A Pinch of Sea Salt and a Dash of Murder (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter 20

Before she knew it, summer was at an end. The last few weeks had flown by in a blur. Melissa’s brother would drive up next weekend to pick up Logan for school. She was really going to miss that young man. Having him visit was the highlight of her year. This year in particular she had really needed him. Logan had kept her focused and determined throughout that entire ordeal after Linda Stevenson’s death. It was due to Logan that she had fought as hard as she did for her freedom and the truth.

A lot had happened that summer. Eddie was arrested and charged with manslaughter. His father hired a team of high-priced attorneys to keep the young heir out of prison. Britney pled guilty to obstruction of justice and evidence tampering. She was sentenced to three years of community service at the local YMCA and probation for another 18 months after that. The young woman actually had the gall to come by the bakery one day to beg for her job back. Melissa slammed the door in her face.

The surly Detective Reynolds never apologized for his treatment of her. He begrudgingly admitted he was wrong, but argued that anyone could have made that mistake. However, the end of the case left him free to finally retire. With a nice gold commemorative watch and a letter of thanks, Larry Reynolds left the force and Kill Devil Hills. He and his wife moved to Augusta, Georgia, to be closer to their grandchildren. Melissa admitted she would absolutely NOT miss him.

Mr. Stevenson issued a written letter of apology to Melissa, after hearing from Janice Littleton, Attorney at Law. Melissa never considered suing him for slander, as her lawyer advised. She secretly didn’t mind Janice ruffling his feathers a little though. The man was just happy the life insurance policy paid out. It took him all of one week to sell Linda’s bakery to one of her assistants, put his house up for sale, and move to Miami with his new lady love – the leggy blonde from the strip club. His children were no longer speaking to him.

As the cool Atlantic Ocean lapped at her feet, she watched Logan trying to teach his new female friend Emily how to surf. She was the granddaughter of one her best clients, Mrs. Hawkins. The woman’s appetite for Melissa’s lemon-sage bread probably accounted for a few added pounds over the last year to her husband and herself. Emily, however, was smart and beautiful with long flowing blonde hair and a spattering of freckles over her nose. The two teenagers together were an adorable couple.

Melissa smiled thoughtfully. It was easy to see the two liked each other as more than friends, but they kept their budding relationship low key. With Logan returning to Charlotte and Emily headed back to Fairfax, Virginia, the two were mature enough to realize a long distance romance at their early age would be too difficult to maintain. Her nephew discussed his emergent feelings with his aunt over the course of the summer. She spent many a late night listening to him go on and on about Emily. Aunt Mel was thrilled to be the young man’s confidante. Young, innocent love was truly grand.

Laughing as she watched Emily fall off her board and into the arms of her teacher, Melissa felt a strong, tan arm surround her waist. She didn’t flinch. Instead, she placed her hand over Jason’s and leaned back into his muscular chest with a contented sigh. Never in a million years would she have believed that she could have feelings for a man other than Kevin. When he died, she truly imagined that all love had died with him.

Shortly after the conclusion of the case, there had been a knock on her door. When she opened it, she was greeted by an enormous bouquet of sunflowers. Hiding behind the flowers had been the detective that had helped clear her name and kept her out of jail. She tried to thank him a number of times. He decided that she could thank him by going to dinner with him, at least once. Well, that had been many dinners ago. Melissa and Jason had been near inseparable all summer. Best of all, Logan and Jason had become fast friends as well. If not with their respective lady friends, the two boys were fishing or surfing together. With the young man leaving soon, Jason threatened to make Melissa go fishing with him until next summer. She agreed, as long as she didn’t have to touch any bait.

Yes, the summer had been eventful in more ways than one. Although it started out horrific, Melissa didn’t regret a second of it. Because of the ordeal, she felt stronger than she had in years. The last few years alone had taken its toll. Now she enthusiastically embraced life anew. With her business booming, an upcoming guest spot on a nationally televised cooking show – thanks to her easy first place win at the Outer Banks Regional Bake-Off with her famous Rosemary Sea Salt bread – and a new man in her life, Melissa was indeed happier than she had been in years. Watching the young lovebirds splashing in the ocean, she smiled and knew that life had just begun again.

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Sage Advice to Cover Up a Murder

Chapter 1

Situated just south of Kill Devil Hills, NC, Oregon Inlet served to separate the more bustling northern Outer Banks communities from the small barrier islands. A massive hurricane in 1846 created the inlet - a new body of water between Bodie Island and Pea Island. The “Oregon” a ship trapped in the Pamlico Sound during the storm, witnessed the rift-causing event. Thus, the name. This spot had been well-known for ages as the prime fishing spot for any avid fisherman or woman.

William Hawkins spent what seemed to be his entire life with Johnson Shipping International. Now, at age 62, he finally realized his dream…to fish. Anytime, anywhere. He would no longer be a victim of the white-collar meat-grinder. His wife was none too happy with his abrupt early retirement. Frankly, he no longer cared what she wanted. As far as he was concerned, tonight was the most exciting day of his life. No meetings. No status reports due. No finding new ways to cover up details of dirty deals for Mr. Edward Johnson, Sr. No, today was wide open. Nothing for him to do but breathe in the salt air off the Atlantic Ocean as he repeatedly cast his large surf rod and reel into the waters of Oregon Inlet. William meant to spend as much as his retirement right here with a fishing rod in one hand and a bottle of Coors in the other.  Most importantly, he meant to spend as much time away from his nagging wife of 40 years.

As the sun descended over the infamous North Carolina dunes, William unloaded his old light blue ’72 Chevrolet C20 truck. He had everything he needed for an entire night’s worth of fishing:

• One rod and reel
  
• Full tackle box with all the essentials for surf fishing
  
• Cooler full of beer and water bottles, with plenty of bait wedged in
  
• Italian sub on wheat bread with chips from the local bait and sandwich shop
  
• Extra jacket if the breeze off the ocean got too chilly
  
• Loaf of lemon sage bread still wrapped in the decorative paper from the Kill Devil Delicacies bakery to snack on
  
• Beach chair with cup holder
  
• Camp lanterns and a large flashlight
  
• Large fish net
  
• Cell phone (turned off)
  

Yes, William was set for his first perfect night as a retiree.

Hours later, as the sun began to rise again over the Atlantic Ocean, Logan slowed his scooter down as it traversed the pavement onto the sandy beach of Oregon Inlet. The place was mostly deserted, except for an ancient looking truck parked further out, closer to the rocks bordering the bridge. The young teen didn’t see anyone around though. Whoever owned the truck must be nearby as a ragged beach chair was still embedded in the sand, despite the tide threatening to engulf it.

Before unloading his own fishing gear from the small compartment on the back of the scooter, Logan attempted to rescue the chair before it was washed away by the waves. As he moved the chair back to higher ground, he looked around for the truck’s occupant. “It’s probably some dude passed out after a night of fishing and drinking,” he thought as he approached the Chevy. This spot was known for night fishing, but his aunt never allowed him to fish alone at night. Mostly because she knew it was common for night fisherman to bring plenty of alcohol to keep them company throughout the long hours until dawn. With his aunt’s boyfriend working the night shift, Logan had to wait for morning.

As the teenaged boy turned the corner of the truck, he discovered an elderly man lying unconscious in the sand. He ran over to check if the man was okay. Logan noticed the awkward position of the man’s body, as if he had fallen from the tailgate of the truck over the side. He kneeled beside the white-haired man and shook him slightly in an attempt to wake him. Unsuccessful, the boy worried that the man was seriously injured or had a heart attack. Intending to attempt CPR, he checked for a pulse and leaned over to listen to his chest for a heartbeat. No pulse, no heartbeat, no breath. The man was already cold to the touch.

In a panic, Logan grabbed a cell phone that was clutched in the dead man’s hand. He dialed 911. After he relayed all the information to the 911 operator and waited for the paramedics to arrive, the frightened young man thought back to last summer. To say it had been eventful would be an understatement. At the start of his summer vacation, he discovered the dead body of Mrs. Stevenson in his Aunt Mel’s bakery – the Kill Devil Delicacies. It had not taken long to prove his aunt didn’t kill the woman, but the event had cast a damper over the start of his summer. The majority of the season had been salvaged once they discovered the real killer. Although he admitted it had added excitement to his vacation, he had hoped that this summer would be less dramatic. Sadly, Logan’s summer was about to get much worse.

Rosemary Sea Salt Bread

Ingredients:

4 Cups Flour

2 ¼ Cups Water

2 tsp Salt

¼ tsp Dry Active Yeast

2 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary Chopped Finely or 1 Tbsp. Dry Rosemary Flakes

1 Tbsp. Coarse Sea Salt – Sprinkled on top of bread at time of baking

Cornmeal - Sprinkled in the Dutch oven – not mixed in dry the ingredients

Instructions:

Mix flour, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  If using Dry Rosemary Flakes then mix them in the dry ingredients.  Or if you’re using Fresh Rosemary then mix it with the water and allow it to soak in the water for at least 5 minutes to allow the flavor to spread through the water.  Then pour and mix the wet ingredients into and with the dry ingredients.  Stir until ingredients are well mixed.  Dough may seem extra moist, which is perfectly normal.  Then cover the bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours.

Preheat the oven to 500ºF with a cast iron Dutch oven or Le Creuset style enameled pot in the oven preheating as well.   Once the oven and Dutch oven has been preheated, pull the Dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid.  Then sprinkle some cornmeal in the bottom of the Dutch oven.  On a lightly floured surface pour out the dough, form into a ball, and place inside of the Dutch oven.  At this point sprinkle the Coarse Sea Salt over the top of the bread.  Replace the Dutch oven lid and place the Dutch oven in the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake for 8-15 minutes, depending on how brown you want the crust to be.

Note:  If you don’t have 12-18 hours to allow the dough to rest, you may increase the amount of yeast to 1 tsp and only wait 6 hours before baking the dough.  However, the longer you weight, the more sourdough-like the bread will be.

The trick to this bread is allowing it to rest for the 12-18 hours and its high moisture content, which turns to steam while being baked with the lid on the Dutch oven.  Once we remove the Dutch oven lid, then we begin to bake the outside for a nice crispy crust!