“Are you sure?” She sat beside him.
“Positive. They found the drug in my system when I was in the county jail. They thought I ingested it purposelly.
Peggy nodded. “Fly agaric, the poison mushroom.” That explained a great deal about his strange behavior. Fly agaric could cause delusions, paranoia, and hallucinations.
“I have no idea how long I’ve been ingesting it. I guess I’m lucky to be alive. Whoever was giving it to me knew what he was doing.”
“Who’d do such a thing?” she asked. “And why?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted quietly. “I didn’t know I’d engendered such hatred from anyone. Who would want to destroy me, Peggy?”
Holles Harwood’s name came to mind, but she didn’t speak it. She had no real proof beyond her feelings of revulsion for the man.
“And now Luther is dead, too. My only brother.”
Peggy put her hand on his. “We’ll figure this out.”
“Whoever it is knows about botanicals,” her father said. “Enough to use them to kill or just manipulate a situation.”
“Exactly,” Darmus agreed. “He needed Luther out of the way permanently and knew what to do. He also made it look like I was the one who did it. He knew by the time they found the mushroom in me, it would be too late.”
“Whoever did this might have also thought people would assume you took the mushroom yourself to get high,” Peggy considered.
“Yes,” Darmus said sadly. “I feel like such a fool. I was so wrapped up in saving the world, but I couldn’t even save Rebecca or Luther.”
“There was nothing you could do about either of them,” Peggy argued. “Rebecca died from natural causes. But we can find out what happened to Luther so the right person pays his dues for it.”
“How do we know?” Darmus turned unbearably sad eyes to her. “How do we know the same person didn’t cause Rebecca to have cancer?”
“Now Darmus, that’s paranoid.” Her mind raced over the idea. It
He buried his face in his hands, his gaunt figure the depth of sorrow. “I hope so. But if nothing else, I was guilty of ignoring her when she needed me. I wasn’t there for her, God help me. I never thought she’d die.”
“Let’s concentrate on what we know,” Peggy said, trying to bring him back. “We’re scientists, Darmus. Let’s stick to the facts. What do we know so far?”
He wiped his nose and eyes with a large white handkerchief. “We know someone wants power over me and wanted me to be alone.”
“That’s true,” she agreed.
The door to the inner office opened, and Darmus looked up and smiled. “But they didn’t expect to find me with a family.”
Peggy turned around to see Abekeni and Rosie standing in the doorway.
“Peggy!” Rosie smiled and rushed toward them. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
“Rosie! I can’t believe you’re here!”
Her friend hugged her and stepped back. “I know. But you coming to me was like a beam of sunlight. Suddenly I understood what I should do.”
Peggy was at a loss for words. Abekeni even smiled at her.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Darmus put his arms around Abekeni and Rosie. “After all these years, I find out I have a son! My life is complete now. Nothing anyone can do can harm me.”
“It’s wonderful!” Peggy couldn’t think of what else to say. Seeing the three of them together was overwhelming.
“Can you believe how handsome he is?” Darmus asked her. “And smart, too. Did Rosie tell you Abekeni is a musician, too? It’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Peggy wished she could think of something else to say. She was happy for Darmus. But after her last conversation with Rosie, she was shocked to see them all together.
“I know it couldn’t have been easy for you all those years, raising Abekeni by yourself.” Darmus smiled into Rosie’s face. “I promise you, now that we’ve found each other again, nothing will separate us. I will always be here for you.”
Darmus looked happier than Peggy had seen him in years. She touched her father on the arm to signal that they should go. The family looked very wrapped up in one another at that moment. She felt like she was eavesdropping.
“I know that look,” Darmus chided her, turning away from Rosie.
“You do?” Peggy smiled.
“Yes! You’re thinking this is too good to be true. I
