Page 38 of Final Exit

Kade knew several people with severe allergies. All of them carried EpiPens in case they accidentally ate something that caused a reaction and they were extremely careful about what they ate. Which made it even more suspicious that Sanchez could have ended up in the ER with a reaction severe enough to kill him.

It didn’t take long for Kade to find what he’d hoped he wouldn’t find—a small puncture wound in between two of Sanchez’s toes. There could be no doubt. Someone had purposely injected Henry with peanut oil, or some derivative of it, enough to send him into a full-blown allergic reaction.

Since one person couldn’t have held Sanchez down and injected him, whoever had done this had help. They must have given him the injection in a vehicle right outside the emergency room. The reaction would have been almost instantaneous, ensuring that Sanchez would use up his last breath to run inside for help. But he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that someone had purposely done this to him.

The theory made sense for someone wanting to kill Sanchez and make it look like an accident. An added plus was that the hospital would dispose of the body. And it was unlikely a hospital ME would even look for an injection in a case of anaphylactic shock. A clean, easy death.

The question, though, was why? Had the agent watching Sanchez been spotted? Was this his way of ensuring that Sanchez couldn’t alert other Enforcers and get away? Kade couldn’t imagine any FBI agents doing something like this, ever, under any circumstances. Something was very, very wrong here.

“Four minutes,” the tech called out. “I’m not even sure you have that.”

Kade covered the body and shoved the drawer shut. He didn’t need four more minutes. But he did need to make a phone call.

He headed out of the morgue and pulled out his cell phone. But the hospital’s concrete walls interfered with the signal, so he ducked into an empty office and used the landline on the desk.

“This is Quinn, calling on an unsecured line,” he said, the moment that Special Agent Porter answered the phone.

“Understood. What can I do for you, sir?”

Porter sounded the same as he always did—professional, polite, calm, as if nothing had happened. Kade wanted to demand answers. But on an unsecured line, the best he could do was talk in generalities.

“Sitrep,” he said.

“The subject is home right now.”

He fisted a hand against the wall. “You sure about that?” Because Sanchez hadn’t looked at home at all inside the cold storage drawer.

“Positive, sir. I’m in my van across the street. His blinds are open and I’m looking at him right now through my binoculars.”

Damn. There was only one explanation for Porter to lie to him. He was in on this—whatever “this” was.

“All right. Continue surveillance for now.”

“Yes, sir. Will do.”

Kade headed upstairs to the ER, just in time to hear a doctor call out, “Time of death, 17:33.”

Bailey stood in the middle of the aisle while a team of doctors and nurses began to file out of the curtained enclosure beside her.

“I’m sorry, MissDavenport. We thought we had him stable. But he took a sudden turn for the worse. We did everything we could,” Hawke’s doctor said, before hurrying off to some other emergency.

Bailey stared up at Kade, a stricken look on her pale face.

“He can’t be dead.” Her words were choked out, barely above a whisper. She tried to shove him out of the way, but he grabbed her and pulled her closer to the exit door.

“Let me go.” She twisted and tried to pull away from him, her nails scoring his skin.

“Bailey, damn it. Stop.” He lightly shook her until she stopped struggling.

“It’s a mistake.” Her voice sounded raw, hollow. “It’s a mistake.”

Kade pulled her against his chest, wanting to comfort her. And he was relieved when she let him. Her arms went around his waist. She blew out a shuddering breath and hugged him tight.

“He was only twenty-seven,” she whispered. “He likes the Denver Broncos and romantic comedies. And he hates ice cream.”

Kade lightly stroked her hair, letting her work it out.

“He wasn’t my boyfriend,” she whispered.

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