Toxic Attack: Spirit of the Soul Wine Shop Mystery (A Rysen Morris Mystery Book 2) (5 page)

But she didn't remember seeing the blush.

Half of the bottle was gone.  It must have been there for a few days, given to Christina when Rysen was out of the shop.  Her hands started to shake as she examined the bottle.  She might be holding a weapon in her hand that had been meant to kill her sister.

"I don't understand.  I was being poisoned?"

Her sister looked much better today.  There was color in Christina's cheeks again and she was alert and stable, as one doctor had explained.  Whatever that meant.  All Rysen knew was that her sister was going to be all right.

She sat down on the edge of Christina's bed, down by her feet, carefully placing her weight.  The seconds ticked past while Rysen tried to decide what to tell her sister and what to hold back.  Christina glared at her.

"I'm not a piece of china, Ry.  I won't break.  You heard the doctors.  A few more days in here and they'll have the arsenic levels purged from my system.  I just wish I didn't have to be on a soft foods diet.  Bleh.  Now answer my question.  Someone was poisoning me?  On purpose?"

Rysen nodded.  "Yes.  It's the only thing that makes sense, sis.  We both live and work in the same places.  For enough arsenic to be in your body to be affecting you like it was, there had to be a lot of it.  If it was just accidental then I'd be poisoned, too."

"Did you have yourself checked out?"

"Actually, yes.  The doctors did that as a precaution the night we brought you in.  You just don't remember it because you were drooling on your pillow."  Rysen imitated a sleeping Christina with her tongue hanging out, complete with snoring sound effects, just to make her sister laugh.  "So yes, I'm fine.  Someone did this to you on purpose."

"With wine?  You really think so?"

"Yes.  It's the only thing that makes sense.  They must know when you're at the shop and when I'm not, and that's a creepiness factor of eleven."

"Uh, yeah."  Christina's face pinched up.  "I just don't understand who would want to hurt me."

"They were targeting you.  I know that much.  It doesn't mean it was the guys who made that wine but it had to be someone who handled it.  The good news is that arsenic is a very slow acting poison.  No way you would have died from just the amount they found in your system.  I think whoever did this to you only wants the shop closed."

"Oh," Christina said, throwing her hands up and then letting them drop down to her lap, tugging on the monitor wires.  "That's the good news.  I'm so glad there's good news in all of this.  How do you know they only want the shop closed?"

"Last month they had someone steal your wine shipments.  This month, they're poisoning you with arsenic.  But they killed that other woman.  Seems if they wanted you dead…"

Rysen could tell her sister was following her logic.  She relaxed, if only just a little.  "They would have killed me, too.  Fine.  So now you're an expert on poisons?  You're taking this detective thing very seriously, Ry."

Rysen slapped her sister's feet under their blankets.  "I looked it up on Google, dummy.  For you to get enough of the poison to effect you like this you must have been exposed to a lot of it.  I figure if you put enough heavy fruit flavor into a bottle of wine, it would mask anything else.  Then you wouldn't notice any kind of bad taste."

"Well," Christina had to admit, "I have been sampling a lot of local wines lately.  But they're from all over the place.  And I know all of these people.  I can't imagine any of them would want to harm me."

"We'll know soon enough.  Brandon brought the bottle to the police today for them to test the contents.  He said he was going to wait until the tests were back and then come tell us.  Do you remember where you got that bottle from?"

"Sure I do."  She winced and settled back in the hospital bed a bit more.  She wasn't over the poison's effects yet.  "That bottle came from the Salton vineyard.  I know them.  Frank and Simon.  There's no way they were poisoning me, Ry.  I won't believe it."

"I don't either," said a strong voice from the open door of the hospital room.

Robert Morris stood there like an unstoppable force of nature.  The disapproval on his face was easy to see.  The worry for Christina was there, too, if you knew how to look for it.  Rysen was beginning to understand her father better now that she was back in town and they had spent a little—a
very
little—time together.  What she had discovered was that understanding was a poor substitute for love.

"Hi, dad," Christina said weakly.  She was starting to get tired again.  Rysen guessed that laying in bed and basically fighting for your life could take a lot out of a person.

"Hi, baby," their dad said to Christina, coming over to the hospital bed and leaning down to kiss his daughter on the cheek.  "Feeling better?"

"A little.  I'm just glad Rysen and Brandon figured out what was wrong with me before it got worse."

"I heard," he said, his tone matching his expression. "Look.  I'm not going to pretend to know how you got arsenic poisoning, but I'm sure it's not from any of the local growers.  We know all of those people.  They've been our friends forever."

"That's what I was thinking, too," Christina agreed.

"I'm sure Rysen is just overreacting."  He didn't quite look at her when he said it.

The two of them talked on for a little bit.  They talked about Christina's shop, and about people their dad knew who had sent get-well wishes for Christina.  They talked about a little bit of everything, actually, except who might have poisoned Christina.  It was obvious that their dad was avoiding the issue completely. 

He was avoiding Rysen completely, too.

Jealousy stirred within her.  Why couldn't she have that kind of relationship with her father?  Oh, that's right, Rysen thought.  Because she'd run away from home and basically told her father she wanted to be her own person.  Can't have that in the Morris household.  No sir.

He looked over at Rysen now like he somehow knew she was thinking about him.  She bit her lip and hoped she wasn't that easy to read.  "So," he said, "I suppose you'll be trying to investigate this, too?"

"I sort of already am," she managed.  She would always care about what her father thought of her.  Even though she had made up her mind that it wouldn't change who she was or how she lived her life, he was still her father.  "You know Josh was arrested for this, right?  There's no way he did it.  So, yes, I'm looking into it."

"Of course you are," he grumbled.  "I heard you were dating Josh.  Through rumors around town, of course, since I don't hear anything from you.  Josh is a good guy.  I've always liked him.  Please don't drag him into whatever escapade you're planning this time."

She was pretty sure her eyes bulged as her mouth fell open.  "Drag him…?  Dad, he was in jail!  I'm not dragging him anywhere!"

And who uses the word escapade, was what she wanted to add.  She didn't, but it was a near thing.  No need to push her luck that far.

"Last month you nearly got yourself killed going after armed bandits," he reminded her.  "I obviously can't stop you from trying to get yourself killed.  Just don't get anyone else hurt, all right?"

"Ungh!" she grunted in frustration, fisting her hands at her sides.  "They were not armed!  They were stealing from Christina and I stopped them.  How is that not a good thing?"

"Dad…" Christina said quietly.  "You are kind of being unfair."

He shook his head and stood up.  "I'm not debating this.  You could have been hurt last month, Ry.  This month your sister is lying in a hospital bed.  Don't you think that's enough?"

"That isn't my fault…"  Rysen's argument trailed off when she realized that wasn't her father's point.  His point was, he didn't want to lose either of his little girls.

Oh.  Well, imagine that.

With another shake of his head he started for the door.  "I have to get back to work at the hardware store.  Nelson's there watching the counter but that's sort of like saying no one is there at all.  I'll check in on you again tonight, okay Christina?"

"I'd like that, dad," she said with a little smile.

"One more thing.  I'm going to have some of the firemen help me keep a watch on your room.  I still don't believe you were poisoned on purpose—" he said with a meaningful glance at Rysen "—but there's no sense in taking chances.  Feel better, honey."

Then he was gone, once again leaving Rysen feeling like a tornado had picked her up and turned her around before setting her back down on her head.  Every time she thought she had her dad figured out, she saw another layer to the man.  It was exhausting.

"He really is trying, you know," Christina said to Rysen.

"I don't know how you can tell.  Was it the heavy odor of guilt in the air or the way he ignored me?"

"It's not like that, Ry.  Trust me."  Christina's eyelids had started to droop and her words were heavy.  She was drifting back to sleep.  "I…can tell…"

Rysen watched her sister for a while, knowing that the doctors had said she would be fine, but worrying just the same.  Someone had intentionally poisoned Christina.  No matter what her father said, she was sure of it.  Why?  Who would have any reason at all to do that?

Neither of them knew the woman who had been killed in Bea's shop.  There was no reason for that woman—or anyone else for that matter—to be targeting Christina.

At least, not that they could see.

Rysen hadn't told Christina about the sheet of practice handwriting found on the victim.  It didn't seem like something she needed to know until she got better.  There was no need to have Christina worry about that yet.  She was the target of a vicious assault.  A quiet one, but terrifying just the same.  Even if the person behind all of this didn't want Christina dead, they had already killed once and left the body in Bea's flower shop.  There was nothing to say they wouldn't go that far with Christina eventually, too.

She was glad their dad had offered to have the guys from the fire department guard the room here at the hospital.  Now she wouldn't have to worry about her sister while she investigated the who, the what, and the how.  Especially the how.

Finally she got up, careful not to disturb her sister as she did, and quietly left the room.  She wasn't going to find any answers here.  She needed to find Brandon and talk to him, to see if the results on the wine bottle were back yet. 

When she got to the elevator doors and they opened, she stopped, half expecting to run into him in the hall or in the elevator or somewhere else.  She'd kissed him.  More than that, she had enjoyed it.  For Josh's sake she had tried to push it out of her mind because she was with him now and that should mean she didn't get feelings for other guys.

Then why was she thinking about Brandon's kiss?

Sighing, she caught the doors just as they were about to close and stepped inside, pushing the button for the bottom floor.  She had enough on her mind now without having to worry about which guy was a better kisser or who made her heart flutter more.  Josh was warm and kind and they had a history together which made him familiar.  Brandon was hot and mysterious and made her melt with a look.

Rysen thumped her head back against the elevator's wall.  For not thinking about the two men who had her heart in knots, she certainly was thinking about them a lot.
 

Back in Christina's shop, Rysen wondered if she should open up for business or just keep the closed sign turned on the door.  On the one hand, they really couldn't afford to lose sales.  On the other hand, she really wasn't in the mood to smile and be friendly to tourists looking for which wine went better with steamed rice.

Her decision was pretty much made for her when she unlocked and opened the front door to see Brandon standing inside.  He was down on his hands and knees, looking along the seams of the baseboards.  The bell ringing over the top of the door drew his attention to Rysen.

"What are you doing?" she asked.  "How did you get in here?"

"Your sister gave me a key and the code to the alarm.  I was supposed to be going over the books."  Brushing off the knees of his jeans as he stood up, he frowned and shook his head.  "She's got worse problems than a few missing checks or a ledger column that won't balance to worry about now.  I'm trying to figure out how she got poisoned."

"But we already know, don't we?  The bottle of wine…"

She stopped.  The look on his face said it all.

"It wasn't the wine, Ry.  They tested it at the lab and there was nothing bad in it.  No arsenic.  No poisons.  Just wine."

Disappointment overtook her and she slumped back against the door.  So her father and Christina had been right.  It wasn't that simple.  "You've got to be kidding me.  I was so sure!"

He came over to her, gently lifting her chin until she was looking him in the eye.  "Don't bail out.  Not now.  We're going to figure this out."

She nodded, turning her face into the palm of his hand, taking a deep breath.  She was glad he was here.  No matter how confused her heart might be, it still felt good to have a friend to comfort her…

In the next second she pushed away from him, walking stiffly over to the sales counter, putting it between her and him.  She couldn't let another moment happen between them like that kiss at the hospital.  Not if she wanted to keep her relationship with Josh going. 

She began rifling through the things on the counter just to give her mind something else to think about.  The small selection of gift cards people could buy.  Christina's sales ledger.  The cup of pens.  Plastic wineglasses with "Spirit of the Soul" printed on them.  There was nothing else she could do but straighten up the store.  She felt so useless.

"Rysen."  Brandon had followed her without her noticing.  He was right next to her now.  "We'll figure this out.  I've had me a look all through the cellar and all through the shop up here and I haven't found anything.  I'm going to check your house out next.  I'll find out how this was done to Christina."

Unexpected tears were in her eyes as she braced herself against the edge of the counter.  "How can you be so sure?"

His hands were on her shoulders then, turning her into him, holding her close.  "I can be sure, because I'm very good at what I do."

Rysen let herself be held by him, all of her emotion pouring out of her in quiet sobs.  She'd been holding it all in until that moment.  Josh being arrested, Christina being poisoned, her father, Brandon, all of it.  In Brandon's arms, she cried until she could take a deep breath again, and felt better for it.  This was the second time he'd held her and let her pour out her emotions.  She wanted to thank him for that.

The bell above the door jingled.

Oh, no, Rysen thought, pushing back from Brandon's comfortable embrace.  It couldn't be.

It was.

The expression on Josh's face was as hard as stone.  He stood holding the door open, one foot in and one foot out of the store, frozen in place.

"Josh…" she started to say, although she had no idea what she could possibly say to him.

She never got the chance to find out.  He turned around without a word to walk away down the street.

Should she go after him?  She hesitated, started for the door, stopped, hesitated again.  What to do, what to do?  Frustrated, she bit her lip, hard, and pounded her fists against her hips.

When Brandon reached out for her with an apology hanging on his lips, she swatted his hand away.  "What are you doing!" she demanded.  "You know I'm dating Josh now.  Why do you keep doing things to sabotage us?  Why?  Why!"

He stood there, patiently waiting her out without a word.  It was infuriating that he could be so calm about this.  So understanding.

So damned perfect.

When she had exhausted every word, he nodded, once, and shoved his hands into his front pockets.  "I really didn't mean to cause you trouble.  You were hurting, and I wanted to make it better if I could.  I'm sorry.  I'll stay out of the way until you and Josh work things out.  I won't be the reason you have anything more to worry about."

She crossed her arms over her stomach and stared down at the floor.  "You promise?"

"I promise."

She felt childish, now, that she had yelled at him.  It wasn't his fault.  Well.  Not entirely.  It had felt good to be in his arms and she had let it happen.  Why she did it was something she didn't have time to figure out right now.  "Fine.  Just…I mean, why don't you go check out our house for now.  Okay?"

"Okay.  I'll let you know if I find anything."

She nodded, or something, and he left, just as quietly as Josh had.

Furious at herself for not knowing what to do, about her sister or her own love life or anything at all, she swept her hand out over the counter and knocked everything onto the floor with a loud clatter.  Nothing broke, but it somehow made her feel a little better.

Not as much as being in Brandon's arms had, but wasn't that the whole problem?

Of course, now she would have to pick everything up.  So basically all she had accomplished was to create more work for herself.  With a sigh and a few muttered curses she knelt down and put the cards back on the counter one by one.  One of the decorative wineglasses had dented so badly that it couldn't possibly be sold.  She'd have to throw it away, and probably pay for it, too.  The ledger had fallen open on its spine, not broken thank God, displaying Christina's neat numbers and little notes where she still recorded every transaction by hand before Rysen put it into the spreadsheet program.

Her gaze focused on the page in front of her.

Could it be…?

Yes.  Yes it could.

Leaving everything else the way it was, she ran to the front door.  Hopefully she would be able to catch up to Brandon before he got too far away.

She would have to find Josh later, and try to explain things to him again and hope that he could be just as understanding as Brandon had been.  The mess she had made of her love life would have to wait for now.

Someone had put her sister in the hospital, and tried to put their wine store out of business.  That would have to come first.

And Rysen thought she knew how to prove it.

***

The wine cellar of her sister's shop made an excellent hiding place.

When she and Christina had been little girls they would play hide and seek in the fields just outside of town.  At dusk, late at night, they used to lay in the tall grasses and watch fireflies dance overhead while whoever was It did he searching.  Sometimes Beatrice or some of the other kids who lived in Cambria would get in on the fun.  This cellar would have made the perfect place to play the game.

Tall racks of wine bottles made uneven rows while casks and crates were stacked up in between.  Rysen could imagine getting lost down here.  For a moment she closed her eyes and pictured she was alone, hiding from Christina I those fields, waiting for her sister to come find her.

When Brandon shifted into a more comfortable crouch next to her, she remembered this was a different game altogether.

They were staking out the wine shop.  Just the two of them.  Her and Brandon.  She had taken a long time debating whether to just do this herself, but she had to face reality.  She wasn't the one with a permit to carry a gun.  She wasn't the one who was a licensed security consultant. 

She was, however, the one who had figured out how Christina had been poisoned.  She was the one fighting to save her sister's shop.  That was all well and good, but she could not do this alone.  Not this part.

She needed Brandon's help.  Just like before.  She had needed his help when they took down the guy stealing wine shipments from the store.  She needed his help again now.

Of course, her dad wouldn't approve, she thought as she bit her lip.  Not that she was doing this for him.  She was doing this for Christina.  She was doing it for herself, too, because Josh had been right.  She was good at this.  And she enjoyed it.

So here they were, alone in the dim lighting of the cellar, waiting for something to happen upstairs.

"Are you sure he'll come tonight?" Rysen asked Brandon.

"No, I'm not," he answered at the same whispered volume.  "I'm not even sure it is a him.  Might be a girl, too.  This is the fun part of a stakeout.  You never know what will happen."

She frowned and watched through one of the few empty slots of the winerack they were concealed behind.  "You and I have a very different definition of what fun means."

"I doubt that."

She quickly looked over at him.  Did he mean anything by that?  He'd promised to let her figure things out with Josh.  Still, here they were again, alone together.  Fate or planning or something else had done it again.  It was hard not to think that every word he said or every glance her way was flirtatious and laced with hidden meaning.

"What?" he asked, noticing her watching him.

"Nothing.  Just, well, thanks for being here after I sort of blew up at you."

"You did call me a blazing jerk."

She winced to think of it.  "Did I?"

"Too right.  Pretty impressed at the way you can turn a phrase, I have to say."

His voice was so soft, and strong at the same time.  She loved listening to him talk with that barely-there accent.  It was easy to understand why she had been so attracted to him.

Why she was still attracted to him.

"Brandon, do you mind if I ask you—"

A noise above them caught their attention.  A squeaky floorboard.  Again, and then again.  Footsteps.

"Get ready," Brandon said to her.

Rysen's heart hammered in her chest.  No one had a key to the store except her, Christina, and now Brandon.  Christina was still in the hospital.  Whoever was up there, it was someone who shouldn't be in the store.  Their little trap had worked!

A push of a button on her watch showed her it was just three o'clock.  A sign she had taped to the window of the front door said she was gone and wouldn't be back until five.  After making a show of leaving, locking up, standing in front of the store and whistling, Rysen had gotten into her car and driven away.  Brandon had picked her up at Christina's house in his car and driven them to the next block over so they could sneak around to the back door of the shop and hide in the cellar.  Anyone watching would think the place was empty.

They had given the killer a window of opportunity as bait.  Looked like it had worked.

From the holster tucked at the back of his pants Brandon pulled a heavy automatic that fit his hand like a glove.  He flourished it easily, still staring at the ceiling above, tracking the intruder's movements by the sound of footsteps.

Squeak, squeak.

"Next time," Rysen told him in a whisper, "I want a gun, too."

"If you think you're ready for it, sure.  Be happy to teach you."

Above them, something crashed to the floor.  It sounded like the cash register, or something just as heavy.

"Oh yeah," she told him, settling herself closer to him.  "I'm definitely ready for a gun."

He smiled at her, and winked.

Maybe their definition of fun wasn't that different after all.