Page 76 of The Writer

Cordova only shakes his head.

“Okay,” she says softly. “Okay.”

Her partner is busy packing up their gear and making notes on a tablet. “Any idea what he ate? What he was allergic to?” she asks.

“He’s… he’s allergic to peanuts,” Cordova tells her. “But he didn’t eat anything—”

“Looks like he atesomething,” the male paramedic says in a dismissive tone, tapping away on his tablet.

“The ME will confirm, but this looks like anaphylaxis,” the woman explains as she picks up discarded wrappers and needles around Declan’s body. Her eyes land on the overturned drawer near the bed.

Cordova says, “He tried to find his…”

Although he doesn’t finish the sentence, she understands.“We’ve seen it before. EpiPens never seem to be around when you really need them.”

It all happened so fast. Cordova tries to piece it together. Declan hadn’t eaten anything. He’d showered, shaved, and was—

He scrambles to his feet and pushes past both of them to the bathroom. Half the contents of Declan’s medicine cabinet are on the floor; some bottles are in the sink. A handful of supplements and—

His eyes land on a prescription bottle with Declan’s name on it. A bottle of Livestor, used to reduce cholesterol. A bottle identical to the one he found in Geller Hoffman’s safe. He removes the top and sniffs. The scent is faint, but it’s there—peanuts.

Cordova turns and says, “I need a plastic bag.”

The male paramedic eyes him and then the pills on the floor. “Cheaper supplements sometimes use ground peanuts as filler, it could be—”

“Bag. Now,” Cordova tells him.

The woman finds a bag in her pack and hands it to him. “If that’s what he ingested, we’ll need to take it with us. The ME will want it.”

“Not a chance—it’s evidence.” Cordova carefully places the bottle in the bag and slips it in his pocket, then takes out his phone and dials Lieutenant Daniels. When he gets voicemail, he leaves a quick message. He nearly trips over Declan’s shirt on the floor exiting the bathroom, and it clicks—

Denise Morrow was wearing that same shirt when he and Saffi confronted her earlier.

Declan was sleeping with Denise Morrow.

The thought hits him like a punch in the gut.

He picks up the shirt. There’s something in the breast pocket—a USB drive. Cordova knows exactly what’s on it because CSU didn’t find it when they tossed Declan’s apartment. It’s the copy of Denise Morrow’s book. Declan had it on him this entire time.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

CORDOVA STEPS INTO the bullpen at the precinct house in a daze, his heart heavy with an overwhelming mix of disbelief and anguish. It’s midafternoon, and nearly everyone is out in the field. Daniels’s office is empty and the handful of people there don’t know where he is. News of Declan’s death hasn’t spread yet, and Cordova doesn’t tell anyone. On some level, he feels like it’s not real and it won’t be real unless he talks about it. So he won’t; he just won’t.

He can’t.

Because this isn’t done yet.

Not even close.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he drops into his chair andstares at Declan’s cluttered desk. Every muscle in his body is twisted into a tangled knot and growing tighter.

Declan was sleeping with Denise Morrow.

He tries to wrap his head around that and can’t.

Denise Morrow was out to destroy Declan. She trashed him on television. Her book systematically dismantled his career, attacked his character. Hell, Declan was ready to kill himself over the IAU investigation and she’d done nothing but throw gasoline on their roaring fire. How the hell did he end up sleeping with her?

Cordova glances up at the whiteboards detailing the murders of David Morrow and Mia Gomez and grows more confused, because none of it is right. It can’t be. Not when you factor in Declan’s affair and Geller Hoffman.EspeciallyGeller Hoffman. Not when you consider what Cordova found in the man’s apartment and at his office. Not when you add in what Lucero told him. What Lucero had apparently told Daniels, and Daniels never shared…

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