Starks' Reality Read Online Free PDF Page A

took another sip of coffee. “You know Mr. Taylor?”
    “Ed Taylor?”
    “Yes.”
    Heather eased into the chair as she nodded.
    “He’s very sick.”
    “Heart attack?” she asked.
    “No, the doctors think it’s food poisoning. His wife is ill, too.”
    “Food poisoning? But they ate dinner here last…night.” She stood as realization hit her. “You think we poisoned them?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Maybe they had something for dessert at home. Has anyone checked on that?” Her heart raced as the scenario played out. If something at Coop’s had made the Taylors sick, the Health Department would probably shut them down. They wouldn’t be able to make the loan payments, and she only had enough money in the bank to pay tuition or pay off the loan for a month or two. With her funds depleted, she wouldn’t be able to afford the last semester of engineering school, so she’d have to work behind a counter or wait tables forever. Coop would lose his bar and his house, and end up as one of the homeless guys you step around on a filthy downtown sidewalk. Both of their lives would be ruined.
    “How do you know for sure it’s food poisoning? Maybe they have a virus or something. We’ve never had any problems with people getting sick.” Her voice rose in pitch with her growing anxiety, but she couldn’t help it. “Why are they accusing us?”
    Starks didn’t react to her panic, but remained seated, sipping. When he spoke, his voice was calm and controlled. “No one has accused you of anything. We think it’s food poisoning, and if it is, we don’t know for sure where they got it. The Taylors were taken to the hospital, one person from town called in shortly before that, and another called in this morning. I don’t have their names yet.” He finished his coffee and leaned back in the chair. “Please, sit down.”
    His composure was a salve to her frazzled nerves. Embarrassed by her outburst, Heather returned to her chair.
    “Do you remember what the Taylors ate last night?”
    She nodded. “Their usual, a half-dozen oysters and a bowl of gumbo each. Mr. Taylor had two whiskey sours and Mrs. Taylor had a Coke.”
    “Was there more than one batch of gumbo?”
    “No.”
    “Well,” he said, “I had the gumbo and I ’m okay. That leaves the oysters. Aren’t they sometimes dangerous?”
    “ Tran’s very careful. No one has ever gotten sick on his oysters.”
    “Careful ? About what?”
    “Closures and warnings.”
    “Closures?”
    She took a deep breath and blew it out. “The state closes areas if the water’s polluted. The back part of the bay’s permanently closed.”
    “Why ?”
    “ Coliform levels are too high during runoff.”
    His brow furrowed.
    “Too much sewage seeping in,” she explained.
    They both turned at the sound of a car in the driveway. Heather rose and glanced out the window. “You have a visitor.”
    She followed Starks outside and watched from the porch as he talked to Kenny Rhodes. Kenny looked more nervous than usual, but she couldn’t hear their conversation.
    As soon as it ended, Kenny drove off and Starks returned to the steps.
    “The hospital notified the Health Department,” he said.
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means that if it turns out to be food poisoning, they’ll send someone out to investigate.”
    “ How are they going to know if the oysters were bad? We sold them all.”
    He shrugged. “They’ll probably err on the side of public safety.”
    “You mean, shut us down.”
    He nodded.
    “They can’t do that,” she said, panic rising again as bile in her throat. “Coop will be ruined.”
    He glanced away for a moment, and then he looked up at her. “What do you do with the oyster shells?”
    “Wash them and put them on the driveway, or pile them in back. Locals haul them off.”
    “Where are the shells from last night?”
    “ Outside behind the bar.”
    “Have they been washed yet?”
    “I don’t think so .”
    He nodded. “If I were