Page 30 of Ash and Poison

“What secrets do you hide, Hannigan?” I whispered, logging into the Doctor’s computer.

I opened the inbox, and sure enough, I had a reply from Hannigan.

The fish had taken the bait.

Mr. Mulls,

I spent hours researching you. You weren’t lying about *that* lucrative business. I’m more than happy to entertain you in my club while we talk about profits. This is the safest place in Hollow Heights.

Hannigan.

Fuck. It’d be too risky and reckless to kill him in his own club, but I had no other option now. If I pushed him too much, he might get suspicious.

Mr. Hannigan,

I’ll meet you in your club this Saturday. Need the membership card. Attaching the PO box address. Everything needs to be a secret.

Christopher.

I waited. He might not reply right away—oh, he did.

You’ll get your membership card by tomorrow morning. Meet at midnight. Come by the back stairs.

Hannigan.

Christopher Mulls was a caricature I had built over the years exactly for times like this.

I had spent countless hours in college, building a network of digital facades—websites with detailed back-stories, fake IDs, and a slew of online profiles that made him appear both credible and elusive.

I chose to study computer engineering, programming, and scripting for this. Every step I had taken since I saw Riley’s lifeless body was to get here. Right here.

I sent another email, agreeing to Hannigan’s last message, before opening a new tab and entering Diya Sharma’s name. I had to dig deeper, but then I hit the treasure trove.

Fuck.

Doctor psycho bitch might actually be a psychopath.

Renowned Oncologist Found Dead: Psychiatrist Diya Sharma Detained for Questioning by NYPD.

Detective Knight took in Dr. Diya Sharma for questioning in connection with Doctor Dawson's murder. Sources close to the investigation revealed that she was brought in after the authorities discovered potential links between her and the deceased.

What the ever-loving fuck was this?

After further digging, I found out the murdered doctor was missing his right hand, and that Diya was cleared after the investigation.

I deleted the search history, and walked back to my room, my thoughts circling her.

She was not normal. The NYPD made a mistake. I had a feeling she killed the doctor with poison, and maimed him. And what the fuck did she do with his hand?

Her voice rang in my head, cocksure, steady.

As long as I’m not dead, I don’t care.

Maybe she was trying to survive, maybe this Doctor Dawson was evil, and he deserved death. None of that mattered, though. If she had killed him, she was a real threat.

Cursing, I punched the wall with a grunt. The pain did nothing to alleviate the pressure slowly building inside me.

Diya fucking Sharma was a goddamn menace.