11:17 p.m.
Glass intercepted before ingestion.
Vial unlabeled.
Food untouched.
Convulsion began before water reached mouth.
The bedroom door handle moved.
Celeste crossed the room and turned the lock.
“Miss Harllo?” a man called from the hall.
Gabriel Cade. Elias’s younger half brother.
Celeste had met him twice. He was handsome in the polished, expensive way of men who had never carried anything heavier than the consequences of their own decisions. He lived in the east wing, managed the legitimate businesses, and smiled too easily around sick people.
“Open the door,” Gabriel said.
“Emergency services are coming.”
Silence followed.
Then his voice softened. “You called an ambulance?”
“Yes.”
“My brother has private physicians.”
“Your brother had a convulsion.”
“You don’t understand what happens when police and paramedics come through these gates.”