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After his partner had been killed with the poison that first introduced him to Gwen, he’d fought having a new one. When he was given no other option, he requested a new agent. If he had to work with someone, he wanted it to be someone he could train and do things his way. That was when Vanessa Fulbright became his pupil and partner. Neither Nessa nor Gwen liked each other. He always believed it was jealousy, because they each had a part of his life that he didn’t share with the other.
“I don’t trust her,” Gwen had said on numerous occasions. “She hangs on your every word. It’s a little creepy.”
Of course, he tried to placate her, reminding her she was the only woman in his life.
“Nessa is a colleague only. She’s green, so she can be a little clingy, but once she learns to trust her own instincts, she’ll drop some of her idol worship.”
Gwen hadn’t been so sure, and in time, he understood why. Nessa hadn’t dropped her unreasonable attachment. She ramped that up when he believed Gwen had died. She would show up with food, offer to pick up his dry cleaning on her way to the office, and eventually offered to provide him with comfort by her sexual advancements. Would she have been so bold had Gwen been alive? He wasn’t sure and had eventually asked for a new partner, which had been denied.
Nessa hadn’t taken his request very well, but later she reasoned that if they weren’t partners, then they could be lovers. He regretted ever giving in to her advances. He knew she was more invested than him, but it hadn’t stopped him—a few years after Gwen died—before he eventually accepted what she offered. If only it had been that one time, but she had worn him down. He sought comfort and solace in her arms. He knew his heart belonged to one person, and even if he felt betrayed by her, he’d vowed to never love again. When he tried to explain this to Nessa, it became a challenge for her. She vowed to make him forget about Gwen and reminded him often of her betrayal.
Nessa knew about the attempt on his life. He still wasn’t sure why he’d confided in her, but he needed someone else to know, in case his wife was successful next time.
Sitting across the street from the ALIAS offices, he couldn’t forget the day he discovered she’d been slowly poisoning him. He and Nessa had been exposed to nerve gas. Even though their exposure was minimal, they had been isolated in a clean room and had their blood taken every four hours to see if the toxin had reached their body. It was then that the doctor closed the door and asked him to take a seat.
“Agent Hughes, do you know if anyone is actively trying to kill you?”
Carter had laughed. He was a spy, of course he had enemies.
“No, this would be up close and personal. Do you know anyone familiar with poisons or toxins?”
Well, that got his attention. Of course he did... his wife. But would she? There was no question that Gwen had captured his attention from the start, but he believed it was mutual… mutual enough to marry him. No, Gwen wouldn’t try to kill him.
“Perhaps,” he answered without exposing Gwen and his unsupported fear. “Why are you asking?”
“We found thallium in your blood.”
“Rat poison?”
“It’s been outlawed to use this poison in rat and ant killers since the fifties. Because it’s odorless, tasteless, and colorless, it’s usually undetected. Honestly, we wouldn’t have found it if not for the biologics you came into contact with.”
“If it’s undetected, how did you find it?”
“It’s a slow-acting poison, and if you only came in contact with it once and at a low dosage, perhaps in a cup of coffee or baked goods, it most likely would’ve flushed itself out of your system. However, with acute exposure, there are signs, but generally these kinds of testing aren’t typical of an autopsy.”
“And I have the latter?”
“Yes, we believe so. We will need to take a sample of your hair and its root follicle to be sure, but I’m fairly certain that you’ve been getting ingestions of the poison for an extended amount of time.”
Carter sat there, still wearing the hospital gown they’d given him. Gwen hadn’t been allowed to visit him, not until he was out of quarantine. Maybe her not being there would save his life.
What are you saying... that Gwen is trying to kill me? It’s Gwen. She wouldn’t kill me. She loves me.
No matter how many times he reminded himself of Gwen’s love, he couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d been distant.
“Okay, take the sample. How long until we get an answer?”
“It will take some time, time that I’d rather not waste. Like I said, I’m nearly one hundred percent sure you’ve been exposed to the poison for some time. This means we’ll have to take drastic measures to rid your body of the poison.”
“How drastic?”
“We can do hemodialysis, which is like kidney dialysis. It will pass your blood through the machine and basically clean it. This isn’t fast. It will require several treatments. The other option is hemoperfusion. That’s my suggestion. There are risks, but it’s worth it in my opinion. It’s similar to dialysis in that your blood is cleaned, but the filter has artificial cells filled with activated carbon and other materials. As the cells travel through your bloodstream, it latches on to your blood cells and collects the toxins. The filtration is then captured and none of your blood cells are destroyed.”
“Carbon, like what you give someone who’s overdosed?”
“Yes. Your blood is currently overdosing itself. If my assumption is correct, you are in a very dangerous situation.”
“I haven’t had any symptoms. Shouldn’t I?”
