A Sprinkle of Sabotage by Fiona Leitch (famous ebook reader TXT) 📕

‘I do, too,’ he said.

Nathan and I exchanged looks that said, oh crap.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘There are cars outside. Maybe we should get you all checked out at the hospital—’

‘But there’s no antidote, is there?’ said Zack. Shut up! I thought. ‘We’ll just have to ride it out.’

‘What do you mean, ‘ride it out’?’ demanded Kimi, angrily.

‘He means you’re just gonna have to get sick, and if you’re lucky you won’t die,’ said Mancuso. It was a rather more brutal way of saying what Nathan and I had been thinking, but at least it shut them up.

Chapter Fifteen

The diners got themselves together as Nathan arranged cars to take them all to the nearest hospital, in Barnstaple. Although there were already a couple of police cars on the scene, we decided it would be prudent (and less conspicuous) to use unmarked ones. The last thing Mike and Sam wanted was word getting out about Jeremy, at least not until they’d spoken to the movie’s investors, and the last thing Nathan wanted was swarms of press in Penstowan, crawling over the town, pestering him, and getting in the way of the investigation. The slightest whiff of fame was enough to set some of them off, and the scent of a celebrity death, probably caused by another celebrity, would be sure to cause a stampede to our little part of the world.

Aiko was naturally very pale, but she was starting to look even paler. She really did not look well. Zack saw me watching her as she went to get into a car, and gave me a wan smile.

‘Well, this ain’t quite the end of the night I was hoping for,’ he said. ‘But I caused this, and I feel fine, so I’m going to stay with her in the hospital and look after her.’

I patted him on the back. ‘Don’t beat yourself up over this,’ I said. ‘It was an accident.’

‘I won’t,’ he said, but I could see by the look in his eyes that he would never forgive himself, even if everybody else did.

The first two cars departed, leaving Nathan to drive Faith and Kimi. Kimi had looked massively put out when Aiko had got in the car with Zack, and Faith hadn’t looked too keen on sharing with Kimi and her dog, but that was tough.

Nathan was on the phone. He ended the call and turned to me. ‘That was Dr Hawkins at the hospital. They’ve managed to find beds for everyone, and she’s on standby in case they need her. Not that there’s anything much she can do except try and be reassuring.’

I watched Kimi fussing over her dog inside the car. ‘It must be scary, knowing you’ve eaten something that could kill you. Did she say how long it could take for it to affect someone?’

Nathan shook his head. ‘She really doesn’t know. But her educated guess is that if it’s going to do anything, it’ll do it tonight. Hopefully the worst that will happen is a headache and vomiting until it’s out of their system.’ He looked at me, a wry smile on his face. ‘Why is it that every time I try to have a serious conversation with you, a dead body turns up?’

I smiled. ‘Maybe fate is trying to tell you something.’

‘I hope not.’ He looked into my eyes. ‘Jodie—’

In the front passenger seat of Nathan’s car, Faith had obviously got sick of waiting because she leaned across and pressed the car horn, making us both jump.

‘Keep your hair on,’ muttered Nathan.

‘To be fair, she might be feeling poorly herself,’ I said.

‘Yeah.’ He looked at me, suddenly serious. ‘Do you feel all right? You were there with Zack when he was preparing the food. Did you try any of it? Or touch anything?’

‘No, no, I’m fine. I still can’t believe that he did anything wrong, to be honest. I was really impressed with his knife skills. Anyway, I cleaned down with soapy water and bleach, so if there was any toxin on my hands it’ll be long gone. And you? You didn’t touch anything at the scene?’

‘No.’ We became aware of Faith who had turned around in her seat and was glaring at us. He shook himself. ‘I’d better take them.’ He reached out to touch my arm. ‘Take care, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Okay. See you tomorrow,’ I said. It felt completely inadequate.

I got home around 9.45 p.m. Daisy was already in bed, Germaine with her, but the dog padded softly down the stairs to greet me as I shut the front door. I could hear the theme tune to Mile End Days from the living room; Mum must be watching it on catch-up. I wasn’t sure I could watch it anymore, not now I’d met landlady Clara Brown in real life. Faith had not lived up to her public image – not as far as I was concerned anyway – and I didn’t think it was just because she’d tried to monopolise Tony.

I made a fuss of Germaine and tiptoed up the stairs, hoping Daisy would still be awake because I really needed a cuddle; but when I stood in the doorway of her room I could hear her steady breathing, and I knew she was in the Land of Nod. I toyed with the idea of accidentally-on-purpose making a noise and waking her up, but soon dismissed it. I’d done that once when she was a baby and had regretted it immediately – and for the next three hours during which she’d cried solidly.

‘Night-night, sweetheart,’ I whispered, and went back downstairs, Germaine following quietly. At least I could cuddle the dog.

‘I thought I heard you come in.’ Mum looked up as I entered the living room and flopped on the sofa. Germaine jumped up next to me and put her head on my lap, gazing up at me adoringly. When she’d first come to us I’d had such good intentions about not letting her get up on the