Chapter 10

After a thankfully uneventful night, the next morning Hardcastle brought a recovered Mark back to Gulls Way. He tried to get Mark to lie down for a bit, but Mark insisted that he felt fine and just wanted to get back to normal, eager to start working on figuring out how he could have had drugs in his system. They settled in the den, Mark ensconced comfortably on the leather sofa, and Hardcastle at his desk.

"Okay, McCormick, let's see if we can determine where the drug came from and how you happened to get exposed to it," Hardcastle began. "Wait a minute …" he scowled, fixing Mark with a stern look. "This doesn't have anything to do with that new drug that Frank talked to us about, does it? You didn't go off and try to do something about that on your own, did you?"

Mark eyed the judge a little warily, realizing he would have to reveal his meeting with Frank. "Judge, I think I should tell you –"

The phone rang, and Hardcastle picked it up, noting with interest that Mark was suddenly on alert. "Oh, hi, Frank. We just got home. Yeah, he's fine. We were just starting to talk about what happened. Did you check on – what? Uhh, sure, hold on a sec." He handed the phone to Mark, frowning slightly, his eyes questioning. "Frank says he wants to talk to you."

"Oh, uh … thanks," Mark said, hastily grabbing the phone and turning slightly away from the judge. "Yeah, Frank? What's up?"

"First, is Hollins at the estate now?"

"Yeah. Did you find out something?"

"It's not good, Mark," Frank replied gravely. "Just as you thought, Hollins has been in prison. He served time in New York for 16 months for drug trafficking, then did some time at Dade Correctional Facility in Florida for various offenses, including drugs and possession of a firearm."

"Oh, wow," Mark said quietly. He heard the Judge stir restlessly behind the desk and shot him a somber look.

"And it gets worse," Frank continued. "That powder you dropped off for me to have analyzed? It's that new drug I mentioned to you and Milt a few days ago. But I think Milt needs to hear the next part too."

"Aww man …" Mark gave a deep sigh, then said, "I'm gonna put you on speaker, Frank."

Hardcastle obligingly pressed the speaker button, still mystified, looking at Mark suspiciously. "Frank? What's going on?"

"Milt, I just told Mark that something that he dropped off to me for analysis is that new street drug I told you about a few days ago."

Hardcastle stared at Mark, who now stood, unmoving, by the desk. "He dropped off a drug sample?" He gave Mark a meaningful look that clearly said, We need to have a serious discussion, but only said out loud to him, "Where did you get it?"

Mark opened his mouth, but Frank interrupted before he could say anything. "Milt, wait. He can tell you that in a minute. First Mark needs to know that you provided me with a blood sample from his hospital stay so we could test what he was drugged with."

"You had my blood tested?" Mark asked with a frown at the judge.

"Guys," Frank broke though again, "What you both need to know is that the blood sample showed the same drug. Mark was poisoned with the new drug."

Mark paled and swayed a little, his eyes widening, instantly realizing that there was only one way that could have happened. Hardcastle looked at him in alarm, half-rising from his chair. "Kiddo, are you okay?"

Mark shook himself. "Yeah … yeah." He drew a deep breath, steeling himself. "Frank? If that's true, then I think that means that Matt tried to … to …"

"Yes, it looks like attempted murder," Frank finished for him.

Hardcastle sank back in his chair, shocked. "Wait! Are you saying that Matt … he drugged McCormick? He tried to kill him? Why?"

Mark bit his lip as Frank's voice floated over the phone, saying, "Tell him, Mark." Swallowing hard, he said quietly, "I had Frank check into Matt's past. Turns out he spent some time in prison – well, two, actually – for drugs. And the drug sample I gave to Frank for testing came from a briefcase I found in his room. He has several bags of it." As Hardcastle's mouth opened, Mark added hastily, "I'm so sorry, Judge! I didn't want to pry, but something felt really wrong. I didn't want to be right about this. I'm sorry …"

Hardcastle sat silently for a few moments. He didn't know which emotion was foremost right now – anger at all the secrets, sorrow and shock in learning about Matt's past, or fear at the threat to Mark. But clearly now was not the time to sort this out. He blew out a steadying breath. "I'm sorry too, kiddo. I wish you'd told me your suspicions earlier."

"I didn't think you'd believe me," Mark said softly.

"Maybe not, at least at first," Hardcastle admitted. "But … well, we can discuss this more later. So you're saying Matt slipped you the drug somehow? But why would he try to kill you?"

Mark shrugged. "I don't know. I guess somehow he figured out I took a sample of the drug or saw something that made him suspicious. But I can't think of any other source for the drug I was poisoned with."

Hardcastle gave a gusty exhale and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Frank? What do we do next?"

"Just hang tight. I just picked up the arrest warrant and will be at Gulls Way shortly," Frank informed them. He paused, then added sternly, "Do NOT try to approach Hollins about this or do anything until I get there! Is that clear?"

"Okay, Frank, we'll keep quiet until you get here," Hardcastle promised, then hung up the phone.

Neither of them could see the figure lurking just outside the door …