“The front door,” Zack says to Bode, who is standing to his right, a hand over his mouth. He has never seen death up close and personal, Zack knows this from the horrified look on the boy’s face.
Lauren is on the phone now, calling Jasper, he thinks. The gurney begins to clatter down the stairs, and he rounds on her, the fury barely contained. He knows this is all wrong, she is all wrong. Juliet did not do this to herself.
But he can’t read this mercurial woman standing before him. She is freaking out, falling apart, crying hard, and as they load her sister into the back of the ambulance, he has no choice but to whistle for Kat and grab Bode’s arm. “Stay with her,” he commands, and Bode nods, eyes wide. “Give me your card. I’ll call you when I know more.”
The kid fumbles a card into Zack’s hand. “You’re going with them?”
But Zack is already down the stairs and hopping in the back of the ambulance. The female paramedic starts to push him out, “Sir, the dog—” but he snaps, “Close the door,” and she obeys immediately. The sudden quiet is unnerving. “Just get to work on her,” he says, dialing his phone.
Parks answers on the first ring, and Zack doesn’t hesitate. “We have a problem.”
“Where the hell are you? I need—”
“Listen to me. I’m in an ambulance with Juliet. She’s been poisoned. And I think Lauren did it.”
“What?”
“Juliet called me, frantic, about thirty minutes ago. She said Lauren’s DNA was found at the crime scene in Nashville.”
“What—”
“I don’t know where she got the information, or what the hell happened before I got there. She told me Lauren was coming up the driveway, and she would handle it, but I didn’t like the idea of her confronting Lauren alone, so I headed right up the mountain. She didn’t answer her phone again. When I arrived, Lauren wasn’t there. She drove up a minute later with groceries in the car, and we found Juliet down in the dining room.
“She tossed out the idea that Juliet was trying to commit suicide, but I don’t buy it for a second. Someone needs to find a time stamp on that grocery receipt because I have a terrible feeling Lauren hurt Juliet. I think she’s been covering her tracks ever since I came into the picture.”
“Let me make sure I’m hearing you right. Lauren Wright knew your wife?”
“I don’t know if she knew her. But I’m pretty damn sure she killed her.”
76
VAIL HEALTH HOSPITAL
The emergency room doors have been kept clear of the media, but they are still swarming over the parking lot near the hospital’s main entrance. The ambulance screeches to a stop, the paramedic pushes him out of the way, and Juliet disappears inside before Zack is fully upright. Kat is glued to his leg, her lead trailing behind her. One of the reporters sees them—the dog is as distinctive as he is—and starts to shout. The scrum begins moving toward him, but Zack gathers Kat’s lead and hurries into the hospital.
At the emergency desk, he gets the attention of a young nurse. “I’m with Juliet Ryder. They just brought her in by ambulance.”
“Oh, the overdose? They took her back, they’re working on her. You her husband?”
“Um... Yes, yes I am.”
She narrows her eyes at him but nods. “Okay, come with me.”
She leads him through the doors to a small triage cubicle, then shoves a stack of papers on a clipboard at him, thoughtfully providing a pen from her blue scrub pocket. “Fill these out. I’ll let them know you’re here.”
“Can you check on her, please? I’m... I need...”
“I’ll find out. You fill these out now. And get that dog out of here.” She gives another curt nod and disappears down the hall.
He stares helplessly after her, then glances at the forms in his lap. There is nothing more for him to do.
He obviously can’t fill out the forms, so he calls Parks again.
“Where do we stand?”
“You’re right about the DNA. Juliet’s second in command, Dr. Ford, just confirmed it to Woody. Apparently, he told Juliet, and she asked him to wait for an hour. Which he did. I get the sense he’s in hot water. And Juliet’s been suspended. Did you know?”
“No. Why?”
“They didn’t tell, and I didn’t ask.”
“Damn it, what was she thinking? What about Lauren? I left her under the supervision of a very young reporter who’s clearly getting the scoop of his career right about now.”
“I don’t know. Vail police have been called to take Lauren in. We’re coming up from Denver, should be there quick, they’re using a chopper. What the hell happened to Juliet?”
Zack relays the scene, fighting to keep his composure. “It sure looks like Lauren wasn’t there, arrived moments after I did, and she was a total wreck, crying and freaking out, but I’m telling you, something is wrong about that woman. I’ve felt it since I met her. Like there’s a cold core inside of her, and all her actions are fake.”
“You think she tried to kill her sister?”
“I think the odds of Juliet Ryder calling me to tell me Lauren’s DNA was at my house, then committing suicide, are next to nil. So yeah. I think Lauren thought Juliet ran the tests and hadn’t told anyone, and she could shut her up.”
“That’s a serious charge.”
“The woman may have killed my wife! Who knows what she’s capable of?”
“I hear you. Don’t go anywhere near her, do you understand? Let the police handle this. Just stay where you are, don’t talk to anyone. You’re a monk on a fucking mountaintop until I get there, you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.”
He hangs up the phone and starts to pace. Damn it, he doesn’t want to wait here quietly. He wants to find Lauren and make her tell him the truth, by force, if necessary. He wants to rush down the hall and see if Juliet is going to live. He wants to hurry upstairs and hug his daughter.
Jasper isn’t on his radar. But when he comes down the hall, walking quickly, his hiking boots squeaking on the linoleum floors, Zack has to stop himself from punching the man in the jaw.
“What the hell is going on?” Jasper demands. “Where is Lauren? Isn’t she with you?”
“I have no idea where she is. I’m waiting to hear if Juliet is going to live or not.”
“Lauren said she overdosed.”
“Did Lauren also tell you—” he cuts himself off. Monk. Mountain. He tries again. “What did she say happened? I heard her call you when I was giving Juliet CPR.”
“She was that bad?”
Zack sags back against the wall. “I’ll be surprised if she makes it.”
“Christ.” Jasper runs his hand across his face. “Mindy will be devastated. She thinks Juliet walks on water. Lauren said she found her on the floor in the dining room. That she may have taken something and overdosed.”
“Do you honestly think Juliet would commit suicide? Come on, Jasper.”
His brows furrow. “What else could have happened? What are you saying?”
But Zack is saved by the nurse, who gestures for him to come with her. He doesn’t look back, marches away with Kat by his side.
“I told you to get rid of that dog.”
“She’s a service animal.” He pulls out the badge.
“Oh. Well, they aren’t going to let her into the room. I guess I’ll just hold on to her. Your wife is very sick. They did a blood gas trying to figure out what she took and found ethylene glycol in her system. They’re giving her the treatment now and will be putting her on dialysis, too. That stuff is bad on the kidneys. She’s intubated, she can’t talk, her lungs are torched. I won’t lie to you. She’s in rough shape, sir.”
“Ethylene glycol? Isn’t that antifreeze?”
“A component of it, yes. My husband’s a veterinarian, he sees it all the time in his practice. Not as common for people to drink it, but it happens.”
Zack tries to wrap his head around this. How can a person accidentally drink antifreeze? A kid, maybe, he can see that. But an adult? Either they did it on purpose...or someone slipped it to them.
“The fomepizole, that’s the treatment, it’s super expensive. They are going to need to get some forms signed before they start, in case your insurance doesn’t cover it. But there’s no time to waste.”
“Good God, give her the medicine already. Don’t wait another second. If it will save her, do it.”