Deadly Escape: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (Shelby Nichols Adventures Book 11)

by Colleen Helme

  “Of course,” I said, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.

  She directed Chris and me to take our places at the table. Uncle Joey sat at the head of the table, with Jackie on one side, and me and Chris on the other.

  The rest of the group quickly filled in, with Ricky and his fiancée in the center. Nick Berardini was there with his date, along with most of the others that I knew from Uncle Joey’s organization. The only person missing was Ramos, but I caught from Uncle Joey that Ramos was too busy in a back room, watching the surveillance cameras and running the operation, to join us.

  I picked up that Uncle Joey had briefed his people about the circumstances, but none of them seemed overly concerned. They all had weapons and figured they’d have plenty of warning if something came up. In fact, it kind of shocked me that some of them were even looking forward to all the excitement.

  While the waiters, four in all, took our drink orders, I opened my mind as wide as I could and did my best to listen to all the people I could see in the restaurant. I scanned them, a few at a time, starting on my left, and following the room around to my right.

  Luckily, I was seated against the wall, where I had a clear view between the pillars. Even though I couldn’t see everyone, I could hear them just fine. Uncle Joey and Chris left me alone, speaking to others and giving me some space to do my job.

  I only paused once to place my order and to take a few gulps of my diet soda. There were two choices for dinner, and I ordered the chicken parmesan, while Chris asked for the lasagna. Knowing that was his favorite, I gave him a quick smile and went back to my job of listening to everyone in the room, including the waiters. By the time our food came, I’d managed to hear something from just about everyone there.

  I’d picked up enough to know that a table to the left side of us held four members of Deputy Gerard’s team, while two other tables scattered through the restaurant had at least two agents each.

  Jim Falzone strolled through the restaurant, asking people how they were enjoying their food, while keeping a watchful eye on the patrons for anything out of the ordinary. I picked up that he was not about to let anything happen to Uncle Joey at his restaurant.

  With all the people involved in securing the area, I couldn’t imagine anyone being crazy enough to attack Uncle Joey. It was too public and carried a serious risk of hurting more people than were in Uncle Joey’s organization. If Leo tried anything, it might be later, after dinner was over. I’d have to be sure to mention that to Uncle Joey.

  Letting out a breath, I relaxed enough to eat some of my food, but I didn’t actually taste it, since I was too busy keeping an eye out for newcomers. I did my best to scan their minds as soon as they sat down and, so far, I hadn’t picked up anything to indicate an attack.

  “How are you doing?” Uncle Joey asked, breaking my concentration. He wanted to know if I’d spotted anything suspicious.

  “So far, so good,” I replied, hoping he’d get the message.

  He gave me a cautious nod, thinking that, as much as he didn’t want anything bad to happen, he still hoped Leo would show up. He was tired of this game of cat and mouse and wanted it to end. As the waiters cleared our table, Jim approached to speak with Uncle Joey.

  I picked up that there was an accident in the kitchen concerning a waiter who’d slipped while carrying several plates of food. They’d crashed on the floor and made quite a mess. It caused a commotion, but he’d taken care of it, and everything was back to normal. That sort of thing happened occasionally, so he wasn’t too concerned, but he wanted Uncle Joey to know.

  Uncle Joey murmured his thanks and told him to continue with the rest of our meal. With a gracious smile on his face, he resumed his duties of the attentive host and turned his attention to Ricky and his fiancée. After several toasts were made to the happy couple, the waiters brought out our dessert.

  My mouth watered at the double-chocolate brownie smothered in ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce and a cherry. After everyone was served, I couldn’t decide if I should use my fork or a spoon. I grabbed my spoon and scooped up a bit of chocolate perfection.

  As I brought the spoon toward my mouth, I caught an unmistakable rush of satisfaction coming from someone near the serving area. He was thinking that he’d done it, and soon, every one of us would be dead.

  I caught the man’s gaze, and panic sent my heart into my throat. I jumped to my feet. “Stop! It’s poisoned! Don’t eat it!”

  I glanced around the table. A few people had spoons raised to their lips. All at once, everyone dropped the spoons like they were on fire. I turned my attention to Chris, and my heart stopped. He’d already taken a bite. With widened eyes, he spit the remaining food out of his mouth and grabbed his glass of water.

  He rinsed his mouth and spit onto his plate several times. I glanced at the others and realized that Jackie was doing the same thing. Uncle Joey ordered someone to call the paramedics, and I grabbed Chris’s arm to steady him.

  “Did you swallow any of it?”

  “Maybe a little, but I spit most of it out,” he said, his breathing ragged. “Do you know what kind it was?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “He was thinking it was bitter, so it wouldn’t be as noticeable in the dark chocolate sauce, but that’s all I got.” I also picked up that he thought it was a horrible way to die, but I kept that to myself.

  Chris nodded and slumped back in his chair. “I think I’m fine.” He took another deep breath, but his face turned a shade of red that I didn’t like, and little drops of perspiration popped out on his forehead and his upper lip.

  His breathing turned shallow, and he clutched the chair in obvious discomfort.

  “Chris?”

  “I’m okay. Just a muscle cramp.” He scooted his chair back and then leaned over, holding his stomach. I grabbed a napkin and poured some water on it, then held it to his forehead. A moment later, he sat back, breathing heavily, and his face a pasty white color.

  “Has anyone called the paramedics?” I shouted, panic clawing through my stomach.

  “Yes,” Nick Barardini said. “They should be here any minute.” He knelt beside Jackie, speaking to her with comforting tones. Uncle Joey had his arm around her to steady her, but she had a hard time catching her breath, and dread washed over me.

  I glanced at Chris. He was thinking that he had hardly swallowed any of it, but his stomach began to ache and cramp up in pain. Then he thought that this had better not kill him. He didn’t want to die and leave me or the kids. On that thought, a sudden weakness slipped over him, and he found it hard to take a breath.

  “Chris. No. You have to stay with me. You have to.” I knelt beside him, clutching his arm. Tears clouded my vision, but I forced them away. I couldn’t fall apart now. He needed me.

  Several paramedics rushed through the restaurant to our table. Two of them came to my side, setting down their equipment.

  “What’s going on?”

  “He’s been poisoned,” I said. “He may have swallowed some of it, but he spit most of it out.”

  They quickly checked his pulse and vital signs, then slipped an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. They were thinking he was in respiratory distress and experiencing short muscle spasms, which were likely to turn into convulsions.

  My face went numb, and my vision clouded. As they worked on Chris, taking off his jacket and starting an IV, I glanced at Uncle Joey. He held Jackie in his arms. Her eyes were clenched shut with pain, and her pale face had an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. She seemed to be trembling, or were those convulsions? With Uncle Joey’s help, they lifted her onto a waiting gurney.

  “Ma’am?” the paramedic said beside me. “Do you know what kind of poison it was?”

  I shook my head. “No…only that it was something bitter.”

  He didn’t ask me how I knew that, and turned his attention back to Chris. Both men helped Chris onto a gurney, and I grabbed his hand, holding onto him for dear life. He squee
zed back, his eyes open, and breathing easier. Seeing him conscious and aware helped push back the panic, but I had to let go of his hand as they took him down the stairs. I hurried after them through the restaurant and to the waiting truck.

  In a rush, they loaded Jackie inside first, then pushed Chris in beside her. I wanted to climb inside, but there wasn’t enough room for me. The driver told me to meet them at the hospital and then closed the doors. The other paramedic ushered Uncle Joey to the passenger seat of the ambulance. A moment later, the engine started and they drove off, sirens blazing.

  “Shelby?” Ramos came to my side, and I threw my arms around him with a silent sob. “Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

  “Wait. Did they get him? If we know what kind of poison it was…”

  “No. He got away.” Ramos clenched his jaw with anger and frustration.

  “Damn!” I stomped my foot and tried to hold back the tears.

  “He won’t get far,” Ramos said. “Last I heard, they were in pursuit. They should have him in custody soon.”

  I nodded and held onto him while he led me to his car. A moment later, he helped me inside and closed the door. He got in the driver’s side, and we pulled out of the parking lot.

  With my mind clouded by panic, I had a hard time thinking straight, but I picked up Ramos’s worry and guilt. He couldn’t understand how Leo had gotten past his security measures. He’d messed up, and now both Jackie and Chris were paying the price.

  “It’s not your fault,” I said. “You did everything right. No one suspected poison.”

  “Maybe not. But I should have thought of it.” He’d thought Leo might use a bomb, or a gun, but never poison. He glanced at me, thinking that if I hadn’t been there, everyone would have died. “Did Chris swallow any of it?”

  “Some, but he spit most of it out, so he should be okay.”

  “What about Jackie?”

  “She looked about the same. She might have swallowed some too, but I don’t know.”

  “Did you get a good look at Leo?” he asked.

  “Yeah…I did. He was standing by the serving area, just after they brought the dessert out.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “He wore the same clothes as the servers, white shirt, black apron, and a name tag. His hair was light brown, and he wore heavy, dark framed glasses. It could have been a disguise. But in his thoughts…he was…thrilled that his plan had worked and everyone would die. Did you see him?”

  “I think I remember that guy, but I didn’t put it together. After you warned everyone about the poison, I tried to find him, but I couldn’t see him in the confusion. I ran from the surveillance room and rushed toward the kitchen.

  “Several of the deputies had done the same thing, and we all ran out of the kitchen exit to see a van drive off. Gerard’s men took off after him, and I ran to my car. That’s when I saw them loading Jackie and Chris into the ambulance.”

  He was going to chase after Leo, but he couldn’t leave me standing there alone to watch the ambulance drive away, so he came to my aid instead.

  “They’ll catch him,” Ramos said to reassure me. “Right now we need to make sure that Jackie and Chris are all right.” He was grateful that no one else had been poisoned, but he wished it hadn’t been Jackie and Chris. How would Manetto handle it if he lost Jackie? What about me?

  “They’re going to be fine,” I said. “We have to believe that.”

  Ramos reached over and took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Of course. I’m sure they will.”

  I didn’t pick up anything from him after that and knew he’d closed off his thoughts. Probably because he didn’t want me to know he had his doubts that they’d survive. A lump formed in my throat, and I had to push those thoughts away. Chris had only swallowed a little. He was going to be fine.

  We pulled up next to the emergency entrance. The ambulance had already arrived, and they were just taking Chris and Jackie inside. “Go,” Ramos said. “I’ll park the car and see you inside.”

  I scrambled out of the car and ran to the entrance. I caught sight of Uncle Joey following the gurneys through some swinging doors and hurried to catch up. On the other side, both Jackie and Chris were taken into separate, curtained areas, and a team of medical personnel swarmed around them.

  I stopped at the foot of Chris’s gurney. A nurse helped him stand, and I quickly moved to his side to help him onto the ER bed. He laid his head back, and I helped shift his feet onto the bed. Before he was settled, a doctor rushed to his side. The doctor examined him while a nurse set up his IV and hooked him up to a machine.

  “Is he going to be okay?” I asked. The doctor glanced at me, thinking I must be the patient’s wife. I nodded. “Yeah. I’m his wife.”

  “He’s stable for the moment. We’ll know more after some tests.” He was thinking that it would help if he knew exactly what kind of poison it was. The quicker they used an antidote, the higher the chances of survival.

  “If it helps,” I said. “It might have been something that had a bitter taste. Something the dark chocolate would mask.” I’d also picked an image up from Leo of someone jerking with spasms, and in excruciating pain, but I didn’t know how to tell the doctor that. But maybe I could suggest it?

  His brows rose. “How would you know that?”

  “Uh…Chris told me it tasted bitter. Right, honey?”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, his answer barely audible through the mask.

  “Okay,” the doctor said. He was thinking that fit with the symptoms.

  “And he’s had a few muscle spasms,” I added, hoping that gave him more to go on.

  “That helps. I’ll be back shortly.” He decided to give Chris charcoal, since he hadn’t started convulsing yet, and he could take it orally. Then he’d get him started on a muscle relaxant for his tremors. But from what I’d said, along with the symptoms, he was pretty sure both patients had been poisoned with strychnine.

  I didn’t know much about strychnine but, from the doctor’s thoughts, I picked up that even a small amount could kill without quick treatment. Even then, it wasn’t a sure thing.

  My stomach clenched with alarm. Oh no. That didn’t sound good. Chris didn’t look like he was dying, so it couldn’t be that bad, right? Before I could move closer to him, a nurse came in to draw blood. Then another came to his other side and hooked him up to a blood pressure machine.

  Since I couldn’t get closer to him while they did that, I glanced across the room to where Jackie lay. Uncle Joey stood by while they hooked her up to a machine and made her swallow something. She barely managed to get it down before she began to shake. The doctor shouted some instructions, and they gave her something that calmed her jerky movements.

  But he was thinking that she was in a lot of trouble, and they were doing everything they could to save her life. My heart raced. This was bad. I picked up that he planned to do the tests to make sure it was strychnine, but he needed to begin aggressive treatment now. If she survived the next six to twelve hours, she would pull through.

  I glanced at Chris. Luckily, he didn’t seem to be doing as badly as Jackie, but I knew he wasn’t out of the woods either. A nurse hurried into Chris’s stall, carrying a small cup filled with dark liquid. “You need to drink this,” she told him. “It doesn’t taste the best, but it will help.”

  He removed the oxygen mask and took the cup. After a couple of swallows, he grimaced, then managed to finished it off. As he handed the cup back to the nurse, his hand began to shake, then his whole body trembled with short muscle spasms.

  The nurse shouted for the doctor, and we both held Chris down, worried that he was going to fall off the bed. Several medical personnel rushed into the cubicle. They pushed me aside and worked on Chris while the doctor shouted instructions.

  I watched with horror and helplessness for what seemed like ages until his tremors subsided. Relieved, the doctor gave them a few more instructions, then turned to me. He didn’
t like the odds, but he wasn’t about to give up. There was still a good chance that Chris would survive.

  He didn’t know my name, but he wanted to offer me what comfort he could, especially since my face had gone white, and I looked shaken and scared. “We’re treating him for strychnine poisoning. If he can make it through the next little while, he’ll be fine. You need to know that we’ll do everything we can to make sure he survives, but I can’t guarantee it. He needs to be monitored in a quiet, dark place, so I’m having a room prepared for him.”

  He glanced toward Jackie and continued, “For both of them. If you’ll wait outside, I’ll send someone for you once he’s settled in a room.”

  “Okay,” I said, glancing toward Chris. “But I just need to see him once more.” He nodded, and I hurried to Chris’s side. They’d put a breathing tube down his throat, and he lay there, quiet and still. I swallowed the lump in my throat and squeezed his hand.

  “Chris…I’m here. I love you. Listen to me…you’re going to be fine.” I pulled his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles. “You’re going to get through this.” I swallowed before continuing. “They’re going to move you to a room, so I have to go, but I’ll be back. Stay with me, all right? Promise me you’ll stay.”

  I listened closely to his mind, hoping to pick up that he’d heard me, but it was quiet, just like the rest of him, and I knew he was in a deep, drug-induced sleep.

  The nurse came to my side. “Sweetie, we’re moving him now. We’ll come and get you as soon as he’s settled.”

  I nodded and placed his hand back on the bed. I heard her thoughts of how sorry she felt for me, so I slammed my shields tight. I didn’t want to feel her pity, or hear how sorry she was that I was going to lose my husband. He wasn’t going to die. He would make it. The doctor thought he had a chance, so I would too.

  Chapter 11

  I stepped away from Chris’s bed, and glanced to the other side of the room where Jackie lay. They were moving her bed too, and one of the nurses urged Uncle Joey to step out to the waiting area, just like they’d asked me, and I knew he didn’t want to leave any more than I did.