Birthright

father.”
    “What?”
    “He’s a doctor. They’ll tell him things they might not tell us.”
    “God, I should’ve thought of that myself. I can’t think,” she added as she pulled out her phone. She stepped outside with it, breathed slow and steady as she called her father’s cell phone.
    “He’s coming,” she told Jake. “He’s coming right away.” She reached down, gripped his hand when she saw the nurse come back.
    “Let’s sit down.”
    “My God. Oh my God.”
    “They’re working on her. You need to help us. You need to tell me what kind of drugs she took. The sooner they know that, the quicker they can treat her.”
    “She didn’t take any drugs. She doesn’t take drugs. I’ve known her for years and I’ve never seen her so much as puff on a joint. She’s clean. Jake?”
    “She doesn’t use,” he confirmed. “I was working ten feet away from her most of the morning. She never left the area until lunch break. Then she went directly over to Callie’s sector.”
    “She didn’t take anything. She ate a half a sandwich, drank a couple glasses of iced tea. I was excavating. She took pictures for me. Then she said something about having too much sun, feeling woozy.” She leaned forward, gripped the nurse’s wrist.
    “Look at me. Listen to me. If she took something, I’d tellyou. She’s one of my closest friends. Tell me her condition.”
    “They’re working on her. Her symptoms indicate a drug overdose.”
    “That’s not possible.” Callie looked at Jake. “It’s just not possible. It has to be some mistake. Some sort of . . .” When her stomach pitched, she reached out blindly for Jake. “It was my tea. She drank my tea.”
    “Was there something in the tea?” the nurse demanded.
    “I didn’t put anything in it. But . . .”
    “Somebody else might have,” Jake finished. He yanked out his own phone. “I’m calling the police.”
    S he sat outside on the curb with her head on her knees. She’d had to escape the smells of sickness and injury, the sounds of voices and phones. The sight of the orange plastic chairs in the waiting area. The stifling box that held so much pain and fear.
    She didn’t look up when her father sat beside her. She sensed him, the scent, the movement, and simply leaned her body into his.
    “She’s dead, isn’t she?”
    “No. No, honey. They’ve stabilized her. She’s very weak, but she’s stable.”
    “She’s going to be all right?”
    “She’s young, she’s strong and healthy. Getting her treatment quickly was key. She ingested a dangerous dosage of Seconal.”
    “Seconal? Could it have killed her?”
    “Possibly. Not likely, but possibly.”
    “It had to be in the tea. It’s the only logical answer.”
    “I want you to come home with us, Callie.”
    “I can’t.” She pushed to her feet. “Don’t ask me.”
    “Why?” Angry now, he rose, hurried after her, grabbed her arm. “This isn’t worth your life. It could be you in there. You’re ten pounds lighter than your friend. Maybe fifteen. You could have ingested that tea. Could have been working alone, slipped into a coma without anyone noticing. The dosage she took could have killed you.”
    “You’ve answered your own question. I’ve already started it, Dad. It can’t be stopped. I wouldn’t be any safer in Philadelphia. Not now. We’ve uncovered too many layers, and they can’t be buried again. I won’t be safe until all of it’s uncovered. I’m afraid now that none of us will.”
    “Let the police handle it.”
    “I’m not going to get in their way, I promise you. Hewitt’s calling in the FBI, and I’m all for it. But I’m not standing still either. Whoever’s doing this is going to find out I’m not a victim.” She watched Jake step out, met his eyes. “And I don’t quit.”
    I t was nearly dusk when she stood with Jake on the now deserted site. “Leo’s going to want to shut it down. At least temporarily.”
    “And we’re going to talk him out of it,” Callie said. “We’re going to keep this going. And when Rosie’s back on her feet, she’ll go right back to work.”
    “You may be able to talk Leo into it, but how many people are you going to convince to stay on the dig?”
    “If it’s down to you and me, it’s down to you and me.”
    “And Digger.”
    “Yeah, and Digger,” she agreed. “I’m not going to be chased away. I’m not going to let whoever’s responsible pick the time and place to come after me. Not