#43c
Mark posed the question to Clora at lunch, and got a "hum. I'll think on it." Then Mark realized Rennie was coming in the room and that was the reason for Clora's evasion.
"Could I sent a short list of things I need, with the next person going to town?" She asked and wandered over to wash her hands and set out plates and glasses. All the kids except TJ were in school and Lemmie and Hank were off to a doctor's appointment.
"Certainly, it will be either Dad or myself this afternoon," Toby replied. "Rennie, they made their first move. My office was broken into, some stuffed toys were gutted as a warning."
"Gordon's family was very strange; highly secretive, always staring and whispering when we were near, the one brother in law almost broke Susan's ribs giving her such a hard hug. They were just edgy enough that they kept us all off balance. The kind of men that make a person feel very uncomfortable," Rennie commented.
"Did they ever come visit at your folk's town home?" Mark asked.
"Not while I was there, but then I usually hung out with friends or went to a motel when Mother and Father were in the States. I'm sure Gordon was there plenty of times. Somebody always went through my things, so I have no idea who that might have been. I really dislike the idea of people snooping through my drawers," she said with a little heat, "That's annoying." Rennie had been sitting on a stool and she got down and fished in her pocket for a green plastic vial. "I almost forgot about my vitamins, is this a familiar brand here in the States? Susan would get them for me so they must be available around here close."
"Dear God," Toby shouted out as she handed him the container, "that's the same brand that Christy took."
"The baby," Clora gasped, "that's the problem. I can't believe I didn't find that."
Mark swore and Rennie was looking from one of them to the other. "I don't understand," she said in puzzlement, "what is happening?"
Clora took Rennie's hand and had her sit down. "Rennie," she started gently, "we haven't asked before, but tell us about your husband and child. I will tie this all together in a minute, so you can understand."
Rennie got white faced and Toby moved closer to catch her if she fell. "I met Eldon here in the States on a previous trip to argue a case for my father. We liked each other, got married and had Jamie." she shrugged, "pretty normal stuff actually." and then she coughed with emotion, and looked toward the atrium.
"Jamie, boy or girl?" Clora softly probed.
"Boy, he started off strong and healthy and then we had problems such as Duncan is having. He got awfully thin before I completely stopped eating anything but totally organic food, I didn't take these vitamins either. They were a late addition given me by Susan, she swore by them as they help increase...milk." Rennie added, kind of embarrassed to be talking about such matters in front of strange gentlemen.
Clora patted her arm in encouragement. "Rennie, it has been our experience that this particular brand of vitamins are poisoned. Did Jamie thrive or begin to wither, when you started taking them?"
"He never regained the healthy start that he had in the beginning, but then Eldon and I weren't here during most of my pregnancy. Eldon was a fish biologist and we spent almost the whole nine months in Yellowstone where he was studying some fish. Susan sent vitamins for Eldon to take, when she found out we were going to try for another child. Please tell me what's going on?" Rennie's voice got a little shrill, and TJ came running in to see if she was OK.
Rennie lifted him up to her lap and he snuggled in her arms. Toby was watching his son closely, and when the little stinker would have patted Rennie's chest, Toby stopped him with a word. "Do you want to get down?" and Rennie captured the little wayward hand and held it gently. TJ nodded no. "Then behave," Toby said calmly.
"Rennie, like I said, we believe these vitamins are poison. So were the ones your husband was taking. Toby's wife had severe drug withdrawals, and we believe they cause dangerous behavior. They affected her and the baby." Clora opened the bottle and took a cautious sniff, looking at the amount of residue in the bottom of the container. "Mark is there enough to test?" and she held the bottle out to him. Mark got up to look, "I believe so." and he took the bottle and replaced the cap and put it in his shirt pocket.
"You mean I've been poisoning Duncan, oh dear Lord, I can't believe I would do that." Rennie started to tear up. "What can I do to clean out my system?" she begged.
"A lot of sweat, no milk for the baby from you, exercise, showers; pretty much everything you have seen us do for Bruce," Toby replied. "You, ahhh, might want to put aaa.... Ma, maybe you should look over Rennie's list and make a few suggestions."
"Certainly," Clora said smoothly, easing Toby's discomfort. Then she smiled as Toby heaved a deep sigh, like he had just passed Go and collected two hundred.
Rennie was sitting there with a awful look on her face, and her hand over her mouth. "You were waiting for me to make the association, weren't you?"
Mark nodded.
"Eldon had a green light and this huge car came out of nowhere and slammed into us. Eldon was killed instantly, Jamie lived a day, and I wish I could have died." and then she started crying. "I'm sorry," and she put TJ down and hurried from the room.
"Mark, that wasn't so very long ago. I remember that from the TV news when I was in the hospital." Clora looked concerned. "No wonder she is so protective of Duncan. It's only been three months or so since she lost her baby. If I remember right, the driver of the big car ran away and was never found."
"She did seem pretty weepy at work several times," Toby gave a classic shrug. "Wow."
"This has to be the work of the witches," Mark intoned low. "I'll take this in this afternoon," and he patted his chest pocket, "and get it analyzed. What about her list?"
"I'll get it in a minute, it might not be something you would be interested in shopping for." Clora warned carefully.
Mark got a horrified look on his face.
"I'll go," Toby offered, "I got over that shopping for Meg and Adoree."
"I'll have to put the item you were stammering about," Clora teased and Toby shrugged again. "Comes with the territory," he added calmly. "She picked right up on the association, didn't she. Pretty smart cookie. I think I will ask her about the witches, she's as close to their apartment as we were. If I were a betting man, I believe I'd bet ole mom and pop know something about this, and I'd also bet they didn't come to the States when her husband was killed. There's a reserve there that I'm picking up on. Something hinky, anyway."
Clora looked at Mark and nodded. Toby was beginning to have protective feelings.
Rennie drove herself mercilessly, sweating out the poison by exercise, sauna and then more exercise. Drinking water by the gallon, and then doing more exercise and sauna. She even fell asleep in the small cubicle, and by accident Toby opened the door thinking the booth was empty.
Rennie had never seen Toby's chest and stomach until it was close enough to touch, and he had never seen the network of angry red scars criss crossing her stomach. He backed out, she covered up and they passed wordlessly.
He did turn around and watch as she walked away, that was a temptation no man could resist.
Two weeks later, Rennie was declared clean with a blood and urine test, and she lovingly picked up Duncan and disappeared into her room.
Toby found her later in the day, sitting in the atrium with Duncan sleeping on her chest. She was loosing some of the haunted look she had been carrying around, and when he asked if they could talk, she said sure.
Toby asked about her feelings, living in the town house, what did she think of the location, and the neighbors.
Rennie had replied that she had only been there full time for three months. "I couldn't go back to our house," she confessed softly. "I took some pictures and that's all. I had an auction company come in and sell everything. There was a half loaf of bread they sold, so I meant everything. There is a offer on the house, the real estate woman called this morning. It's decent, not great, but I'll never put a foot in there again so I might as well sell it."
Toby nodded. He well understood the feeling and said so. "Rennie, I was wondering about the town house. You know I lived mirror opposite from you, with the end unit between us. Did you know or ever meet the old woman in the end apartment?"
"She wasn't old," Rennie replied, "my age or younger, had a cute little boy that was built like a tank. She kept trying to get me to come over for tea, but I was working on a big case and didn't have a spare second for myself."
"Oh God," Toby moaned and covered his face. "Was she short and curly headed blonde and was the boy's name Eric?"
"Yeah, did you know them?"
"That was my wife and son." Toby said so quietly it was hard to hear him. "The old woman in the end apartment was a witch and she enticed my wife into her coven. That was the reason for Meg shooting us. Something went wrong. This is going to sound terribly personal, but did your husband have a funny shaped mark low on his groin? Right about here," and Toby pointed to himself.
"Yeah, and he swore he had never gotten a tattoo, he didn't know where it came from, but it was a tattoo."
"No, I don't suppose he did know how he got it; Rennie this is all tied together. Did you have any strange but good tasting bottles of water in the apartment?"
"We did. I didn't like it, but Eldon really did. I didn't drink any because I thought it gave Jamie gas. Eldon would drink three or four a night however."
Now do you know why we have Bruce here?" Toby kept on asking questions.
"No, I thought perhaps he was a relative."
"He wound up being drugged by the same bottles of water as your husband. The men are used....; well they are...., they...are called stallions and identified by the mark." Toby finished in a rush.
"Your kidding." Rennie was speechless, "I've never heard of such a thing. Really?" the more excited she got the broader her accent became. "Did you?"
Toby nodded. "You're drugged and you have no recollection, you only feel like something has happened. Rennie, the way they get rid of the men they don't want any longer is through an accident. Eldon's car wreck, my shooting, I don't know what they planned for Bruce, but it would have been something. It's really sad. There is a woman waiting for Bruce that loves him so tremendously, and this is his second time through, he can't kick that water and it's taste."
Rennie was sitting , staring at the pebbles in the path way. "I don't know what to say," she said, shaking her head.