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WHEN THE POLICE arrived at the penthouse, Sloane was jostled out of her trance. With blurry eyes, she focused on Peter first: hovering over her, pulling her into his lap by her armpits, shouting at her to stay awake. He might've even tapped her cheek a few times. A woman she didn't recognize held open her eyelids and flashed a light in them. "What's ... happening ...?" Sloane staggered over her words. The brisk wind made her shiver. Was she still on the patio?
The woman looked at Peter. "We need to get her to the ER, stat. You said there's a brother in here that's also sick?"
"Yeah," Peter replied, hauling Sloane's limp body to her feet and tugging her inside the warm penthouse. "He'll probably be in his bedroom."
Sloane blinked slowly. Her head gradually turned to the right. Paramedics were already hauling Everett down the hall, in the direction of the elevator. A policeman was taking photos all around the apartment, while another was on the patio, picking up one of the teeth she had dropped. Two officers had set her mother's medicine tray on the kitchen island, inspecting the contents. One of them brought their nose up to the blue glass and flinched at the smell.
Peter helped the woman he'd been talking to strap Sloane onto a gurney. The sudden binding of her limbs put her in a panic, and she viewed at Peter in terror. He smoothed back her hair, greasy strands that hadn't been washed in days, and said, "They're gonna make you all better, Sloane. I promise. You're gonna be –"
Before he could finish his sentence, Sloane could hear her mother's booming voice ring throughout the penthouse: "Who gave you any permission to invade my home?!"
Sloane's eyes met Sabrina's as the paramedics pulled her gurney into the elevator. The pure horror, the unbridled distress, upon realizing exactly what she'd done. The elevator doors closed before she could see her mother cry, wrapped in Frank's arms from behind.
Her jaw shifted at the thought that it was finally over – the killings, her article, being poisoned. And as the medics lifted her into an ambulance, Peter made it his mission to never let go of her hand.
