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Lena simply nodded. It was a testament to how badly she felt that she wasn’t trying to force herself to go in. Her skin was nearly as pale as her sheets. I took her phone from the nightstand and found Evelyn’s number while I filled a glass of water.
But it wasn’t the voice I was expecting that answered. It was Lucas. “Lena?”
“It’s Jude, actually.”
“Oh.” He chuckled once. “What’s up?”
My instincts began to tingle. “I was calling to let Evelyn know Lena can’t come in to the shop today. She’s sick. Been throwing up for a few hours and didn’t even fight me when I said she couldn’t go.”
Lucas swore under his breath. “Yeah. Sounds familiar.”
I froze. “What?”
“Evelyn’s had her head in the toilet going on four hours now. I was going to tell Lena the same thing.”
“Fuck.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “We had Chinese takeout last night, so I assumed it was that. But if Evelyn has it too, it has to be something they both ate.”
There was a long silence before Lucas spoke again. “I hope you know I’m the last person who wants to point this out, and it’s the last thing I want to say…” I already knew what was coming. “But you know where they came from last night.”
“The school.” Where they dropped off cupcakes for everyone and even brought some home. “But Lena brought a cupcake home for me, and I ate it. I’m not sick.”
Lucas sighed. “Maybe it was something at the bakery, then. But given what happened at Thanksgiving…”
At this moment, I was glad Lena was upstairs and couldn’t hear me. “I’m not crazy, right? This stuff with her seems targeted and intentional?”
“It does. But I don’t have a clue why anyone would target Lena. I think she’s the only person in the town who’s universally liked. Or she was, before all this started.”
“That’s a motive in itself,” I grumbled.
Lena’s phone buzzed in my hand, and I glanced at it. “Fuck.” It was a number I knew too well from our time living here. We all had it memorized in case of an emergency. “Lucas, I have to go.”
“Keep me posted. And when I’m out grabbing some sick supplies, I’ll drop some by if you want.”
“That would be great, thanks.”
I ended the call and took a deep breath before answering the next one from the sheriff. “Hello, Charlie.”
“Who is this?”
“Jude Williams.”
He grunted. “I guess that makes sense. About time, too. But I called for Lena.”
“Unfortunately, she’s sick at the moment, but I can take the message.”
“Throwing up?”
I closed my eyes. This was bad. Dread curled along my spine, along with my every instinct screaming a storm was coming I wouldn’t be able to protect her from. “Yes. For several hours.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that. But we have a situation. I’ve got sick kids. A lot of sick kids. Some are like Lena, just throwing up, and some are in the hospital now. I heard about what’s already happened with her, and I’m going to need to talk to her.”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “She didn’t do this, Charlie.”
“I don’t want to think so, but right now, the common factor is the cupcakes at the dance. And with this many people sick, the parents want heads to roll.”
“Can you come here to talk to her? I don’t want to take her through town, you know how people can get. And all things aside, I’m not entirely sure she can stand up right now.”
“This evening,” he said. “Around dinnertime? I need more time to talk to everyone.”
