Chapter 28

“Good.”

Frank chuckled. “You may not be saying that in a day or two. So, even though I had a taste in my mouth like the smell of your father’s ashtray…Ew.”

“Ew.” Liam’s one-syllable words were coming fast now.

“Definitely. But that seemed to be the worst once I awoke. When I told your father, he was rather distraught. And…I guess I know why.” For the very first time, Frank made the connection. The other person Vaughn knew who’d been afflicted after being struck—Ivan—that explained why he had reacted the way he had. Was Ivan Vaughn’s friend or acquaintance, his protégé or a lover, perhaps? Whoever he was, maybe Vaughn had been on the lookout from that day on for similar symptoms in Frank. But why hadn’t he just asked, Frank wondered? Frank would have to find out—if Vaughn and Marion ever returned. They planned on coming back, didn’t they, or were they gone for good? The way events were unfolding, that troubling outcome was certainly possible.