Doreen gave a choked cough that turned into a hoarse groan. She put her head back down onto her arm.
Grayson looked at her, irritated. 'Now what?'
'I've got a bad headache, and it's getting worse. I think maybe I'm going to throw up.'
Grayson's sculpted features tightened in an expression of deep unease. He was no doubt considering the potential damage to his beautifully shined shoes, Elly thought.
Doreen moaned.
Elly looked at Grayson. 'I have some herbs downstairs that will ease her headache and calm her stomach.'
Grayson hesitated.
Doreen put her hand on her stomach. 'Oh, geez, I feel so bad.'
'Please let me fix her a tisane,' Elly said to Grayson. 'We're going to be sitting here a very long time. Cooper isn't due back for hours.'
'Yeah?' Grayson appeared interested. 'Where did he go?'
'To talk to some people,' she said vaguely.
'Someone else involved in the drug dealing?'
'No,' she snapped. 'I told you, he's got nothing to do with the drugs you claim you found in my car.'
Doreen sat up quickly and clutched her stomach. She swallowed visibly.
Grayson backed farther away from her. 'Stop it. I'm warning you, if you get sick-'
Doreen wrapped one arm around her midsection and rocked back and forth in the chair, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
'Damn it.' With an air of sudden decision, Grayson yanked a key out of his pocket and de-rezzed the handcuff that chained Elly to her chair.
'We're going downstairs to get those herbs you said would help her,' he said roughly. 'I swear, if you make any attempt to escape, you'll regret it.'
'Okay, okay, I get the point.' Elly stood cautiously and put Rose on her shoulder.
The dust bunny watched Grayson very intently as they went down the staircase and into the front room of the shop.
'Does your dust bunny bite?' Grayson asked.
'No, of course not,' Elly said, opening an herb jar. 'She's just a little thing, and she's very friendly. I'm not saying she wouldn't nip your finger if you provoked her, but she couldn't do much damage.'
'I can see why they call them dust bunnies. Looks like something that rolled out from under the bed.'
Elly ignored that and concentrated on measuring out the herbs.
When she had filled one packet, she sealed the jar, opened another one, and scooped some of the contents into a second packet.
'That's all I need for the tisane,' she announced, putting the lid back on the second jar.
'Let's go.'
Doreen raised her head when Elly, Grayson behind her, walked back into the room.
'Hurry,' Doreen said hoarsely. 'I'm feeling worse by the minute.'
'I'll brew these up as fast as I can.' Elly set the herbs on the counter and reached for the kettle. 'But first I have to make some rez-root tea.'
Grayson suddenly looked interested. 'Got any coffee?'
'No.' She opened the canister of rez-root tea. 'I don't drink coffee. I prefer this, instead. It has a similar effect, though. The herbs I'm preparing for Doreen work best when mixed with a stimulant-based beverage. It's an old trick with analgesics.' She reached for a teapot. 'Mind if I make some extra tea for myself?'
'No.' He turned back to the window. 'Make some for me, too, while you're at it. I'd rather have coffee, but I'll take what I can get. Looks like it's going to be a long wait.'
'Is there a rule somewhere that says innocent prisoners have to make tea for the guys who arrest them?'
'Just make the damn tea, okay?'
'Whatever you say.' She took three mugs down out of a cupboard and got busy spooning tea into the pot. 'Although, I must say, if I were you, I'm not sure I'd want to drink any brew that had been made by a suspected drug dealer.'
Grayson chuckled. 'As long as you're drinking the same tea, it should be safe.'
'I can't wait much longer,' Doreen whispered in a tortured voice.
'Just a few more minutes,' Elly promised, opening one of the packets.
The water came to a boil. She poured it quickly over the tea leaves, filling the glass pot.
While she waited for the tea to steep, she opened the cookie jar, took out one of Mrs. Kim's peanut butter and chocolate chip specials, and gave it to Rose.
'Are those chocolate chip?' Grayson asked, watching Rose nibble at the cookie.
'With peanut butter,' Elly said. 'One of my neighbors made them. They're Rose's favorite.'
'Are they real cookies or some kind of special dust bunny food?'
'They're real cookies. Rose eats human food.' She took another cookie out of the jar and bit into it.
'Ugh.' Doreen turned her face away. 'I can't watch.'
'Tea's ready,' Elly said brightly.
She poured the brew into two of the mugs, leaving the third mug empty.
She took a pinch of herbs out of one of the packets and dropped them into Doreen's mug. 'I think I'll have some, too.' She sprinkled herbs into her own mug, 'I can feel a headache coming on. Must be the stress.'
She carried the mugs to the table and set them down.
'Drink it slowly,' she warned. 'It's very hot.'
'Thanks.' Doreen pulled the mug toward her and inhaled the aroma. 'Wonderful. Just what I needed.'
To Elly's dismay, Grayson handcuffed her right wrist to the chair again.
Satisfied that she was secured, he crossed to the counter, picked up the teapot, and filled the third mug. Without asking permission, he helped himself to a cookie.
Rose muttered ominously.
'Take it easy, lint ball,' Grayson said. Mug in hand, he went back to the window. 'Plenty left for you. I haven't had anything to eat since I got the call this morning. That would have been sometime around three a.m.'
'Would that have been the call from Palmer Frazier informing you that he had another hot tip regarding the location of some illicit drugs?' Elly asked politely.
Grayson gave her an irritated look. 'Why do you keep going on about this Palmer Frazier character?'
It was Doreen who responded. She touched her bruised face.
'For starters, it sounds like he's the bastard who did this to me,' she said. 'Although he used another name. By the way, he told me he was an undercover cop working on a big drug case. What a coincidence, huh?'
'I think he probably murdered Stuart Griggs, too,' Elly offered helpfully.
Grayson shook his head. 'You two can really spin the stories.' He took a sip of his tea and smiled slightly. 'But the tea isn't half bad, I'll give you that.'
'We all have our talents,' Elly said.
Chapter 34
ORMOND RIPLEY FROZE THE VIDEO FRAME. 'RECOGNIZE him?'
'His name is Palmer Frazier.' Cooper studied the image on the screen. 'This just turned into an even bigger problem than I thought it was.'
Ripley set the video in motion again.
The recording showed Frazier walking swiftly down a hallway in a back-of-the-house section of the nightclub. He was dressed in the black-and-white uniforms worn by the members of the food-and-beverage staff.
