born vampire and I certainly wasn’t happy to become one, but the troubles of our kind aside, it’s better than death.”
“I just hope Tiffany draws that conclusion sooner than later when she learns the truth.”
Nathan nodded. “Mia will get through to her one way or another, I assure you. No doubt her sisters will be on the case too. You won’t be alone.”
Christian smiled. It was good to have the reinforcements of friends. “I’ll leave you with her for now. There are some matters I need to check on, but I won’t be long.”
Nathan nodded, slid back the ICU door, then went inside.
Christian reached inside the pocket of his lab coat, extracted his cell and called Asa. He was supposed to be flying in tonight from Denver. His best friend answered on the third ring. “Where the hell are you? Noah and I are losing our minds here.”
“The airport. I literally just walked off the plane. I’ll be there soon. How’s Tiffany?”
“Holding her own. The Davenports and her sisters just arrived.”
“Damn it, Christian. I’m so sorry. I’m sure you and Noah are doing everything you can for our patients and Tiffany. We’ll get to the bottom of these poisonings. Keep the faith, brother.”
“Yeah, I’m trying. Just get here.” He ended the call. Christian hadn’t yet told Asa that Tiffany was his life mate, but Asa knew him better than anyone on the planet and understood Tiffany and her family were incredibly important to him.
He and Asa went way back. Their fathers, both doctors, had shared a practice in San Antonio when he and Asa were kids, still did in fact although now it was located in Houston. Their mothers were best friends. Asa was as close as he’d ever come to a brother because they both had been an only child and practically raised together. They’d shared a practice for years and had even gone to med school together the first time around.
He stared at the glass doors of Tiffany’s suite, reluctant to leave her, but his body screamed for rest and a transfusion. “Hang in there, Darlin’. I’ll be back soon.”
Christian made his way to the lab first, hunting Noah. He felt bad Noah was doing all the V clinic patient care and leg work for this Vampire Hemolysis Syndrome because he’d been glued to Tiffany’s side. Thank God Asa would be here soon to take some of the burden off Noah’s shoulders.
When Christian entered the lab, he spotted Noah sitting in front of a microscope, scrawling something on a legal pad. Several patient charts were spread across the surface of his work station.
Noah glanced up and laid down his pen. “How did matters go with Miss Peebles family?”
Christian let out a weary sigh then shrugged. “As expected under the circumstances. They’re all distraught, but with her presently. Betty has her covered for the moment. I have a little time, then I need a transfusion before I get back to her.”
“I understand. You look a little worse for the wear. May I suggest some rest too. Her condition is stable and I’m confident nurse Betty will notify you if anything changes.”
Christian nodded his agreement. He considered Betty his most trusted nurse. She was the clinic and hospital’s DON. Betty had worked for the V clinic twenty two years. Generally, she pulled the twelve hour first shift in the hospital because she had the most training and experience with his kind. Since she created the schedule for the nursing staff in both the clinic and hospital, she placed herself where she wanted, but generally on busy shifts in both areas. He’d noticed she’d pulled several doubles lately. She’d never said a word, but she had to know the V clinic faced crisis, albeit not the specifics. Then of course there was Tiffany. Both were likely reasons why she’d been reluctant to go home. What he wouldn’t give for five more Bettys.
“I was just checking in while Tiffany’s family visits. Any news?”
Noah glanced at the legal pad, his brows creasing with a frown. “I have and it is not good news. Our three VHS patients are worse I’m afraid. I’ve viewed far more ruptured red cells and clumping in the last two blood samples. The toxin levels have decreased, so I can’t fathom why this is happening. As you were tied up with Miss Peebles, I took the liberty of changing their orders from one to two units of blood per day and ordered hemodialysis on each patient hoping to flush out the remaining toxins and infected cells. I wish to ask your thoughts, but before you answer there’s more.”
Christian closed his eyes and inhaled. “Please tell me it’s good news.”
“Sorry. I wish I could. On a hunch I began to run saved blood samples on various patients. Two of the samples present VHS with arsenic and cyanide present as well. Neither of those patients have reported problems, thank God. However, these two women have been poisoned and their babies could be in danger. We have to bring them in and treat them, Christian, but I can’t convey this information over the phone. It would be far too upsetting and I fear the physical repercussions on the mothers. Once they arrive here we can begin treatment and hopefully forestall more miscarriages.”
Christian swiped a palm across his mouth, so sick and tired of this disaster. “Who are they and how many weeks?”
Noah glanced down at the pad, then back at him. “A Mrs. Goodman, your patient, she’s a few days shy of thirty-five weeks and Mrs. Boyd, Asa’s patient who is thirty-two weeks. Both were here last week for a routine checkup, which further proves the dreadful. They encountered it here.”
“Just great,” he muttered, wishing he could plow his fist into something to release some stress, yet too damned tired to do so. “Call them in the morning at a respectable hour and tell them we want to bring them here because we noted an abnormality in their blood work. I agree that you shouldn’t get into details over the phone. Do they live close to the V clinic?”
Noah nodded. “Mrs. Goodman lives in Baton Rouge. Mrs. Boyd resides here in the city. We’ll have to tell them the truth, Christian.”
“I know. Once we see what’s going on with them, we’ll talk to them about how we think they were exposed.”
Five now plus Tiffany had been poisoned. Even if no more incidents occurred and everyone else survived, Christian couldn’t imagine the V clinic not facing multiple law suits over this. He should probably care about that possibility more than he did, but keeping the death toll down was all that mattered presently.
Noah picked up the pen and tapped it on the pad, staring at whatever he’d written.
The poor man appeared as haggard as he, Christian thought, noticing his dark beard coming in much nicer than his own light blonde one. Neither of them had shaved or showered in three days. Noah reeked as bad as he.
Christian heard the door to the lab open and turned. It was Asa. “Well, about time.”
His friend and partner, a big, tall Texan with shoulder length dark, blonde hair and green eyes flashed a wide smile. He wore jeans, cowboy boots and a plaid western shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Denver must have done him good. He appeared, hearty, hale and rested.
Lucky him.
“You two look like shit. Fill me in so I can give the two of you a break.”
“There will be few breaks for any of us until we discover who is behind these poisonings.” Noah stood and tugged at the lapels of his lab coat. “Come look at this so you can view what we’re dealing with. I know Christian has kept you updated. Unfortunately, tonight I discovered two more infected patients, but they’ve reported no problems. I sent the three previous samples to the VCDC, but they wouldn’t have had time to determine whether we are dealing with an isolated incident or something more widespread happening in other facilities. And the three patients we have here, well I’m afraid their condition isn’t much improved.”
“I don’t even know what to say, but shit. For the welfare of others of our kind, I hope we are an isolated incident,” Asa muttered, as he made his way to Noah’s work station. He leaned down and stared into the microscope. After several moments, he straightened. “I’ve never seen anything like this in vampire blood either. However, right now it’s more important to figure out not only who put this into these women’s bodies but why in order to catch the person responsible.” He looked at Noah. “I know you’ve been working on this project around the clock. Any luck with motives?”
“No. I’ve been studying charts for similarities. Aside from Miss Peebles, all received a transfusion and a subcutaneous vitamin booster their last visit.”
Christian nodded. “That leads to the inevitable question, how was Tiffany poisoned? We think we know.”
Noah slipped his hands into his coat pockets. “Asa, each of these persons have consumed food or drink here according to their charts including Miss Peebles. It’s the only common denominator because of course Miss Peebles did not have a transfusion or vitamin booster. As I told Christian earlier today, all of the blood units tested normal as did the vitamin vials. These women ingested the poisons. I can see no other explanation.”
Asa scratched his chin. “Did the nurses chart specific foods or beverages?”
“Mostly. Things such as juices, tea, mineral water, snacks we keep in the break room or cafeteria food. Some entries weren’t as specific. No one person gave all of these patients a beverage or snack. Some were nurses, some aides and kitchen staff for the ones who ate breakfast or lunch here. If the person behind this is part of the nursing staff they may have omitted dietary intakes on purpose. We have to consider that as a very real possibility.”
Christian suppressed a chill imagining one of their nurses or aides doing this horrible thing to their patients. “We have to be more vigilant, gentleman. We either have to crack down on staff’s dietary intake charting or maybe we should just be done with it and quit offering any food or beverages to patients.”
Noah shook his head. “We can’t do that. For one thing it would raise suspicions particularly with the person or persons we want to think we’re still in the dark about what they’ve been doing.” To Asa he said, “Christian probably told you, but we felt it would be in the best interest of our patients and the V clinic as a whole if they perpetrator doesn’t suspect we know the stillbirths were caused by these poisonings. As desperate as we are to catch this person, we can’t risk this information being leaked to staff. It will only cause pandemonium and possibly more incidents if the person responsible feels caged or threatened. They have a purpose and a motive in doing this. Granted an insane one, but nonetheless, I doubt fear of being caught will stop them.”
Christian added, “Noah’s right. Plus our patients have come to expect this amenity. To stop it would become suspect. Maybe the three of us need to ask each patient what they consumed here while we’re visiting with them and who gave it to them. That way if there is another incident we’ll know immediately who our culprit is.”
“Good thinking,” Asa said.
“I believe that’s a good start, but I also think we should run tests on food products. Product tampering on a production level is still a possibility. We all know it’s happened many times in the past,” Noah said.
Asa added, “Well, whatever we do, we’d better come up with something specific damned quick before we have more losses. I’ll get with you on this immediately, Noah. I think you’re right though. The next order of business is to begin testing every food and drink in this entire building. Some nutcase in a manufacturing plant somewhere could be poisoning spaghetti sauce for all we know.”
“I’ll help,” Christian volunteered, his voice a little croaky from shear exhaustion. “Based on Noah’s recent findings, we need answers yesterday. I do know Tiffany ate a burrito from the cafeteria the day she fell ill. We can start with the ingredients in that I suppose, but I doubt we’ll find anything there since other employees would have eaten one too.”
Asa frowned at Christian. “We will get answers. Not you though. You have your hands full and although my tail was on fire trying to get back here, compared to you two, I’m locked and loaded with rest. How’s Tiffany holding up by the way?”
“Nothing’s changed since I spoke with you. Turning her was a giant risk under the circumstances but I had no other options to save her. If this backfires…” He swallowed hard, unable to finish the statement.
Asa stared at him, his expression both studious and sympathetic. “Is she yours?”
The guy knew him far too well, but then he’d been an emotional wreck for days and probably wore them on his sleeve. “Yeah.”
Asa sighed heavily. “I always had a feeling you’d find your woman before I did. Congratulations. That being the case, I can’t believe it would end like this.”
“Thanks. It better not.” He turned and strode out of the lab, his destination the doctor’s lounge for a transfusion and a quick nap before he returned to Tiffany.
A while later when he walked through the open door to her room, he found Mia seated in a chair facing the bed, Nathan in one next to her, but her sisters and Dominic were absent. There was an open Bible on Mia’s lap and she held Nathan’s hand.
“Hello, Christian,” Mia said.
He tried for a warm smile. “Morning. The two of you look like you could use some sleep. Why don’t you both go on home?” They had a refurbished Antebellum in one of the historical districts, which he’d visited a couple times. However, they resided primarily in New York City because Davenport Enterprises corporate headquarters were located there and so was Mia and Julia’s catering business.
Mia frowned and glanced back at Tiffany. “I hate to leave her.”
He crossed his arms and approached her. “You aren’t going to miss anything. She won’t regain consciousness until I allow it.” Christian studied Tiffany’s monitor and was pleased with what he viewed. Her vitals had been good for some time now. The results of her last round of tests, which he’d checked before coming here had revealed a positive reduction of hemolysis in her blood and strong healthy vampire cells. His blood was killing off the infected human cells—the very thing he’d hoped for. She would pull through. He knew it in his heart and soul.
If he could get one more miracle from God, it would be that their VHS vampire patients would respond to their particular treatments as well as Tiffany had.
“I understand. Tiffany will be okay. I’m sure of it.” Mia’s tone was confident, her smile inspiring.
“So am I,” Nathan added, then squeezed his life mate’s hand.
“Yes, she will. I’m not saying that merely as her doctor, but as her life mate and because well, God always answers your prayers. I never thought after all this time I would finally find my mate. From what Nathan said I guess I have you to thank for it. So, I reckon if God answered that prayer, he’ll bring Tiffany back to us.” There were no secrets between life mates. Nathan would have already told Mia what he’d confessed to him in the hall earlier.
Mia smiled with understanding. “Christian, I had very little to do with it actually. God had this planned for both of you before the foundation of the earth. All I did was pray His will for the both of you, which is all anyone can do. She may not see things the way you do yet, but she will. This horrible thing that befell her, that the Enemy meant for her demise, God will use for His glory, I assure you. Just be patient.”
He nodded. “I have been, but it hasn’t been easy. She didn’t want this.” He made a sweeping gesture toward her bed. “She didn’t want to be vampire and she doesn’t want a life with me.”
Mia sighed and stared at her daughter for a few moments.
The honesty cost him pain and tears stung his eyes. True life mates almost always found their way to one another, but it wasn’t always cut and dry. Sometimes circumstances or differences of opinion and thought processes could cause great difficulties between the two people, and years of unhappiness. Depending on how stubborn one or both were, the couple might never come together. And Tiffany was the epitome of stubbornness.
Mia stood and approached him, taking his hand. “Christian you’re wrong. She might not yet know she wants a life with you, but she does. Opening her heart to anyone, especially a man, terrifies her. I’ve watched her watching you for years with doe eyes. She practically worships you, but she has so much pain and bitterness in her soul. You and I have talked about her past numerous times. Her wounds will heal. God will see to it and now she has a reason for them to heal quicker. You.”
“Mia’s right on all accounts,” Nathan said, gaining his feet.
Their words resounded with reasoning and he wanted to believe them more than anything but Tiffany’s determination to avoid a romantic relationship with him detoured hope. “You’re both right. I’m sorry. I should be comforting the two of you right now.” He’d never had such a professional moment of weakness, but Tiffany wasn’t a mere patient and these were two of his closest friends.
Mia still held his hand, squeezed it again and gave him a bolstering smile. “We need to be comforting each other, Christian. God has a plan for both you and Tiffany. Together. She will live and she will love you the way you deserve one day soon.”
He smiled. “From your lips to God’s ears.” He’d said those same words to her once before about his unmated situation and apparently she recalled that day many years ago because she laughed softly and winked.
“We’re going home now. However, if her condition should change, I expect a call immediately.”
“Of course. She has approximately thirty more hours before the turning is complete. If her blood work continues to look good, late tomorrow I’ll bring her out of the coma and remove the ventilator.”
Mia nodded, glanced over him and frowned. “Well, get some sleep if you can. It’s apparent you need it.”
After Mia and Nathan left, Christian went to the doctor’s suite to shower and get ready for the long day ahead. Asa and Noah were sequestered in the lab running tests and scouring charts for clues that might to lead them to some definitive conclusions. That left him to do as many monthly exams as time allowed, while checking in on Tiffany every chance he received.
Fortunately, some or all family members would be at her bedside to watch over her since he couldn’t.
Around dark that evening, he sent her family home and settled into a chair beside Tiffany’s bed with a pillow and blanket. Sometime later a noise woke him and when he looked up Mia and Nathan stood on the other side of Tiffany’s bed. Mia held her hand.
He blinked at the clock on the wall across the room, shocked it was a bit after seven in the morning. Finally, he’d gotten a decent night’s sleep but he could have done without the crick in his neck.
Christian stood and rubbed a small knot at the base of his skull. “Morning.”
“How is she?” Mia asked.
He felt bad because he didn’t know details, but he knew she’d had a good night or Betty would have woken him. Actually, she looked much improved. Her coloring was healthy, her vitals still strong. “Holding her own. I think I can safely say she’s going to be back to her old snarly self in no time.”
Nathan chuckled.
Mia heaved a sigh. “I can hardly wait for her to open her eyes. Thank you, Christian. For everything you’ve done to bring her through this.”
He heard the door open. Chelsie walked in followed by Danielle, Dominic and his parents, Julia and Dimitri Chauvinski. All wore grim expressions as they gathered around her bed, but tears welled in Julie’s bright green eyes then streamed down her cheeks. The couple must have just arrived in New Orleans.
“Oh, Mia, Nathan, I am so sorry, my Darlings.” Julie swallowed hard and looked at Christian. “How is she, Cher?”
Julia had been a patient of his for years, she and Dimitri close friends for most of those and Nathan even longer to the couple. He offered her a bolstering smile. “Much better. In fact I’ll remove her breathing tube later today.”
“That’s great news,” Chelsie said, then shared a smile with Danielle and Dominic.
“Mia told Julia she had been poisoned. Do you know how it happened?” Dimitri asked. His silver eyes flickered with concern.
Christian shook his head. “My partners and I are still playing detective, with no success. Unfortunately, aside from Tiffany, at least five of our patients were also poisoned within this last week.”
Mia gasped. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry, Christian. I can’t even imagine what you must be going through.”
Everyone offered their condolences. Christian thanked them. “I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but I want to make sure none of you consume anything here unless it’s from vending machines. At least until we know how all these women came in contact with these poisons. This cocktail of poisons is far more devastating to the human body, than to our species, but it’s affecting our babies. We’re terming this thing the Vampire Hemolysis Syndrome or VHS. The infected mothers’ blood work shows signs of a human condition called hemolysis which are ruptured red blood cells due to excessive fluid buildup. Vampires are supposed to be immune to the toxic chemicals causing this, but for some reason they’re not. We’ve yet to figure out why.”
Chelsie cleared her throat. “Could there be another drug or chemical agent the tox screen failed to reveal which would result in hemolysis?”
Christian offered Chelsie a tired smile, happy to know she’d be a part of the V clinic team very soon. “It’s a possibility. We’ve sent blood samples to the Vampire Center of Disease Control for more advanced testing and to match up our troubles here with any other medical facilities possibly facing this. Bottom line is we just don’t know much yet. The only thing we know for sure is these women and Tiffany didn’t poison themselves and it’s highly likely someone in this building is responsible.”
“Obviously, some sick psychopath around here hates women or vampires in general,” Nathan snarled.
“I hadn’t considered that but you could be right. We’re talking about patients who live hundreds or thousands of miles apart. Why them? They’re pregnant vampires. Why Tiffany? She’s human. All I know for certain is this started the day Tiffany arrived. I’m not saying she has anything to do with it, but I can’t rule out the coincidence. I can’t rule out anything.”
Something akin to fear passed across Nathan’s face. He glanced at Mia and mind spoke to her for several moments.
“Oh, God no Nathan!” Mia exclaimed, palming her mouth.
This didn’t sound good. “You two wanna share?”
Nathan inhaled deeply then his violet eyes rolled toward the ceiling. “It’s possible this is my fault. I’ve been at odds with a certain real estate competitor for several years now. Nothing out of the ordinary in my arena. However, he had me trailed by a P.I. recently. I’m afraid he’s discovered I’m vampire and he’s been causing some trouble.”
Christian rubbed a hand across his forehead, confused. “How?”
Mia scowled at her husband, then supplied the answer. “You know Nathan is an old-world feeder. He got caught in the act, but didn’t know it. So of course, he didn’t void the witness’ memories. Pictures were taken and this nasty person has been blackmailing Nathan. He’s threatening to post those pictures online and take them to the media if Nathan refuses to meet his demands.”
“He’s threatened some more violent measures as well,” Nathan added, then faced Mia with apology-ridden features. “I didn’t want to alarm you, but he’s threatened the family.”
Christian shot Nathan a hot look. “Damn it, Davenport, why can’t you take transfusions like a civilized vampire?”
Nathan returned one in kind. “If this incident with Tiffany and your patients involves this man I will ferret it out, and trust me, the human will end up in the Amazon, the honorary guest of a very hungry cannibal tribe.”
Christian chuckled. So, did the others, but the light mood was short lived with the tragedy surrounding them. “It’s very unlikely this competitor of yours is the culprit, Nathan. The chances of anyone infiltrating our practice is next to impossible. Hell, like you, we mind test every employee. Aside from our natural abilities, vampire medical practitioners are very adept at covering their asses. To the outside world, we’re here to treat human OB/GYN patients. We abide by the letter of human law in every aspect so rarely do we have to deal with a nosey Nellie from some government agency. If and when we do, we deal with them like any vampire owned business. We mine their thoughts and delete anything there that could have a negative impact on the true nature of our practice.”
“But obviously, someone has infiltrated the V clinic or this wouldn’t be happening,” Chelsie pointed out.
“I know it seems that way and I suppose anything’s possible, which is why we’re examining multiple options of contact such as an outside food or beverage source that may have been recalled due to tampering at a manufacturing level.”
Dominic interjected, “Hopefully, you’ll get to the bottom of this soon, but nothing can be ruled out when you’re dealing with the caliber of people Nathan and I often deal with. When a person’s resources are unlimited and their need for revenge insatiable, that becomes a recipe for disaster.”
Christian studied the young vampire’s stern features. He was nearly a carbon copy of Dimitri except his jet hair was styled into a spiked, trendy cut and his eyes were the same vibrant emerald green as his mother’s.
By trade, Dominic was head attorney for Davenport Enterprises, but actually his role was far more complex. In a nutshell, he did Nathan’s dirty work. He put the kibosh on any person, government entity or situation that chaffed Nathan’s privileged ass or those in his inner circle.
Nathan’s enemies were legendary. Everyone in this room had nearly been killed by Nathan’s sire, Isabella, so he needed to give credence to the man’s line of thinking. Lives were at stake. “Okay. Say this competitor of yours is behind all of this. Tiffany’s misfortune I can understand, but why would this clinic be a target? Wouldn’t he want to hit closer to home. Meaning Nathan himself?”
Mia supplied that answer, prefaced by a sharp huff. “Christian, you may think you understand our lives, but no offense, you couldn’t conceive it. I can’t tell you how many threats we’ve had such as this to our family and friends. Those awful people make our lives a living hell. Dominic has been extraordinarily dedicated to keeping this family safe. Still it never ends.”
Nathan took her hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“Stop it,” she said and pulled away. “I signed up for this with full knowledge of your crazy and have never had a day’s regret. Irritation, plenty. And for the record I’m not too happy with you right now.”
Nathan laughed. “You never cease to amaze me. I guess my professional life is a bit outrageous at times.” His expression grew sober. “But if it affects our kids, causes any one of them or you to suffer harm, I-I’m not sure I could live with that.”
Mia stepped forward and regained her husband’s hand. “We will deal and overcome like we always do.”
Nathan pulled her into his arms and planted a heavy-duty kiss on her lips. Christian sighed heavily because this conversation needed to get back to the issue at hand—Tiffany. “Do you two mind? There is a killer at large and we need a direction to head immediately.”
Mia pulled away from the intimate embrace and faced him with a determined expression. “Yes, we do, Christian. This awful thing needs to stop. What can we do to help?”
“Nothing that hasn’t already been suggested.”
Nathan glanced at Tiffany with a troubled frown. “Years ago, I would have had every member of this family under guard every hour of every day if it were up to me, but Tiffany’s fought me tooth and nail for years. Chelsie argued her way out of it too and since she’s been residing on campus at Harvard until recently, Mia and I felt she was relatively safe. However, in the advent of this, all bets are off.” He gave Chelsie a firm look. “Both you and Tiffany, in fact the whole family will be under guard until whoever is behind this is dealt with.”
Chelsie adjusted her glasses and pursed her lips. “I don’t like it, but I won’t argue. If someone’s trying to hurt our family and going so far as to take it out on Christian’s patients and my sister, I understand the necessity.”
Christian’s gaze darted from one serious face to another in the room. He could easily believe Nathan the catalyst in the insanity ruling the clinic and Tiffany’s close call with death. The notion infuriated him. If Nathan’s business dealings had caused all of this for Tiffany and his patients…well that might be a pill Christian could never swallow. “How do you plan to find out if this business competitor is in fact behind all of this?”
He’d asked Nathan the question, but Dominic answered, “All criminals leave fingerprints if you will. I’ll start digging a little deeper with the slime bag Nathan and I have in mind immediately, but should you or your partners discover anything that might lead you to believe someone here responsible, let me know. I’ll do whatever I can to help you nail them.”
Danielle who had been silent, wearing a troubled expression throughout the conversation, smiled at her husband and took his hand. “Dominic won’t fail you, Christian, or our family. If this person is related to Nathan, Dominic will find out.”
Others in the room chimed in with agreements. Christian said nothing, but he too felt confidence in Dominic. He’d always been driven and successful in whatever he put his hand to. Christian was grateful for any help he could get.
His gaze slid back to Tiffany. Good luck, Dominic, he thought. Whether he found the person responsible for this or not, Christian wouldn’t rest until the person who tried to kill Tiffany paid in spades.