Twisted Taste

by Michelle Dayton

  Chapter Nine

  Jess read Adam’s text and assumed he was finished with his conversation with Hess. Because of the transmission delay, she’d just heard the part of the conversation where Hess complained about changing the passwords on the bank accounts. (What an idiot, by the way. Of course the new financial manager would change the passwords. It wasn’t a personal affront. It was basic security.)

  She felt a little guilty about the fact that she’d been draining the battery on Adam’s phone—but only a little. She wouldn’t have been forced to snoop if he hadn’t shut her out.

  She yawned and stretched. Goodness, this Hess guy sounded like a whiny little prick. She supposed it felt awful to be kicked out of your lifelong job to be replaced by your boss’s fiancée, but man, if he was always this nasty, then maybe it was good riddance.

  As the end of the conversation sputtered through her speakers, she got up and prowled through the mini-bar, looking for a snack. She was debating between a can of Pringles and a Toblerone when Hess said, “...she canceled on me to have a fancy brunch with some reporter. She’s more interested in being interviewed for some stupid magazine than in actually learning the wine business.”

  Alarm bells went off in Jess’s brain and the can of Pringles fell to the floor.

  Celeste’s cover was that of a lifestyle reporter. Was she the reporter Hess was referring to? Did Celeste have brunch with Helen on Thursday morning? And if so, was that suspicious?

  She wondered what Adam thought about that little tidbit. “Oh shit,” she said, realizing that Adam hadn’t even been in Celeste’s apartment when they were discussing covers. He didn’t even know that Celeste had been posing as a reporter.

  Before she could overthink it, Jess grabbed her laptop, her Wi-Fi hotspot and her wig. Instead of waiting for the elevator, she ran down the three flights to the lobby, only pausing to tug on the wig. Her Uber app said it would be a twelve minute wait for a car, and there were no taxis waiting at the hotel entrance.

  “Damn,” she swore, pressing the button on her phone for the Uber. Anxiety wouldn’t let her sit down. The woman at the front desk pretended she didn’t notice Jess pacing around the lobby like a lunatic. “You’re overreacting,” she told herself aloud. Why was she so nervous at the thought of Celeste eating a meal with Helen? After all, being a reporter was Celeste’s cover and how she gained access to the estate. It made perfect sense that she would interview the bride for her feature story.

  Also, Celeste didn’t get sick—the first time—until late Friday night. If Helen had poisoned her at Thursday brunch, that didn’t make much sense from a timing perspective. Of course, neither did Celeste’s mini-recovery and ultimate demise.

  “Ohhh...” Inspired, Jess flipped open her laptop and began to code a research algorithm for the web. When her Uber arrived, she climbed in the backseat and just kept typing. It took the entire ride to Fielding for her to code the logic to her satisfaction. Concentrating on the timing of the last three days, she entered in the symptoms and the trajectory of Celeste’s illness. If she hit the right databases, these parameters would have to narrow down the toxin, which might be an important piece of the puzzle.

  “Fielding Winery, miss.” The driver gave her a pointed look in the rearview mirror and Jess wondered how long they’d been parked in the entrance while she tapped away on her keyboard.

  “One sec.” With a last flourish, she told her program to emit a loud ding if any promising results came in. Then she set her new baby to run, closed the laptop and climbed out of the car.

  It was quiet on the estate. The tasting room had closed an hour earlier and most of the other staff was off, since it was Sunday. The thick clouds in the sky darkened the vineyard, making it seem later than it actually was. The engagement party events were all off-site today. The men had played golf earlier and the women were spending the day and dinner at a resort in Calistoga.

  She walked up to the mansion and considered knocking on the massive front door and asking for Chase. She straightened the wig on her head and wondered if Adam would be furious to find her here.

  She tried the front knob and was surprised when the door simply swung open. The house was almost silent, but she could hear dishes clanging and oriented herself to the noise. Yes! The kitchen. That’s where she should go. Maybe someone there could confirm that Celeste had indeed eaten with Helen. Because if she was wrong about this, she was going to hightail it out of here before Adam even knew of her presence.

  Only two people were in the kitchen—the cook Jess had spoken with during the wine tasting, and a harried-looking young man wearing a Fielding Winery golf shirt. When Jess entered with a tentative wave, the cook gave her a big smile and then shooed the young man out of the kitchen. “Go home now. Everyone’s gone except Mr. Todd and this young lady’s fella.”

  “Sorry to bother you,” Jess apologized.

  “No bother at all!” the cook exclaimed. “I remember you and that lovely red hair. Did you decide to skip the ladies’ spa trip? Can’t say I blame you. If I had a young man as handsome as yours, I’d rather spend time with him too. He and Todd decided to take their dinner in the billiard room. Should I fix you a plate?”

  “Not quite yet.” Jess pulled out her phone. “This might sound odd, but I wanted to ask you a question about Thursday morning. I heard that Helen ate with a reporter over breakfast.”

  The cook beamed. “Yes! This wedding is causing quite a stir. Helen was being interviewed for Luxury Today magazine!”

  Jess slid through her pictures until she found the picture she and Celeste had taken to torment Adam. It showed Celeste in profile, whispering in Jess’s ear. For a moment, Jess felt a fraction of the sadness Adam must be fighting. Celeste was tough and pushy, but Jess had liked her. With a few more conversations, she could have become a friend.

  She showed the photo to the cook. “Was this the reporter?”

  The cook adjusted her glasses. “Yes! Such a pretty one. You know her too? I was intimidated about the big interview, you know. I was so nervous at what to serve. I mean, what if the reporter remarked on the food? I had no idea what to make. Initially I thought my famous banana pancakes, but then I realized that a fancy reporter probably wouldn’t eat carbs. So then I wondered about a vegetable frittata...”

  Ding! Ding! Ding! A tiny, tinny sound coming from her bag. Jess froze. Her computer program had found something. While still nodding and smiling at the cook’s brunch monologue, she pulled the computer out of her bag and set it on the counter. “That must have been very stressful,” she contributed, setting off another diatribe about the difficulties of using egg whites and soy milk to satisfy diet trends. She opened the screen swiftly and scanned the program’s results.

  Based on Celeste’s symptoms and the timing of her illness, the algorithm found only one likely candidate for the poison—Amanitin mushrooms.

  Ignoring the cook’s diatribe on veganism, Jess started scanning the data on the stages of amanitin poisoning. The first state is a latency period of six to twenty-four hours after ingestion where the victim feels fine, but the toxins are already actively destroying the kidneys and liver. The next stage is a period of about twenty-four hours when the victim suffers through severe abdominal cramping, violent vomiting and bloody diarrhea.

  The third stage was the kicker—a twenty-four-hour period during which the victim appears to recover. Followed by stage four, a relapse, when the kidney and liver failure happens, leading to death. Jess gulped, reading through the research. The mushrooms were so deadly that if the victim didn’t receive immediate medical attention after ingestion, the risk of fatality was extremely high. One article on the North American Mycological Association’s website wrote, “If you have any reason to suspect that someone has ingested an amanitin-containing mushroom, DON’T WAIT for symptoms to appear! There is no antidote for amanitin poisoning, and
the best hope is to rush the person to the hospital where the toxins can be removed before being fully absorbed into the body.”

  Unbelievable, Jess realized. If Celeste really had been poisoned on Thursday morning, she was a dead woman walking by the time they’d seen her at the party on Thursday night. They couldn’t have saved her, no matter what. Devastating, but maybe this knowledge would help Adam feel less responsible.

  Of course, this was all still a very big “if.” Bracing herself, she interrupted the cook. “So what did you decide on for the big Thursday brunch?”

  The cook looked sheepish. “Turns out I didn’t need to work myself into such a lather. Helen decided on the menu. She was right about everything, as usual. Mushroom omelets were the perfect entrée. Large enough to keep you full, but not overwhelming like a red meat protein first thing in the morning. The omelets also went perfectly with the grapefruit starter.”

  Jess went cold all over. Helen had decided on the mushroom entrée. Helen had eaten with Celeste and apparently was doing super fine today. Helen must be Celeste’s partner, Celeste’s killer. But why?

  Oblivious to Jess’s frantic thinking, the cook kept chattering. “This family just loves mushrooms. Todd and your handsome man are eating steak sandwiches piled high with them right now. It’s Todd’s favorite dish, so Helen put it on the menu for him today while she’s at the spa. She didn’t know he’d have a guest for dinner, but there was more than enough for two.”

  Chapter Ten

  “This isn’t the right pairing,” Todd declared, looking at his wineglass with some disdain. “It’s much too tannic.”

  Adam stifled a groan. He was starving. For fuck’s sake, it was red wine—it would go with the steak sandwich just fine. “Tastes good to me, mate.”

  Todd stood and gave him a condescending smile. “That’s because your palate is shit, Chase. We need a Syrah. I’ve got the perfect one in the cellar. Be right back.”

  “Your sandwich might not be waiting,” Adam warned. Todd snorted and disappeared down the hall.

  Adam lifted his own huge sandwich to his mouth. Todd might be unable to eat without a Wine Spectator—approved match, but he had no such qualms. He hadn’t eaten all day and the steak smelled amazing. His mouth was literally watering. He opened wide—

  To his absolute shock, Jess burst into the room. Beneath her askew wig, her eyes were wild. When she caught sight of him, she shrieked, “Put that down!”

  What the hell?

  When he just stared, Jess sprinted across the room and smacked his arms so hard the sandwich fell to the plate on the table.

  Which she then shoved to the floor.

  She turned to him, tears streaming down her face. “How much did you eat? When did you take your first bite? Tell me! I need to write it down for the doctor.” She broke down into sobs and started tugging at his shoulder. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

  He didn’t move. He couldn’t. He’d never seen Jess like this before. She was acting crazy. She was a thousand times more upset now than she was when she’d been shot in June.

  “Adam, get up. Now!” In another moment, he might have scolded her for using his real name on a job site, but he wouldn’t dream of it right now when her voice was so high and thin and full of fear. “Please, now,” she choked out through tears. “You need medical attention.”

  “I didn’t eat any of it,” he said softly, catching her hand and tugging. “Not one bite.”

  Jess’s eyes went from his face to the sandwich, still whole, on the ground. “Oh thank God,” she whispered, closing her eyes. Fat tears emerged from her thick fringe of eyelashes and trailed down her ashen cheeks. “Thank God.”

  She really loves me. Adam swallowed over a jagged lump in his throat. Sure, they’d said the words, but seeing Jess so frantic at—well, whatever she was so frantic about—really drove the point home.

  He pulled her onto his lap and cupped a hand at the nape of her neck. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I’m fine.” He felt her take a deep breath and nod. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  She leaned back to look in his eyes. “Helen was Celeste’s partner. She killed her by poisoning her with toxic mushrooms. I think she planned to kill Todd today the same way. She didn’t know you’d be here.” She glared at the innocent-looking sandwich on the floor. “You would have been caught in the cross fire.”

  Before Adam could ask any questions, a furious voice bellowed behind him. “What the hell kind of accusations are you making about my fiancée?”

  Todd entered the room and slammed an open bottle of wine on the table so hard Adam was surprised it didn’t shatter. “Did you just say that the love of my life wants to kill me?”

  Oh shit. Adam’s brain raced to find some way to control the situation, but damn it, he still didn’t even know what the situation was. “Uh—”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Fielding,” Jess said, rising from his lap and placing her body between Todd and his sandwich. “But I have strong reason to believe that Helen is trying to kill you with the mushrooms in your meal.”

  Despite the calm conviction in Jess’s voice, Adam winced. She sounded like a lunatic. Todd looked between her and Adam with an incredulous expression on his face. “I don’t know what kind of crazy chicks you’re into now, Chase, but I’m not going to have this woman under my roof when she’s mouthing off about my soul mate!”

  Jess opened her mouth, but a warning glance from Adam had her snapping it shut. He had zero idea why she seemed so convinced of Helen’s guilt and the danger to Todd. What the hell had she been up to today? For a moment, he wavered. How could she possibly have any idea what she was talking about?

  But then he remembered the soul-deep fear in her eyes when she thought he’d eaten the sandwich. The way she’d been sobbing and clamoring for him to get to medical attention. Whatever this was, Jess believed it fully.

  Maybe it was time to fully believe in her.

  He gritted his teeth and threw her a quick wink before turning to placate Todd. “Sorry, mate. Don’t know what she’s on about. Could be she was hitting the wine a bit early today. Gracie, love, come sit for a moment and we’ll sort this.” Nostrils flaring, Jess sat down again. Clearly she realized he was trying to control the situation, but she’d never appreciate the condescending tone in his voice.

  Now, he needed to calm and distract Todd. “I don’t think we’ve ever heard the story of how you and Helen met,” he improvised. “Tell us.”

  With his eyes still narrowed at Jess, Todd sat down at his place setting across the table.

  “Don’t let him eat the sandwich,” Jess whispered. Adam flicked his eyelashes down in acknowledgment, but what was he supposed to do? Throw Todd’s dinner on the floor too? Todd was one inch shy of tossing them out of the house right now.

  “I heard the story was really epic,” Adam led. If there was one thing Todd couldn’t resist, it was being the center of attention. “Something about you finding Helen in Tokyo?”

  Todd stared at Jess for another long moment but ultimately gave in to the temptation. “Yes. It was one of those nights that make you believe in fate.”

  Adam could all but feel Jess rolling her eyes next to him, but he ignored her stiff presence and leaned forward, as if already entranced. “How so?”

  Todd poured himself a glass of wine and settled in to his story. “I’d been seeing a woman, Kim, casually whenever I was in town.”

  Adam remembered Kim. “You brought her to the wine dinner in Singapore,” he said. Kim had looked at Todd like he was the golden goose, of course, but she also was well-informed on world politics and literature and had a silly, bubbly laugh. Adam had kind of liked her.

  “Indeed I did,” Todd said. “During the last two years, I traveled through Asia every three months and I usually took her out when I was in the area, even t
hough we weren’t serious. But then came the night that changed everything.”

  Jess let out a little huff of air through her nose. Adam nudged her with her shoulder. Patience, he wished he could say.

  “The night?” He grinned at Todd. “Don’t leave me hanging over here.”

  Todd smiled into his wineglass. “I was supposed to meet Kim at a cocktail lounge for a drink before dinner. I waited for an hour before I got a text from her saying she wasn’t coming. So I got up to leave and on the way out of the restaurant, I ran right into the most beautiful woman in the world.” He swirled the wine dreamily. “It was raining and I was walking quickly. I knocked her right into a puddle. Then she looked up at me and smiled...it was love at first sight.” He looked straight at Adam, and there was an actual tear in his eye. “Fuckin’ love at first sight.”

  Mmm, no. In fact, Adam’s cynical nature told him the whole thing sounded an awful lot like a setup. “What happened next?” Next to him, Jess shifted her weight. Through the corner of his eye, he saw her open her computer on her lap.

  Todd swallowed a large gulp of Syrah. “I couldn’t very well leave the most beautiful woman in the world lying in a puddle. I took her to dinner instead.”

  He pointed at Adam with his wineglass. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s not just her beauty and my money. From the very first night, I knew she was something more. We have so much in common! We enjoy the same kind of art, the same books. She liked my sense of humor. That first night at dinner I made her laugh over and over—she had no idea who I was or that I had money. We went to a run-of-the-mill sushi place and drank cheap beer. On top of being love at first sight, we liked each other.”

  He took another gulp of wine. Repeated, quietly, “We like each other.”

  Adam started to hurt for Todd. Whatever this was, Todd wasn’t going to get through it unscathed.

  “I’m the luckiest man in the world to be married to her,” Todd announced.