A Time to Live and a Thyme for Murder! (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 3) (8 page)

Krissy stayed in her room for the remainder of the morning. Jason and Melissa hoped she at least got some sleep, but doubted it. Although they both knew Derek McCallie had not been the most upstanding guy, they sought to understand the young woman’s grief and tried to give her some space. Although exhausted, Jason took just a brief nap before returning to the police station. Before leaving he and Melissa discussed the ramifications of Derek being found behind her bakery business with the X15 drug stuffed into her own Thyme Bread Bowls. She promised to call Janice, her attorney, later that morning for advice.

Her phone rang around 10 a.m. as she sipped on yet another cup of coffee. At this rate of caffeine consumption, she’d be awake for the next week and a half. She smiled though when she saw it was Cheryl’s number on the caller ID. Her friend had already moved herself out of Jason’s place and into a beachside condo in anticipation of Ronnie being released from the hospital. They still weren’t allowed back at their home while the DEA completed the investigation, so a condo would have to do for now. It was good to hear Cheryl’s cheery voice on the other end of the line. If there was one thing Melissa needed now, it was her friend. She had called to discuss plans for a huge feast to celebrate Ronnie being released from the hospital later that day, but upon hearing the strain in Melissa’s voice, Cheryl promised to be right over.

True to her word, the doorbell rang sooner than Melissa’s mind considered possible. Yet, Cheryl even came bearing gifts in the form of cinnamon crumble coffee cake and a tropical fruit salad. The two friends retreated to the back patio to talk while the youngsters still slept. Melissa explained the horrific tale of Logan being hauled into the precinct after being caught at an illegal party, why he claimed to be there, as well as the news of Krissy’s boyfriend. Cheryl sat in stunned silence for a few moments before simply muttering, “Oh dear”. When she heard the details surrounding Derek’s death, she shook her head in disbelief.

Jason called a little while later to remind Melissa to get in contact with her lawyer. From what he was hearing at the station, they were going to need Janice’s assistance sooner rather than later. The tests on the powdery substance found with Derek was indeed X15. The DEA’s working theory was that the drug had been stuffed into Melissa’s bread bowls as a way to hide the drugs in transit. Somehow some of the tainted bread bowls had made it into the food supply at Cheryl’s restaurant, either intentionally or not. Currently, forensics was running tests to see if the drugs leached from the bags into the actual bread before it was consumed. If so, what happened to the bags? No one reported finding flimsy bags of drugs in their food. Agent Garland and the DEA already completed their search of both Melissa and Cheryl’s homes and found nothing, so that was good news. However, they were still investigating their businesses.

As soon as she hung up the phone with Jason, Melissa called her attorney. Just in time, too. As she was on the phone explaining the situation, there was a knock at the door. Melissa opened the door to find Agent Garland and two uniformed officers.

Everyone was escorted back to the police station for more questioning. It was clear that the DEA suspected Melissa and/or Cheryl knew more about the drugs in the food than they admitted. They answered all the agent’s questions as best as they could. Thankfully, Janice was a top-notch attorney who didn’t allow Federal officers to intimidate her or her clients. Melissa suspected from the expression on the lead DEA agent’s face that he rather admired Janice’s spunk and intelligence. He kept everything strictly professional, but she thought she noticed a sly smile here and there whenever her attorney said something brilliant or sarcastic.

The best Melissa could tell from the way the questioning went, the DEA believed Derek had been hiding the X15 drug in Melissa’s bread bowls, particularly the Thyme Bread Bowls. All the other bread types seemed to have been left alone. Upon reviewing the customer receipts from Cheryl’s Seaside Sundries, everyone that became ill ordered their meals with that particular bread. All the bread bags stuffed with the drug that were found with Derek were that type, while all the others had been left alone. Agent Garland contended that was the young man’s way of keeping the drugged breads separate from the non-drugged ones. It was a simple system.

There were two main issues that now faced the DEA investigation: (1) Was anyone else involved in Derek’s scheme (i.e., Krissy, Melissa, Cheryl, or anyone else employed at Cheryl’s restaurant or Melissa’s bakery); and (2) Who was responsible for the death of Derek McCallie? Based on all available information, Agent Garland reasoned that Logan and/or Tanner could also be involved since they had gone to such lengths to locate the young man for their friend Krissy. All this sounded preposterous to everyone but the DEA agents. Even the local cops had voiced their disbelief to their Federal counterparts. Janice urged their lead representative to listen to the Kill Devil Hills police on this matter. Derek may have been an unsavory character recently come to town, but the folks the DEA were targeting in their search were good and upstanding citizens.

Melissa looked out the small window of the interview room to see her one other employee, Maddie, being brought in for questioning. “Poor Maddie,” she thought. “To think she took this job just to have something fun to do during her retirement. She certainly didn’t count on being dragged into these circumstances.” As she walked by, the elderly woman gave her a smile and a wink.

The DEA didn’t have any evidence to hold anyone after initial questioning so they were released to go in the mid-afternoon. One thing had been made abundantly clear – the DEA had nothing but suspicions regarding everyone they hauled in that day. However, as far as Melissa was concerned, they were certain Derek was responsible for the accidental drug overdoses and Mrs. Burnside’s death. They just needed to determine if someone helped him and if that someone killed him in the end.

Later that evening, the somber group crowded into Cheryl’s beachside condo to celebrate Ronnie’s release from the hospital. Despite the ordeal he looked great. A little pale from his usual dark tanned self, but definitely in good spirits. He recounted how sick he had been and his experience seeing their other friends and some tourists in the hospital with the same symptoms. He was grateful almost everyone recovered so quickly, but lamented how sad it was that the little Vega girl had lapsed into a coma. The doctors weren’t very optimistic at this point for her recovery.

After being at the police station most of the day, Cheryl’s plan for a huge feast of homemade delicacies had been thrown out the window. Instead they ordered pizza and relaxed on the deck overlooking the ocean. Krissy was not in the mood to celebrate anything. No one blamed her either. In addition to her boyfriend being found dead in the wee hours of the morning, the DEA had questioned her the longest. She knew Agent Garland suspected she was aware of what Derek had been doing. At this point, Krissy wouldn’t blame them if they suspected she killed him too. Deciding she needed to be alone, she thanked Cheryl for the food and started to walk back home. Jason didn’t think it was a good idea for her to be alone, but Melissa realized the poor girl needed some time to herself.

It was an early night as Melissa, Jason, and Logan returned home shortly after 9 p.m. Ronnie had tired easily after his whole ordeal and everyone needed some much deserved sleep. After everyone went off to their respective rooms, with Logan on the sofa, Krissy emerged quietly from her room. She motioned for Logan to join her on the back patio. Confused, he followed her outside.

Even in the pale moonlight that peeked through the clouds, he could tell Krissy was frightened. Without a word, she handed him a note on a shred of yellow lined paper. “I found this in my room when I got home,” she informed him.

Logan read the brief note. Chills ran up his spine as his eyes scanned over the poorly scrawled words. “Your boyfriend was a scumbag and deserved what he got. Unless you keep your stupid mouth shut about anything you think you may know, you will end up just like him.”

The young man read and re-read the short warning. What precisely was Krissy supposed to know that would earn her such a threat? When he asked her, she simply shook her head. She swore that she had not known Derek was back to dealing drugs until after everything happened. She didn’t know his contacts or his friends, if he even had any. Her voice trembled and her hands were visibly shaking. Logan stood up to go get Jason. Her father needed to know Krissy was being threatened. He was a cop. He should be able to do something. However, she grabbed his arm to prevent him from taking another step.

“Krissy, we HAVE to tell your dad!” Logan insisted. “This is serious!” The young woman, however, was adamant to keep silent. She argued that by telling her dad, she was telling the cops. The note warned her to keep her mouth shut and she intended to do just that. The two teenagers brainstormed what they could do about the situation. Not only was the DEA on their case, but now someone apparently on the opposite side of the law had Krissy in their sights.

After a while, Logan decided to consult with Tanner. He didn’t expect to get much insight from the beach bum with a heart of gold, but they needed another perspective. Krissy was against calling the other boy, but didn’t stop Logan when he dialed the number. Tanner agreed to sneak out later to join them in Jason’s backyard. Technically, he was still grounded until the end of time, but he was confident he could get out of the house. By the time he arrived, Krissy and Logan had exhausted all known possibilities about who would threaten her and why. However, Tanner had a theory. According to him, no drug dealer ever really worked alone. His supplier probably considered Derek’s little girlfriend a liability to his operation in town. It was unclear by the note whether the person doing the warning was responsible for Derek’s demise, but he wouldn’t rule it out.

Logan still thought they should tell Jason about the note, but neither Krissy nor Tanner agreed. In fact, young Tanner was now intent on doing some detective work of his own. Inwardly, he hoped to win the gratitude of the blue-haired beauty. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize the danger he would be placing himself in. No one else thought his plan was a good idea. Actually, the word Krissy used was “insane”. Although hesitant to go along with it, Logan agreed in the end. Despite the adults already being fast asleep inside the house, the night was still young, so they put the plan into action immediately.

Tanner texted several of his former pals when he was still an official “stoner”. He now mostly just pretended to be one, but had dabbled in the stuff briefly a year or two ago. After some back and forth with a dude named “Hoss”, he found out what he needed to know. Several of the guys working for the same moving company as Derek were known to deal in this new drug fad, known as X15. They apparently were the only connections in town to get a hold of the stuff. Hoss and his crew tried breaking into the business but had received several beatings until they backed off and returned to just pushing pot. The small group was known to be ruthless and territorial. Even Hoss voiced his concern that Tanner should not associate with that particular group of thugs. No high was worth that.

Despite his friend’s warning, along with Logan and Krissy’s pleads to forget about it, Tanner took off claiming he just intended to scope the guys out. If things got hairy, he’d bolt. However, if he did find out anything useful then he could give the cops an anonymous tip. The bad guys would be arrested and Krissy would be safe. Logan thought his friend was taking this gallant hero act a bit too far, but there was no stopping Tanner when his mind was made up.

After he left in search of the X15 pushers, Logan and Krissy kept a vigil on the back patio until they heard back from Tanner. Hours passed and they didn’t hear back from their friend. As the sun started to rise and turn the sky varying shades of purple and then pink, Logan fretted that Tanner had gotten himself into trouble. Texts and calls went unreturned. By this point, Krissy had worn out a patch of grass from pacing and her nails were bitten down to nubs.

Deciding against waking up Jason or his aunt, Logan took off in search of his friend. Using the phone finder app, he tracked the young man down to an abandoned stretch of beach just southeast of The Surf Shack. What he found shocked and scared him. Tanner was stumbling around swapping at imaginary objects in the sky. From his rantings, it appeared the boy was seeing swarms of unusually large insects. There could be only one reason he was hallucinating – drugs. Logan ran over to him to calm him down. “Dude,” Tanner slurred, “you got some industrial strength Raid or something? These bugs are HUGE!”

Although it was too early for anyone to be out on the beach except for the most dedicated sunrise watcher or surfer, Logan knew he had to get Tanner out of there quickly before someone reported seeing an intoxicated or high teenager roaming aimlessly. The last thing they needed was for the cops to discover him. The DEA could certainly use this situation to hammer the final nail in their case if Tanner was found with X15 in his system and Logan with him. Not knowing what else to do, Logan called his girlfriend Emily. Without explaining the full story, he begged her to drive out to the beach to pick them up. Within minutes she was there in her mom’s Lexus SVU.

After getting Tanner settled into his own bedroom and assuring himself that his friend was sleeping the whole thing off, Emily drove Logan back to Jason’s house. She was less than thrilled he was out at that time of the morning and even less enthused that Tanner was in such a state. After promising to call her later that morning to explain the whole sordid story, Logan snuck around the back of the house to find Krissy waiting, half asleep with her head on the wrought iron table. Unfortunately, Aunt Mel exited the house just as he ran back up. Deciding it was time to be 100% honest, he told her everything. Krissy was horrified that Logan would confess all to his aunt. However, after hearing what transpired with Tanner, she begrudgingly agreed it was best.

Considering the severity of the situation, Melissa insisted that Krissy talk to her father as soon as he woke up. She promised the distraught young woman that they would all work together to keep her safe and to figure everything out. A short while later, Jason joined them on the back patio. Melissa and Logan went back inside to give father and daughter time to talk alone. In the meantime, she called Janice. The young attorney was certainly going to earn her wages this summer.