A Time to Live and a Thyme for Murder! (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 3) (5 page)

The next morning Melissa thought it odd when Logan appeared for breakfast. “Wasn’t he spending the night with Tanner?” she thought. Regardless, she was happy he was there. Cheryl made coffee for the entire household of guests while Melissa whipped up some crepes with fresh strawberries and cream. The aroma filled the entire townhouse and even enticed the normally late-sleeper Krissy out of bed earlier than usual. With the bakery and Cheryl’s shop closed down by the CDC, there hadn’t been a big reason for the girl to hop out of bed early for work. She had relished the extra sleep and sometimes hadn’t woken up before noon. Today, despite her late night, the young woman even seemed somewhat chipper. Probably the first time since Melissa, Cheryl, and Logan became guests there, Krissy actually smiled and said “Good morning” as she poured herself a tall cup of coffee. Even Jason appeared surprised by the new demeanor exhibited by his one and only child, but he knew better than to mention it.

Logan and Krissy took their crepes outside to the back patio as the adults continued their conversation in the cramped kitchen. Ronnie, Cheryl’s husband, would likely be released the next day from the hospital. That was fantastic news, but the Lankford residence was still under a Federal lockdown now with the DEA expected to arrive later that morning. Cheryl was anxious to get back into her own home, as was Melissa. She worried about “overstaying” her welcome at Jason’s house. Of course, he loved having his girlfriend living there but everyone was well aware that the entire situation did not sit well with his daughter. Melissa respected the young woman’s feelings and thought it best she vacate before all good will was eroded between herself and Krissy. She loved Jason and realized she wanted a future with him. However, without his daughter’s blessing, Melissa knew she would simply need to walk away. She and Krissy would never forge a friendship if the current state of affairs didn’t change soon.

After breakfast, Cheryl decided to plan out a celebratory feast for when Ronnie was released from the hospital. She refused to add one more guest to Jason’s tiny townhouse, so she already made preparations to rent out a beach condo for however long it took to get back into her house. Before moving out though, she intended to show her appreciation to her host with a scrumptious meal. Melissa offered to come with her to the market as soon as she finished cleaning up the kitchen. Refilling his travel mug with coffee, Jason took off to work to meet with his partner, Cory Bronson, and the lead DEA agent expected to arrive that morning. Melissa poked her head out the back door to let Logan and Krissy know where they would be and ask if they needed anything. She was surprised to find the two teenagers with their heads together and talking in soft tones. They definitely looked like they were conspiring together, but regarding what she couldn’t imagine. It wasn’t like they had been chummy all summer. They usually avoided each other. “Maybe things are turning around?” Melissa thought with a smile.

After everyone left, Logan pulled out his phone so he and Krissy could look over the pictures he took of Mrs. Burnside’s autopsy report. Most of the reports he couldn’t understand, but Krissy was able to decipher some items, despite Dr. Wiggins incredibly horrible writing.  The elderly woman had died from drug overdose. That was blatantly clear, but the coroner couldn’t determine exactly how she came to have drugs in her system. Krissy read off the chemicals found in the blood work, as well as from tissue samples. She wasn’t a scientist, but easily identified those most commonly found in synthetic street drugs. Logan wasn’t sure he wanted to know how she knew that information. Seeing the questioning look he gave her, Krissy admitted that she had taken Advanced Placement Chemistry in high school, passed the test for college credit, and part of the course allowed her the opportunity to conduct a research project alongside some graduate students from UNC. Her research had been used by the students to obtain a grant for more research on how to effectively counter the addictive effects of the drugs used on patients in rehabilitation. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He never suspected she was such a smart student with interests above and beyond just getting by. She certainly didn’t act or dress the part. Logan was impressed.

Krissy brought out her laptop to research the chemical composition indicated in the coroner’s notes. Her hunch was that it would match with the CDC representative’s claim that X15 was found in the patients in the hospital. Her hunch was correct. Apparently, poor Mrs. Burnside took in a large amount of the drug. The question now was “How?” Ruling out the possibility that the elderly woman had a street drug addiction, the teen duo brainstormed other ways she may have come into contact with X15.

Seeing as everyone that became sick had eaten at Cheryl’s Seaside Sundries, Krissy theorized that somehow X15 came into contact with the food there. They both agreed that Cheryl certainly wouldn’t have knowingly put that stuff in her food. Aside from a glass of red wine every now and then, she was as straight-laced as they came. There were a couple other workers at the restaurant, aside from Krissy, but they weren’t likely suspects either. With an apologetic, but questioning look from Logan, Krissy realized that out of everyone who worked for Cheryl that she would be the more likely suspect. She quickly reassured him that she didn’t do drugs, she didn’t deal drugs, and that she didn’t support those that did do drugs. However, a sad look crossed her young features which didn’t escape Logan’s notice. Without having to ask, he knew – Derek.

Begrudgingly, Krissy filled Logan in on Derek’s shenanigans over the last couple years. Part of that entailed doing a little time in juvenile hall for drug dealing. When he showed up in Kill Devil Hills, he promised Krissy that it was all behind him. She wanted to believe him desperately, but there was too much of a coincidence with his arrival and the recent appearance of X15 in the small seaside town. Even if he was involved, neither teen could figure out how X15 got into the food supply at Cheryl’s restaurant. It was a theory to go on, but they needed more information. After last night, Krissy didn’t think Derek was going to be too cooperative in that category. Even if he wasn’t directly involved, chances are he knew someone that was involved.

While at the farmer’s market, Melissa and Cheryl’s discussion centered around one topic – how did everyone that became ill come into contact with a dangerous street drug? No one in their right mind would believe that even a small percentage of the patients consciously took the drug, if any. Cheryl was nervous because everyone that became sick, and even poor Mrs. Burnside, ate at her restaurant. According to the CDC doctor, her shop was the focal point of the investigation. Somehow X15 had infiltrated her business. That meant that someone had to bring it in. At no time in the past had she had problems with her employees and she certainly didn’t suspect one or more of them developed a new hobby drug dealing. However, one thing did bother Cheryl. There was only one outlying factor that made this summer different from any other summer over the past five years – her newest employee, Krissy. Cheryl kept these thoughts to herself for now though. She didn’t want to alarm her friend, especially since this was her boyfriend’s daughter that may be up to no good. Instead, Cheryl vowed to herself to see what she could find out about the girl before bringing her suspicions to Melissa.

When Jason entered the precinct he knew the DEA had already arrived. The place was swarmed with unfamiliar personnel who had taken over all the local cops’ workstations. The uniformed police looked frustrated as they tried to accommodate the onslaught of Federal agents while still attending to their own business. The only Kill Devil Hills employee not looking put out was Jason’s partner, Cory. The man was smiling like a giddy child in a candy store. The elder detective knew the younger man was not completely satisfied with the life of a small town police officer. It had been obvious from Day 1 that he had bigger dreams for his career. Jason just hoped Cory didn’t use this particular case to make a name for himself at the expense of some really good townspeople – namely Cheryl.

Chief Monroe stood just outside his office looking perturbed. He had been on the force for so many years, he completely forgot he ever had a life as a civilian. However, the last few summers of amped up crime was taking its toll. Now, for the third year in a row, his police force faced a much more serious crime than underage drinking on the beach and petty theft. As soon as the CDC doctor had said the word, “street drug”, he knew the small seaside town was in dire trouble. Sure, they had arrested punks dealing in the back alleys and beaches alike over the years. But X15 was not your average, run-of-the-mill drug. Although the Chief knew they needed the DEA to help root out this particular problem, he hated having his police department overrun by the Feds. They mostly complicated matters, in his humble opinion. “No,” he thought grimly, “this summer was looking to be the worst in recent history for Kill Devil Hills.

As soon as he saw Jason, the chief motioned him over to his office. “Bring that partner of yours, too,” he yelled across the squad room. He closed the office door behind them. “Gentlemen,” he began, “I know that I don’t have to remind either of you to cooperate fully with the Federal agents, but I did want to discuss some items with you before their lead agent arrives. Apparently, Agent Garland didn’t feel the need to check in with us before heading over to Cheryl’s restaurant first thing this morning. He just sent his minions to take everything over here in the meantime.” The chief filled the two detectives in on what little he knew of the turn in the investigation. They already knew most of the situation. The CDC ruled that everyone became ill due to the street drug X15. Most had recovered and would be released from the hospital in the next day or two, except for a young girl who was comatose and her diagnosis was not good. No one knew how the drug got into everyone’s systems or who even brought the stuff to town. Even the DEA didn’t believe everyone hospitalized, and even the deceased Mrs. Burnside, were druggies.

The chief continued, “Jason, the one common denominator in all this is Cheryl Lankford’s restaurant. I know your girlfriend is good friends with Cheryl. I hate to do this, but I have to ask – can you remain objective in this case?” Jason assured him and Cory that he could. The chief didn’t doubt it for a second, but his partner had a less than convinced expression. Regardless, Cory nodded his agreement. “Great!” the chief continued. “You two will be working side by side Agent Garland once he sees fit to honor us lowly locals with his presence. Lucky for you, that means you are the only ones in the station that actually get to keep your own desks and computers. Everyone else has been ordered to surrender their workstations to the Federal agents.” It was highly apparent that the chief did not relish the idea of his police force being taken over by anyone. It had been bad enough with all the CDC agents swarming the conference rooms and halls. At least most of those guys had been doctors and nurses.

As they continued to discuss the case, there was a sharp rap on the office door. Without waiting for the chief to invite whoever in, the door opened and an incredibly tall man in his early thirties strolled through the door. Jason guessed this was Agent Garland. He had the look – athletic build, short-cropped hair, serious hazel eyes, and he exuded an air of confidence found only in highly trained military personnel. Glancing sideways at this partner, Jason noticed that Cory sat up straighter in his chair and his facial expression was somber. Either the younger detective was intimidated by the agent or desperately wanted to impress him.

The agent held out his hand while he introduced himself to the assembled trio. His name was Agent Thomas Garland with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Jason refrained from making a comment that they knew what DEA stood for. He didn’t believe the agent would be amused. He asked to be called Agent Garland in front of the rest of the officers outside, but since they would be working closely together they could refer to him as Tom or Thomas. Chief Monroe, in turn, introduced himself and his lead detectives. As everyone stood to shake hands, Agent Garland moved around to the chief’s side of the desk and took a seat.

Agent Garland didn’t waste any time getting to the point. X15 was a highly dangerous street drug new to the scene. However, this was the first time they had seen a case of the drug anywhere outside of a major urban area. Currently, Baltimore and the streets of the nation’s capital were in an X15 crisis. The drug had a high fatality rate when taken the usual ways – snorting or through a needle. The agent deemed Kill Devil Hills lucky that only one person died. He revealed he had already read all the medical reports on the patients in the hospital and the autopsy report on Mrs. Burnside. Due to the concentration of the drugs in their digestive system, and the main symptom being violent vomiting, the DEA believed that the drug had been ingested with food or drink. Since all reports of the victims did not indicate a high population of known drug users in the small town, they were going on the presumption that the drug had been accidentally consumed.

“Well, at least we are all on the same page regarding that point,” Jason thought to himself. Agent Garland continued by explaining that the main issue was to find whoever introduced the drug to Kill Devil Hills and to find his/her suppliers. Since all the victims had one thing in common – Cheryl’s Seaside Sundries – he planned to focus the investigation on the small shop, its employees, and its suppliers. At this, Cory looked over at his partner. This was not unnoticed by the agent who asked about it. Jason cringed when his own partner informed the agent that one such supplier was Jason’s girlfriend, Melissa. He explained to the interested agent that the Kill Devil Delicacies provided Cheryl with all the breads she served with her soups, salads, and sandwiches. Not stopping there, even with warning looks from both the Chief and Jason, Cory went on to explain Melissa’s mishaps over the last couple years with the death of her main competitor in her own bakery and the suspicious death of an elderly man last summer from poison that had been baked into a faux version of her artisan bread.

Of course, Agent Garland was highly intrigued with this information. Jason realized Cory thought he was doing his job, but he was still highly annoyed with the forthrightness of his partner. It wasn’t as if Jason would hide that information from the agent, but did Cory have to make it sound so dubious? Chief Monroe started to explain the two situations, but the agent cut him off by simply asking for the case files so he could read about it himself. However, he delivered a stern warning to Jason – if at any time he believed Jason was withholding information or not doing his job properly in order to protect his girlfriend rather than find the culprit(s) with the drugs, then he would not only be off the case, but would also be issued a restraining order keeping him away from the investigation until its end. Jason nodded his assent. He had no intention of letting his personal feelings get in the way of the investigation, but he knew neither Cheryl nor Melissa had anything to do with the recent introduction of X15.

The agent seemed satisfied and proceeded with a quick review of what they knew and what they needed to find out ASAP. He notified them that he already sent uniformed officers to bring in all employees of Cheryl’s Seaside Sundries for questioning. As if on cue, Jason looked at the office window to see his blue-haired daughter Krissy being escorted to an interview room.