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“Why don’t you tell me about it, Ryan? Start at the beginning. First, do you have any idea who has been feeding you this drug?”
“Of course I know, it’s that bitch Misty; who else?”
“How sure are you of this?” Ryan just glared at her without a word, but her raised brow pretty much told him to calm his ass down and talk.
“I met Misty on one of those dating things a little over a year ago. She was fun, and though not exactly my type, I had just moved back and thought, what the hell, I didn’t have to marry her, I was just looking for some company. I’d just…” He stopped talking and stared off into the distance.
“You’d just what?”
“That’s not important. As I was saying, I wasn’t looking for anything permanent, but for some reason, by about our third or fourth date, it was like I couldn’t live without her. I started seeing her every day. The sex was phenomenal, the best I’ve ever had, and it became like a drug. I had to have her at least a couple times a day to feel human.”
Here Ryan clenched his fists and ground his teeth hard to keep the words of bitterness from spilling out. He was in enough shit as it is without threatening his soon to be ex in front of a cop. “She didn’t tell me she had a kid; I didn’t find that out until we were married, in fact. I never questioned why she wouldn’t take me home with her, why it was always my place or a motel.”
“When I found out I was pissed, she knew how I felt about kids because it was in my profile, and we spoke about it. Still, that night, after sex, it didn’t seem to matter that much. Then I went away a few weeks ago when the virus first started. They made us quarantine for two weeks, and it was the first time I’d been away from her since the first time we met.”
“Things felt weird, my mind was all over the place, and I was beginning to think I might’ve caught the damn virus the way my body was reacting. But it wasn’t just the sickness; it’s the fact that I didn’t miss her; in fact, I was starting to hate her for trapping me. I was going to ask her for a divorce when I came back, but then within a day or so, things were back to normal, and it was as if I never had those thoughts, never felt that way.”
Celia was taking notes even though she was in a bit of disbelief. She’s never been one to believe in such things. As far as she was concerned, aphrodisiacs and love potions were all a bunch of hocus-pocus and had no real power. But according to both doctors, this particular potion had been mixed with something else, which had made it very potent, and both men were adamant that it would get the job done.
She was still not sure how much she believed, but if what Ryan was explaining held any truth, then she’d have to put her own prejudice aside for now. Dr. Stephens had promised to do some more searching to find out where the drug had come from since the original had been banned centuries ago and as far as either man knew had not been heard of since. He’d promised to get with his friends at the CDC and see what he could learn.
Celia still had the worry of putting the two cases together, and once Ryan had wound down, she asked the question that had been plaguing her. “Do you know Bridgette?” She posed the question in such a way that he wouldn’t stop to think about it. There could be more than one Bridgette, of course, and that’s why she was watching his reaction and awaiting his answer.
There’s no way he could’ve left his hospital bed to commit the murder, but what if Bridgette had somehow been the one drugging him without his knowledge? It was a stretch given all he’d said and his suspicions against his wife, but she had to uncover every stone. “I don’t know anyone by that name; I don’t think. Is she a student at the high school?”
From the knit of his brow and the clarity in his eyes, she was wont to believe him, which only sent her back to square one. “Have you ever heard your wife mention someone by that name?” Ryan was shaking his head before Celia was through speaking.
“I don’t know her friends; in fact, now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her with one. You can check at that place where she works, I guess.”
“And where is that?”
“Spiro and Company,” Celia noted the name, which didn’t sound familiar but wasn’t surprised. As small as the town is, she was still relatively new and didn’t know where everything was.
