Sage Advice to Cover Up a Murder! (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 2) (11 page)

Another summer in Kill Devil Hills flew by too fast for the young man. It had been quite another season of mystery and adventure. “Thankfully,” he thought, “all’s well that ends well”. Emily recovered quickly from her exposure to the poison. However, she had yet to heal from the emotional scars after she learned her grandmother had intended to poison her grandfather. The fact that he did indeed die of natural causes failed to alleviate the pain. Her family and friends, especially Logan, worked hard all summer to help her heal physically and emotionally.

At first Logan feared that Emily would no longer stay in the small seaside town during the summer since her grandmother was locked up. However, Joey Hawkins surprised everyone, including himself, when he decided that the family needed more quality time together. What better place to do that than to take off from his strenuous job during the summer and relax at the beach? Emily was overjoyed. Her mother and older brother were shocked! The family had never taken an extended vacation together. Dad always worked. For years he reasoned that his job took them to exotic places so that substituted for real vacations. The move had proven highly beneficial to Emily’s well-being, as well as the rest of the family. By the end of the summer the family agreed that every summer should be spent together in Kill Devil Hills, NC. This, of course, made Logan Jones very happy.

The events of early summer had other long-lasting effects for the Jones family. Logan expected his dad to rush back to Charlotte, NC to his career. Instead, John David stuck around for another week to spend some much needed quality time with his son. They agreed Logan should stay with his aunt the rest of the summer, as usual. However, some things changed. Every other weekend throughout the summer John David and his wife drove out to visit their son. The couple even took an unheard of two week vacation in July to celebrate Logan’s birthday.

Melissa didn’t mind one bit having all the extra people staying with her in the small bungalow home. It gave her a chance to reconnect with her brother. Besides, witnessing the growing bond between John David and his son melted her heart. It was long overdue. However, her attempts to teach her sister-in-law to bake Logan’s favorite dessert – actually to teach her to bake anything – tried even Melissa’s most patient soul.

As the summer drew to a close, Melissa hosted a picnic at the beach for the entire Jones and Hawkins families, as well as close friends. Tanner even showed up with a Yeti cooler full of water bottles and sodas, in lieu of his usual disguised beer cans. For the first time in their acquaintance, Janice walked up in shorts and a tank top instead of her modest business suits and sensible heels. However, she did have an interesting accessory on her arm – a certain young detective by the name of Cory Bronson. Melissa shook her head. How those two ever got together was beyond her comprehension. The two appeared very happy though. Cory had immediately and profusely apologized to Melissa at the end of the investigation of Mr. Hawkins’ death. At one point, his continuous requests for forgiveness became downright comical.

Melissa watched as Logan and Emily strolled hand in hand down the beach. She was so grateful that the two youngsters managed to not only maintain their friendship throughout the ordeal, but had become even closer. Just then, an arm reached around Melissa’s waist. She leaned back into Jason’s strong, broad chest. Closing her eyes, she felt peaceful. With the end of summer, things around Kill Devil Hills would slow down to their normal routine. She knew she would miss having her family around the nine long months until next summer. However, this time she realized with satisfaction that her nephew no longer faced those months feeling alone and ignored by his parents. From now on, the young man would experience all the love and attention a strong family had to offer. Despite the crazy circumstances that brought them to this place, the result was indeed worth all the trouble. Witnessing the renewed bond between father and son, Melissa sighed. This was a true family. She couldn’t have been any happier.  

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A Time to Live and a Thyme to Die

Chapter 1

For once Melissa Maples’ summer started out relatively uneventful. The last two summers had been chalk full of mystery and mayhem from the get-go. Two years ago, she walked into her own bakery with her beloved nephew Logan to discover the dead body of a rival baker. One year ago, Logan found the dead body of his girlfriend’s grandfather on his first day of fishing at Oregon Inlet. Both deaths tied back to her and the bakery somehow and they spent the early part of both summers fighting to prove their innocence in both events.

This summer started out peaceful, for the most part. At least no dead bodies, so for Melissa, that was a huge plus in her book. Logan was back for his annual visit. Another visitor was in town this year though. Kristina Payne, Jason Payne’s daughter, was staying with her dad for the summer before heading off to the University of North Carolina (UNC) – Wilmington in the fall. She surprised her dad by showing up at his house the first day of summer vacation. Apparently, she hitchhiked to town from Elizabeth City. That wasn’t the only surprise for her father. Krissy sported an entirely new look Jason didn’t necessarily approve of, but knew enough to realize there was nothing to be accomplished by yelling at an eighteen year old woman about her blue hair and nose piercing. Melissa hoped to forge a relationship with her boyfriend’s daughter. It felt so strange to use the term “boyfriend” when she was 46 years old, but it was appropriate. However, the young woman had other ideas completely that did not align with the hopes of Melissa and Jason.

Kristina, or Krissy as she preferred to be called, was a troubled girl on the verge of womanhood. Despite the recent remarriage of her mother, she was not thrilled that dear old dad was seriously dating someone. Every effort to befriend the girl had been outright rebuffed. When Melissa offered her a job at the bakery to earn some money for college, Krissy rudely refused. Not to be deterred, Melissa arranged for her friend Cheryl to hire the girl at her own soup, salad, and sandwich shop across the street from the Kill Devil Delicacies bakery. Krissy never knew her father’s girlfriend engineered the job opening, and that was perfectly fine with Melissa.

They tried biweekly dinners at Melissa’s house, too. Although Logan and Jason enjoyed Mel’s culinary expertise, Krissy made sure to let everyone know her disdain for anything deemed non-traditional. The middle-aged widow spent her life in the kitchen as a pastry chef. She was renowned for her artisan breads and even won the Outer Banks Regional Bake-Off two years ago. Gourmet French meals were also a specialty of hers. Of course, Logan preferred hamburgers and French fries like any teenager but after several summers with Aunt Mel, he found he started to enjoy the gourmet meals just as much. Krissy, however, would sit at the table without saying a word and not touching her food. After dinner, she would excuse herself and run to the closest fast food chain, as evidenced by the pile-up of wrappers in the passenger side of her father’s truck. Melissa tried her hand at more traditional fare in an effort to appease the young woman, but nothing she did or cooked seemed to be satisfactory. Still, she held out hope that by the end of the summer she and Krissy could become friends.

Now in the middle of June, the group settled into a somewhat comfortable pattern of everyday life. Logan helped Melissa out at the bakery in the mornings and then spent his afternoons with his girlfriend, Emily once she arrived back in town with her family. The poor kid tried to befriend Krissy too, but the young woman didn’t seem interested in making new friends, especially with anyone who thought Melissa was the best. Logan adored his aunt and could not tolerate Krissy’s snide remarks under her breath about her. Emily really didn’t appreciate the attitude Jason’s daughter exuded towards a family she had grown to love and respect. However, everyone was determined to try their best for Jason’s sake.

Life had been more disruptive over the last week. Krissy’s no-good boyfriend, Derek McCallie, arrived in town. Needless to say, Jason was not thrilled. The boy reeked of trouble. A phone call to his ex-wife revealed the young man was not the epitome of what a nice southern young man should be, what with being kicked out of school in the middle of his senior year along with a growing arrest record. Krissy claimed he turned his life around complete with passing his GED exam and a new job with a moving company in town. Ever a sucker for a story of a reformed young person, Jason caved and didn’t ban Krissy from seeing Derek. Melissa had a bad feeling he would soon regret that decision.

Melissa’s thoughts often returned to how to better her own relationship with Krissy. After dating Jason for almost two years, she considered her present and future to be with him. It would be nice to have his daughter’s blessing. She pondered that very issue as she mixed up a few more recipes to refrigerate overnight in the back room of her bakery. Logan already left to join Emily’s family for an early dinner and Jason was resting up for the night shift with his partner, Cory Bronson.

With her hands and arms covered in sweet-smelling flour she mixed and kneaded while her mind drifted to the latest story from her friend Cheryl about the misadventures of employing Jason’s daughter in her soup and salad shop – Cheryl’s Seaside Sundries. Apparently, the blue hair and nose piercing weren’t the only adornments Krissy had obtained. Cheryl called earlier to say she saw a peek-a-boo tattoo in the small of her back as the girl bent over to pick up something that spilled on the floor. Her straight-laced cop father would not be impressed. Melissa had no plans to tell him either. Cheryl tried to figure out what the tattoo was, but when she leaned to get a closer look she accidently knocked over a container of salad on top of the poor girl’s head. Melissa would’ve paid money to see that. According to Cheryl, it was quite humorous to see the horrified look on Krissy’s face as spinach and walnuts clumped in her blue hair and balsamic vinaigrette dripped down her forehead and off her nose. Clearly, the young woman didn’t appreciate the laughter that Cheryl could not contain.

Krissy ran off in a huff to change clothes with a few select words muttered under her breath. She commandeered her father’s truck during her stay. Melissa heard the tires squeal as the young woman sped away. Cheryl called her immediately after the episode. Her friend could barely get the story out in between fits of laughter.

After putting away the pans of dough in the large refrigerator, Melissa came out to the front of her bakery. Her assistant, Maddie, had everything well in hand. It was an unusually quiet afternoon in the bakery for the middle of the tourist season. Pouring herself another cup of coffee, Melissa sat down for a few moments to rest while absentmindedly listening to the local North Carolina coast news on a small television in the corner of the bakery reception area. A young woman with too much red lipstick reported from the local hospital where there had been several cases of a strange nature. The symptoms were all similar – extreme fatigue, vomiting, losing consciousness – but the doctors were stumped. Over twenty new patients had been admitted to the hospital just that day with fifteen admitted overnight. “Oh dear,” Maddie said softly, “Just what we need to scare off the tourists – a friggin’ epidemic!” At that, Melissa rolled her eyes a little. Maddie always made a mountain out of a mole hill. She suspected the same here.

As Melissa got back up to check on some rolls in the oven, she saw Jason’s truck drive by way too fast for the small street. “Krissy’s back,” she thought to herself. She halted in her tracks as she heard the truck’s brakes screech to an abrupt stop. A moment later, the quiet afternoon air was pierced with a horrifying scream. Without thinking, Melissa ran out the front door to the alleyway leading from the main street behind Cheryl’s shop. She found Krissy on her knees in front of the truck, crying and screaming uncontrollably. Running over to the distraught teenager, Melissa put her arms around her asking if she was alright. Peering over her shoulder, she saw a horrific sight. Apparently, the truck had just missed slamming into poor elderly Mrs. Burnside whose body was lying in the middle of the back alley behind Cheryl’s shop where she usually strolled to and from the shop and her home a couple blocks away.

The girl’s screams continued, as Melissa yelled for someone to call 9-1-1 and she attempted to remove Krissy from the alley. Cheryl came out and led Krissy away as Melissa checked the woman’s vital signs. Mrs. Ethel Burnside, an 82 year old sweet lady who frequented the bakery and Cheryl’s shop, was unresponsive in a puddle of her own vomit. An ambulance was called immediately, but it was too late. The sweet woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The quaint seaside town of Kill Devil Hills, NC had its first casualty of the summer and a new mystery was born.