by Diane Hoh
Asking no further questions, the attendants took the red box with them when they drove away with the patients.
Sam, Trudy, and Tess followed the ambulance in Sam’s car. They were sitting in the now familiar waiting room when the parents of the victims began rushing in.
“Tess,” her father demanded when he arrived, “what is going on? What’s happened to your brother? And where were you when it happened?” He was, as always, impeccably dressed in tan slacks and a pale blue sweater. His thick white hair was perfectly in place. And his blue eyes were as cold as ice.
“I was there,” she answered defensively. “And to answer your next question, it wasn’t drugs or booze. It was probably brownies.”
Thick, white eyebrows aimed for the sky. “Brownies?”
“Trudy had a box of them at the party. Everyone who ate them got sick,” Tess elaborated, sinking back into her orange plastic chair.
“Are you talking about ptomaine poisoning?” he demanded. “Who made these brownies?”
“I guess they were a gift,” she said vaguely. “Only we don’t know who from. From whom. There wasn’t any card on the box. Trudy said she found it sitting on the picnic hamper.”
The other parents had joined Tess and her father and were listening intently to every word. Mrs. Beecham, wearing a very expensive-looking but outdated black dress and black shoes with worn heels, hovered on the edge of the group as if unsure of her welcome. Beak’s parents, whose formal clothing told Tess they’d probably been enjoying a Saturday night at the Country Club, looked concerned, and Sam’s father, in golf clothes, stood beside his son, looking annoyed.
“Are you sure you weren’t fooling around with drugs?” Mrs. Rapp asked Trudy. “We have, of course, always considered the possibility that Robert might experiment with controlled substances. And he hasn’t been himself lately. He seems angry about something, and has been remarkably rude lately. His younger sisters have just about had it with him.”
“No drugs!” a teary-eyed Trudy shouted. “We said it wasn’t drugs or booze and it wasn’t.”
“No, it wasn’t,” a strange voice agreed. The voice came from the doorway.
All heads turned. A tall, thin man in a white jacket came toward them. He wore glasses and carried a clipboard.
“Doctor Joe Tanner,” he said. “I’ve been pumping the kids’ stomachs. They’ll be okay. Miserable, but okay. We’ll keep them here overnight to make sure there’s no permanent damage.” Then looking at Mrs. Rapp, he added, “These kids are telling you the truth. It wasn’t drugs or booze. Their friends were poisoned.”
There was a stunned silence. Sam looked over at Tess, the expression on his face grim.
“Poisoned?” Trudy asked in a small voice. “You mean it wasn’t just someone making a mistake when they baked the brownies? Like putting in too much of something or not enough of something else?”
The doctor shook his head. “This was no accident, if that’s what you mean. Looks like rat poison, although we can’t be sure until the lab has analyzed the remaining brownie. But it’s definitely poison. Fast-acting.” He looked down at the chart in his hands. “Is there a Beecham here?”
Mrs. Beecham moved forward hesitantly.
“Your son can go home tonight. Donald, that’s his name?”
She nodded. “Doss. Everyone calls him Doss.”
“He must not have consumed as much of the tainted food as the others. Very minor damage to his gastrointestinal system. I’m releasing him.”
Maybe the reason Doss wasn’t very hungry, Tess thought angrily, was that he knew the brownies weren’t exactly a health food. And if someone had poisoned food at a party and wanted to avoid suspicion, wouldn’t that someone eat just a little bit of that food? Enough to make that someone look like one of the victims?
Was that what Doss had done?
“Are you telling us,” Tess’s father asked, “that someone tried to kill my son?”
Tess shot him a look of disgust. Wasn’t it just like him to see the problem only in terms of himself? There were two other boys and a girl in that emergency room.
“No.” Dr. Tanner shook his head. “I’m not telling you that. There wasn’t enough poison in any of the kids to kill them. Either the guilty party didn’t know his toxicology, or he never intended to take anyone’s life. Just make them suffer. A lot.”
Tess tried to take it all in. Poison! No way could this be called an accident. It had been deliberate. The doctor had said so.
“I’ve got to get back,” the doctor said. “But the police are here and I think they want to talk to all of you, so don’t leave, okay?”
Sam and Trudy and Tess nodded silently.
When he had gone, taking the parents with him, a depressed silence fell over the group. Trudy was crying quietly in a corner. But Tess wasn’t impressed. Trudy Slaughter had acted the lead in several plays at school. And she’d been very good. Very convincing.
Those brownies had shown up at her party. She’d told Tess tearfully that they’d been a gift. But there hadn’t been a card.
Trudy could very well have brought them herself.
“Poison,” Tess said, in almost a whisper. “I can’t believe it.” She stared at the white tiled floor and twisted her hair around a finger.
“Now will you move back with your dad?” Sam asked. “This waiting room has been a second home to us lately. I’ve been thinking of installing my toothbrush in the bathroom down the hall. But if I have to come here again, I don’t want it to be because of you.”
She lifted her head. “I’ll think about it, I promise. But I’m not going back tonight, because Guy Joe won’t be there. I don’t want to be alone in that house with my father. Maybe I’ll go up and see Gina. She should be told about this before she hears gossip around the hospital. And maybe I’ll spend the night in a chair in her room. That way, I’d be close to Guy Joe, too.” She didn’t add, And I’d be safe there, although the thought certainly crossed her mind.
Just then Chief Chalmers, a heavyset, red-faced man who walked with a slight rolling motion, entered the room, followed by two other policemen.
Tess was glad to see them. The uniforms were reassuring, in spite of the fact that so far they hadn’t been of much help to her. But they couldn’t dismiss a deliberate poisoning the way they had the other incidents.
“You still got that cookie box?” the Chief asked when they’d filled him in on the evening’s events.
Trudy shook her head. “We gave it to the ambulance attendants. You can get it from the doctor, I think.”
Chief Chalmers, looking grim, told them he would want to talk to them again, after the toxicology report was in. Then he left, taking his companions with him.
“Well,” Sam said when they’d gone, “at least he’s not blowing off this one as a prank. That’s something.”
“I’m going up to see Gina, tell her what happened,” Tess said. “You’d better take Trudy back to the beach to get her stuff.” She wasn’t worried about Sam being alone with Trudy, even if Trudy had poisoned the brownies. Sam could take care of himself.
Making her promise to call him before she left for her father’s house with Guy Joe the next day, Sam left. Watching a thoroughly shaken Trudy follow him out of the waiting room, Tess found it hard to believe the girl was guilty. She seemed so upset by the disastrous end to her birthday party.
But then, she was an actress.
Tess had to sneak into Gina’s room. She hadn’t realized how late it was. Visiting hours were long over, the halls dim. Gina was sound asleep, with only a tiny nightlight on over her bed. Exhausted, but feeling perfectly safe for the first time in a long while, Tess curled up in a chair and fell asleep.
Chapter 24
THE TRUTH OF WHO I was had danced around the attic that afternoon. I could feel it laughing at me. And as it came closer and closer, stealing my breath and wrapping itself around me, I felt every shred of the old me sliding out of my body and slipping along the attic’
s wooden floor until it disappeared through the cracks.
I was gone. There wasn’t any me anymore. My whole life had been a lie and when the truth erased that lie, it erased me as well. I didn’t exist.
How could I argue with the words of the woman who had lived this story, whose words spoke of truth and pain? How could I argue with the signed check with my father’s signature on it? How could I protest a date that said, quite clearly, that although I had indeed been born when I thought I’d been, I hadn’t been born who I thought I’d been?
I was the O’Hare baby. I was the baby snatched out of its mother’s arms on the day it was born. I was the child lied to, never told the truth, never told who its real parents were. I was the kid who had every material possession possible but never an ounce of real love.
Lila O’Hare would have given me that love. I could tell that from her writing. And Tully would have, too, if my father and his friends hadn’t driven the man to suicide.
I wanted that life, with Lila and Tully. I knew, I knew it would have been a good life.
But I couldn’t have it now, not ever. It had been stolen from me, just as everything had been stolen from my real parents. They’d even stolen Lila’s journal after she killed herself, and my “father” had hidden it here, his incredible ego unwilling or unable to part with it. I shivered, thinking of the horror of it.
The man I’d thought was my father, and his friends, had lied and lied. Because of that, my whole life was a lie. So what did it matter what I did with that lie of a life? No wonder I had never felt that I belonged with this man, belonged with this family. I didn’t.
They had to be punished. All of them. But what could I do to them that would equal what they’d done to Lila, to Tully, and to me? What would be awful enough?
Suddenly, I knew the answer. It was almost as if a voice were whispering in my ear. “Don’t punish the men,” the voice said. “Punish their children. The men will suffer the most if you do this.” I knew the voice was right.
And the children would be easy to get to. They were, without exception, my friends. I saw them all the time. They trusted me. Why shouldn’t they? They didn’t know what I knew.
That was how it all started. It’s worked out pretty well, so far. And now, I’ve finally done something that can’t be passed off as an accident. It’ll be great fun watching Chalmers flounder around trying to explain it. No one will believe that what I did this time was an accident. No way.
It’s kind of weird, knowing you’re not real. Makes everything easy, in a way. Feels like I’m walking around without a body, as if I’m already in spirit form.
I will be, soon. I’ve decided that when I’ve finished with my list of targets, I’ll join my real parents. Why not? I have no life here. Those people stole it from me. My life isn’t my life anymore. So what’s there to hold on to?
But before I go, Tess has to suffer. I’ve been keeping her scared so she’d seem crazy and no one would take her seriously. And it’s worked. But she’s not getting off that easily. I have to teach her a lesson.
Because Tess messed things up for me. Now I have to skip one of the names on my list. Chalmers will have to investigate this time and he could trace the poison to my house. The hardware store keeps a record of all poison sales. Chalmers could come knocking on my door any minute now.
What really makes me angry is that I never found out who Buddy was. That was so important. I’d ask around, but I can’t afford to make people suspicious. And I certainly can’t ask the one person who would definitely know. The man who used to be my father. No, I can’t ask him.
But I got most of them. Sometimes I even got to see the pain in the parents’ faces. That made it all worthwhile. I was happy to see them suffer! Serves them right. They can’t suffer enough pain to satisfy me, after what they did. I wish I could have done more.
The only thing left to do is to punish Tess.
I’m going to take her with me when I go.
Chapter 25
TESS WAS GENTLY SHAKEN awake the following morning by Mrs. Giambone. “What on earth are you doing here?” she asked with concern, as Tess tried to remember the answer to that question. Before she succeeded, Gina awoke, and when she realized who was in the room, repeated her mother’s question to Tess.
Struggling awake, rubbing her eyes fiercely and realizing that every muscle in her body ached, Tess explained.
Gina was horrified. “You’d better go and stay at my house until Chalmers comes up with some answers. Right, Mom?” she said, looking at her parent for confirmation.
But Tess said quickly, “No, it’s okay. I’m going home with Guy Joe. I’ll stay there until Shelley comes back.” She reached up to smooth her hair into some sort of order. “You know that place. It’s a fortress!” She was hoping Gina wouldn’t ask who Tess thought was behind the poisoning, because she would have had to say Doss and/or Trudy, and she couldn’t deal with Gina’s reaction to her suspicions of Doss.
Telling Gina and her mother she’d be right back, Tess left the room to find out when Guy Joe was being discharged and how he intended to get home.
Guy Joe was in the shower, but his father was picking him up at nine-thirty, the nurse at the desk told her. Tess left him a note saying she’d be leaving with them and would come to his room before nine-thirty, and then she returned to Gina’s room. She stayed long enough to fill Gina in on Trudy’s party. There was no point in keeping the details from her, because the hospital would be buzzing with that information. Tess preferred that her best friend hear the gory details from her. “I thought you were imagining things before,” Gina said when Tess had finished. “But I guess you weren’t. Something terrible is going on. And you suspect someone, don’t you? I can tell. Who is it? Tell me!”
But Tess couldn’t. What was the point in upsetting Gina? Tess had no proof. And Gina had enough problems right now. Pointing at the clock, she told Gina she had to get downstairs to meet her father and, promising to return later, left the room.
The ride home was a solemn one. The rain had eased, although the sky was gray enough to promise more later. Tess sat uncomfortably on the front seat between Guy Joe and her father. She was anxious to shower and change into clean, fresh clothes. After Guy Joe told her he was glad she hadn’t eaten any brownies and that he was feeling weak but fine, and she said she was sorry she couldn’t have helped him more, the conversation died. The remainder of the ride was silent.
The only comment from their father was, “Chalmers had better do his job right this time, or I’ll know the reason why.”
Tess and Guy Joe simply nodded.
The big, red brick house looked gloomy and forbidding, but she told herself that was probably because of the weather. Still, it was hard to regard her father’s home as a safe haven. Was any place safe right now?
At least she wouldn’t be alone. And neither Doss nor Trudy could get at her here. They would never make it past the front gate.
When their father had deposited them at the front door, he went off to work. She and Guy Joe went straight to their rooms. Tess showered and crawled into bed, and was asleep in minutes. When the housekeeper, Maria, knocked on the door to awaken her for dinner, Tess was shocked to discover that the clock on her bedside table read six-thirty! She’d slept all day! Well, why not? The thought of leaving her fortress to go see Gina made her hands sweat and her heart pound. But she had promised.
Maybe she could talk Guy Joe into going to the hospital with her. If he felt up to it. If not, she’d call … who? Who did she trust enough to call? Candace, maybe. Although Candace probably wasn’t feeling very well, either. I just can’t go out alone, she thought, close to tears. I can’t! It’s too risky.
Dressing quickly in an old pair of jeans and the red top from the night before, she hurried downstairs.
Dinner was as quiet and unpleasant as the ride home had been. Telling herself it was worth it just to feel safe, Tess ate quickly and asked to be excused.
“I have a
meeting tonight,” her father said, not looking up from his chocolate mousse. “Robert Rapp is picking me up. You may use my car if you have somewhere to go.”
That was a surprise. If Guy Joe wouldn’t go with her, she could drive her father’s Mercedes and someone watching for her little blue car would be disappointed. “I promised Gina I’d take her something to read. But I’ll be back early.” Then she remembered what she had wanted to ask him. “Father, I was wondering … have you or anyone else on the board fired someone recently?”
His white head lifted, blue eyes met hers. “No. No one besides Beecham. Why would you ask that?”
Tess felt her cheeks reddening. “Well, all of the kids hurt have parents on the board. Doesn’t that seem awfully coincidental to you?”
“Exactly right,” he said firmly, returning to his mousse. “Coincidence, nothing more. Chalmers will handle things. You go on and have a good time, now.”
And that was that. He might as well have said, “Run along and play now,” she thought angrily. End of discussion.
Her father turned to Guy Joe. “Any plans tonight?”
“Nope. Not me,” Guy Joe said, standing up. “I’m wiped out. I’m just going to sack out, take life easy.”
Tess’s heart sank. But she wouldn’t push. She didn’t blame him. He’d been through an awful experience last night.
Maybe she’d be safe in her father’s car. Whoever was watching for her would think that Guy Joe, Sr., was in the Mercedes.
“Very well,” her father said. “I’ll see you both later.” They’d been excused.
“He hasn’t changed, has he?” Tess said quietly as she followed her brother up the stairs.
“Did you think he might have?” Guy Joe asked with a grin.
Tess shrugged. “Isn’t hope supposed to spring eternal?”