Going Organic Can Kill You Read Online Free PDF

by two deputies, a duo of paramedics standing behind them. Both paramedics were men in their late twenties, one with blond hair and the other with black. The blond one held a medical kit. Out the window, I could see an ambulance in the lot, a fire truck parked nearby. Esther halted at the bottom and gasped at the group.
    “What the hell are the police doing here?” Gordon asked, his arms crossed over his chest, wrinkling his suit jacket lapels.
    Esther raised her eyebrows in alarm. “I have no idea. You didn’t call them?”
    Gordon stared at me. “Apparently Dana did.”
    Everyone turned in my direction. With six sets of eyes staring at me, my mind went blank. “Maxwell’s dead,” I blurted. So much for easing into it and not shocking Esther.
    Esther recoiled while Gordon’s mouth dropped open. “What?” he asked, his usual bravado gone.
    One of the deputies pulled out a notebook and flipped it open. He was shorter than my five foot five inches and a good hundred pounds heavier, all muscle from the look of his biceps straining against his uniform. His name tag read WILLIAMS.
    “Are you the one who called?” he asked me.
    I nodded. “I was changing towels in the guest rooms when I found him.”
    Gordon stepped forward, blocking the deputy. “And he was dead? Sure he wasn’t napping?”
    Deputy Williams placed a hand on Gordon’s arm, and he stepped back. “Please, sir, let me handle this.”
    Gordon pressed his lips together and nodded.
    “Now, ma’am ...” Deputy Williams said.
    I was instantly distracted. Ma’am! I was only twenty-eight, for crying out loud. Hardly ma’am territory. Focus, Dana, a man is dead . He could call me sir or hey you for all it mattered. I tuned back in.
    “... where the body is,” Deputy Williams was saying.
    “I found Maxwell in his cabin.”
    The other deputy spoke up. Like a bad cop comedy, he was over six feet and rail thin, the exact opposite of his partner. I wasn’t even sure how he held up his duty belt. “You need to take us there.”
    Not something I was looking forward to, but it’d make the cops’ jobs easier. “Follow me.” I led the way out of the house and down the path. My trip past the pool this time was met with silence and curious stares. I spotted Tiffany and Christian but no one met my look. They were all eyeing the cops and paramedics.
    I stopped outside Maxwell’s cabin. The towel cart was where I’d parked it. Heather would need to finish the other rooms. No way would I walk into another cabin unannounced.
    I gestured to the door and handed Deputy Williams the key. “This is it.” I made no effort to unlock the door myself. I’d seen enough on my first trip. “Esther, let’s wait out here.”
    Deputy Williams had opened the door, and now he turned back. “You all need to stay put.”
    Gordon tugged on his jacket lapels. “As the manager of the farm, I need to know everything that happens so I can deal with the guests and media appropriately.”
    “Sir, until we know what happened, you’ll have to wait out here. This may be a crime scene.”
    Crime scene? I swallowed the lump that had suddenly materialized in my throat. Surely Maxwell had died of natural causes. This was Blossom Valley, for crying out loud.
    The deputies disappeared into the room, the two paramedics following. Esther clutched my arm, and I patted her hand.
    “I’m sure it’s fine. Don’t worry.”
    “Don’t worry.” Gordon snorted. “A man’s died at the spa. I need to tend to the guests. Make sure the sight of these emergency vehicles isn’t upsetting anyone.” He turned and walked back toward the house, his jacket flapping as he moved.
    Esther let out a whimper. “If only it wasn’t opening weekend. People won’t stay here when they find out a guest died. I’ll lose the farm.”
    I loosened Esther’s hold on my arm and hugged her shoulders, feeling more like a parent than an employee. “People will understand. One man’s death from a heart attack