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

Talk about a bad case of déjà vu! Logan and Melissa knew this scenario well. Early summer inside an interrogation room at the police precinct. This was a habit both wished to break. The small room was unbearably hot as it was the middle of June in the humid North Carolina Outer Banks and the air conditioning in the building was on the fritz. Portable fans placed throughout the building did little to offer respite from the heat.

The precinct waiting room was packed with friends and family members of those stricken by the “illness”. Even though the CDC had no conclusive evidence it was indeed a disease that had broken out in their small town, they had to treat it as if it were. The break room had been turned into a medical post where everyone was evaluated by CDC representatives who performed physical examinations of everyone known to have been in contact with anyone admitted to the hospital. Peeking out the interview room door, Melissa saw Krissy being escorted to the break room for her check-up by a short, plump woman in her late thirties with dark blonde hair pulled back in a hair net and her hands covered by Latex gloves. From where she sat, Melissa couldn’t see the young woman’s face but imagined this was not the kind of summer vacation Krissy imagined when she came to stay with her father.

Both Melissa and Logan already had their check-ups, complete with vials of blood drawn and having to pee into a small cup. Normally, all this should have taken place in the hospital, but the CDC wished to keep the “well” from the “sick”; as separated as possible. Jason had even told her that Dr. Nelson had put a ban on visitors in the hospital. Even closest family members weren’t being allowed to visit loved ones anymore. Not until this situation was resolved. Anyone else needing medical attention, other than for those specific symptoms, were being sent by ambulance to nearby Kitty Hawk. He had just escorted one poor woman and her husband to the tiny facility there when she had gone into labor. They barely made it before the baby made its first appearance. Jason was thrilled it had waited though. He had no desire to be the one to deliver a baby.

Just as Melisa was about to lose her patience waiting to be interviewed by the CDC, the tall, flame-haired Dr. Nelson entered the room and closed the door. A quick introduction, the doctor got right down to business. He explained that it appeared all the patients admitted to the hospital with the same symptoms had one thing in common – they ate at Cheryl’s Seaside Sundries. Melissa didn’t dare tell him that her boyfriend had already filled her in on that tidbit. Without glancing up at the two interviewees, Dr. Nelson continuously jotted notes down on his legal size notepad as they talked. Most of the questions were quite innocent – Have you eaten at Cheryl’s in the past? Have you ever gotten sick from her food before? When was the last time you ate something from there? Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms? The line of questioning went on for several minutes with nothing notable to report. However, the questions became more centered on the bread items Melissa provided to Cheryl’s business which were numerous. Melissa’s bakery provided all the bread sticks, sandwich breads, and bread bowls for soups and salads to the small shop.

Thankfully, Jason interrupted after thirty minutes into the interview. The small amount of air that wafted into the muggy room felt like a cooling summer breeze off the ocean, but the effect lasted only a matter of seconds. With a clouded expression, he handed the doctor a manila file folder. Exiting the room, he flashed a smile of encouragement at his girlfriend and her nephew and propped the door open with a small trash can. Unfortunately, the doctor preferred the door to be closed and once again they were ensconced in stifling heat. Dr. Nelson took his time perusing the file while Melissa and Logan waited with sweat dripping down their faces. His eyes were hidden behind his wire-rimmed glasses, but Melissa could see his forehead crinkle in contemplation. Finally, he placed the folder down on the table and looked back across the table at the duo.

“Mrs. Maples,” he began, “I just received a report regarding what specifically the afflicted patients ingested from Mrs. Lankford’s little restaurant. It seems that 100% of the patients ordered soups served in bread bowls from your bakery. The CDC does not believe the outbreak is just a bad case of food poisoning due to the severity and the variability of the symptoms experienced by the patients. However, we will need to conduct a thorough investigation of your bakery and all the food items there. We have not found any known contagions yet in Mrs. Lankford’s shop, but are still searching for anything viral, fungal, or bacterial that could have jump started this outbreak. I would appreciate your permission to allow my personnel into the Kill Devil Delicacies bakery to do the same analysis. However, please know that if permission is not given we will simply serve a search warrant in order to gain access to the premises.” 

Flabbergasted, Melissa sputtered, “Of course, please do whatever you have to do.” Pleased, the doctor made a quick phone call from the antiquated landline on the table and then continued his interview. His questions mostly centered on where she obtained the ingredients for her breads, her cleaning and sanitization procedures, and who had access to anything in the process from mixing the ingredients to delivery of the final products. All her ingredients were organic and grown locally, including all herbs grown in her own garden at home. Only Melissa and Maddie ever participated in the mixing of ingredients and baking. Logan usually delivered the breads to Cheryl, but sometimes Krissy would take them over before starting work.

Melissa wished she hadn’t been so forthcoming by the time the interview was over. Based on the answers she provided, Dr. Nelson decided to quarantine her home as well. She listened helplessly as he called for a team of CDC investigators to search her home and seal it up. They weren’t even to be allowed back inside to get clothes or toothbrushes! This guy certainly was serious about his job, which was a good thing but Melissa wished he wasn’t so overly vigilant. She didn’t intend to spend the next few days or even weeks in the same clothes! Dr. Nelson tried to reassure her. He even informed her that her friend Cheryl had already been evicted from her home until such time as they could determine if it was safe. For the moment it appeared that Melissa and Logan were homeless.

With it being the heart of vacation season in Kill Devil Hills, and tourists trapped in the town until the CDC said otherwise, there were no hotel rooms to be found for Melissa and Logan. In addition, Cheryl had been banned from her home as well while her home was investigated for contaminants or contagions that could have made it into the food supply. As they walked out of the police precinct, Logan remarked snidely, “What exactly are we supposed to do? Camp out at the beach?” to anyone who would listen.

Luckily, there was one thing Melissa had plenty of in Kill Devil Hills – friends. She was already on the phone with her assistant Maddie when Jason ran out after them. After calmly reassuring Maddie that everything would be fine but the bakery had to remain closed for the foreseeable future, she was just about to ask for a place to stay when Jason interrupted her. With Maddie on hold, he insisted that Melissa and Logan stay with him. “Maddie, I’ll call you back,” she said into the phone and ended the call. Then, to Jason, she said, “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” Logan, of course, thought it was the perfect solution and said as much. Why shouldn’t his aunt’s boyfriend let them crash at his place?

Jason knew the reason Melissa hesitated to accept his offer – Krissy. He looked into Melissa’s big, beautiful hazel eyes and reached for her hands. “I promise. We will make this work. It may not be easy and we may be a little cramped in my two bedroom townhouse, but we will make this work for us.” Melissa smiled up at him and nodded, but added that if the situation was too awkward for his daughter, they would find alternate arrangements. With that settled, Jason went back into the precinct to wait for his daughter’s interview to finish while Melissa and Logan strolled to the corner market to grab some supplies – toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.

As expected, having house guests didn’t sit well with Krissy. With the extra arrival of Cheryl Lankford, the young woman became even grumpier than usual. Jason gave up his room to the two ladies, while he camped out in the living room with Logan. The guests tried their best to make things easy on their hosts. Quite frankly, Jason enjoyed their company and enjoyed all the scrumptious food cooked up by having two fantastic chefs as roommates. Krissy, on the other hand, was less than enthusiastic and complained incessantly. Melissa tried her best to give the girl enough space, but the cramped quarters didn’t help matters.

A week went by and still the CDC wouldn’t allow them back into their homes or businesses. The news reported that no new cases had been diagnosed, but the cause of the outbreak still remained a mystery. Some patients had recovered, but not enough to be sent home. However, some patients worsened over the week. It was mostly the elderly and very young that had the hardest time. Watching the news one morning as Melissa cooked breakfast, Logan was saddened to see a reporter interviewing one of the older teenagers that sometimes hung out with Tanner at the beach – Kyle Vega. His sister was one of the patients that had taken a turn for the worse. She was now in a coma. The young man was obviously distraught, but the smiling reporter just kept asking him questions and shoving the microphone in his face. Krissy walked into the room and remarked about the horrid smell coming from the kitchen. It was Logan’s favorite turkey bacon with a smoked gouda cheese and spinach omelet. He rolled his eyes since obviously she was just being her usual rude self. He thought it smelled fantastic! Krissy saw Kyle on the news and made a comment about “poor guy”, but then left in a hurry without eating.

Since they couldn’t go into work and weren’t allowed back at home yet either, Melissa and Cheryl spent a lot of their spare time volunteering at the local soup kitchen or trying out new recipes in Jason’s kitchen. Jason enjoyed being a test subject for all their new creations. Some worked out well – like the lemon pepper chicken orzo soup paired with a new version of Melissa’s thyme bread with an assortment of five different cheeses. The gazpacho with a dash of citrus splash served with her infamous Sea Salt and Rosemary bread was a huge hit, too. However, the country vegetable soup with parsnips in lieu of carrots did not go well with the jalapeño cheddar bread at all. Most evenings Jason came home to find his entire kitchen covered in flour and dirty dishes. He didn’t mind; however, it was a sore spot with his daughter.

Melissa really was trying to make inroads with the young woman. She knew it was important to Jason. He loved his daughter immensely and he loved Melissa. More than anything he wanted them to form a lasting friendship, ultimately because he intended to keep them both in his life for all his days. Melissa realized this and truly wanted to get to know the young woman, but obstinate teenagers could be difficult on normal days. If one didn’t want to be your friend, it just wasn’t going to happen. As the days staying at the townhouse drew on it became more and more apparent to Melissa that things may not pan out the way Jason hoped.

She and Cheryl discussed the situation at length as they cooked and baked the days away. Her friend didn’t have any advice to give except to let events run their course. No one could force the young woman to like Melissa and she expected Krissy wasn’t even giving her a chance because she wasn’t her mom. It would take time for her to accept Melissa as a permanent person in her father’s life, but eventually she would have to do just that – accept it. Sometimes though, Melissa wondered if she really was a “permanent” person in Jason’s life. She had never imagined having a long-term relationship with anyone other than her late husband, Kevin. After two years with Jason, she couldn’t envision life without him. However, she now knew, better than most, that nothing is ever guaranteed. If his daughter absolutely objected to Melissa being in his life, she preferred to exit sooner rather than later.

Dwelling on the subject made Melissa too serious for Cheryl’s liking. As they worked side by side in the kitchen, Cheryl did the only thing she could conceive of to lighten the mood – she took a giant glob of thyme bread dough and smeared in down Melissa’s face. Stunned, and rather disgusted as she accidently inhaled a twig of thyme, she fought back. Within minutes the kitchen and adjacent breakfast nook were covered in dough, flour, and herbs. There wasn’t a clean spot to be seen. They were so busy throwing whatever ingredients they could get their hands on at each other while yelling bogus threats and laughing hysterically, they didn’t hear Jason come into the house with the CDC representative, Dr. Nelson behind him.

The two men watched in amusement as neither woman realized they were no longer alone. It wasn’t until a glob of dough missed Cheryl and sailed through the room to smack Dr. Nelson in the face that they became aware of the men’s presence. Both middle-aged women stopped in mid-battle with childish guilty looks on their faces before they both busted out laughing uncontrollably. Jason smiled sheepishly at their antics, but he couldn’t gage the doctor’s reaction. After multiple apologies, the women started to clean up while Jason explained the doctor’s presence. Melissa offered him a wet washcloth to wipe the sticky dough off his face as she listened to what he had to say.

Apparently, the CDC had been unable to diagnose the exact cause of the outbreak, if that was indeed what this was. All the patients had similar symptoms, but severity and tolerance were dependent upon the overall health of the patient before becoming ill. Nothing in their investigation revealed a virus, fungus, bacteria or any known contagion that would have affected such a large number of people. Cheryl asked, “Does this mean the CDC is pulling out of town? Can we all go home now?” Sadly, the doctor shook his head.

He continued his story though. After ruling out viral, fungal, or bacterial contamination, he ordered more tests run on the bloodwork from the patients when they were initially hospitalized and compared it to new bloodwork. This time he requested tests for known poisons, chemicals, or drugs. “Oh dear,” Melissa thought, “Not poison again.” Last summer poor Mr. Hawkins had been thought to have been poisoned by her lemon sage bread. The women waited for Dr. Nelson to finish when Krissy and Logan walked back in. Both teenagers were aghast at the sight of the CDC doctor in the house, but Logan chuckled at the mess covering the kitchen as well as Melissa and Cheryl’s clothes and person. He couldn’t wait to hear what happened. The doctor continued to explain that one thing came back on every single patients’ bloodwork – a relatively new street drug called X15. It had not been a virus that made everyone sick. Somehow they had all ingested the dangerous drug. Seeing as the commonality was still Cheryl’s soup and salad shop and Melissa’s bakery, the DEA was on its way to Kill Devil Hills to take up the investigation from that point. Considering the circumstances, everyone could start returning to their homes and the quarantine was lifted, but Melissa and Cheryl’s residences and businesses remained closed under government order. Everyone was shocked by the news, of course. Melissa had a ton of questions for the doctor, but he didn’t have anything further he could reveal to them. “Mam,” he began, “Neither of you seem like the drug dealing types. We don’t believe any of the victims willingly knew they were taking drugs, particularly the elderly woman that unfortunately passed away. However, I suggest you both cooperate fully with the DEA to resolve this mystery. They will need to find out who is peddling this junk and how it ended up connected to your businesses. This is serious stuff here. If you or any of your employees are found to be connected in any way to this drug, you or they could go away to prison for a very, very long time.”

Melissa and Cheryl thanked the doctor for his warning, but assured him they knew nothing about drugs being dealt in Kill Devil Hills or anywhere for that matter. They agreed to cooperate fully. With that, the doctor said his farewells as he headed back to CDC headquarters in Atlanta to give them a full debrief on the situation. Melissa started to clean up the kitchen as Cheryl showered so she could visit her husband in the hospital. He had mostly recovered, but the CDC order had kept him hospitalized. Perhaps he could be released from the hospital now, but with her house still cordoned off for the DEA to investigate they had nowhere to go. Regardless, she had been away from Ronnie for too long and rushed to get to the hospital. Logan helped his aunt clean up the kitchen while Jason fired up the grill outside for hamburgers and hot dogs. Everyone was so busy, no one noticed Krissy sneak back out the front door and dash down the street on foot.