Lights, Camera . . . by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene [keene, carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Fiction, General, Girls & Women, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9781442459441
Google: RW1ZY8Gugy0C
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2012-04-24T05:00:00+00:00

Cut!

Luther!” I knelt beside him. His face was still an ashy color, but his eyes were open. “My stomach,” he moaned. “Terrible cramp . . . Really hurts.”

“Get one of the medics over here,” I told George. “He needs help right away.”

As George raced off to find one of the on-site medical staffers, I heard another groan nearby. Luke Alvarez tumbled to the floor, overturning his chair with a metallic clang.

“Nancy, there’s something awful going on,” Bess said. “Lots of people are getting sick. A few are even unconscious.”

“It looks like food poisoning,” I told her. “Check on Luke, will you? Just try to keep him comfortable. If he’s chilled, throw a jacket or a tablecloth over him. Don’t give him anything to eat or drink—not even water.”

Near the entrance Morris and his security team were working with the company doctor and nurse to set up triage. They grouped all those who had become ill so that when the ambulances arrived, the sickest people would be treated first.

For the second time in two days, I heard emergency vehicle sirens driving into the compound. Within minutes George returned with one of the emergency medical technicians—EMTs—who’d arrived in an ambulance. I left Bess with the EMT to care for Luke and Luther, and asked George to come with me. We headed first for the kitchen. Grabbing bags of small plastic cups and lids, we went back out to the serving tables and the breakfast buffet.

“We need two sets of samples from everything,” I told George. “Everything on the buffet: eggs, sausage, yogurt, waffles, cream cheese, burritos, fruit, protein smoothies—even the bagels and sweet rolls, the syrup and salsa, the mustard and the water. We need a set for the paramedics, and I want one set for me.”

I knew it would be important to have the samples so that doctors could determine just what type of food poisoning everyone had contracted. It would also help determine what medicines and treatments to use.

We worked quickly, spooning samples into the cups and labeling them. Then we snapped on the lids and dropped the cups into two bags. By the time we’d finished, the most seriously ill—including Luther and Luke—had been taken by ambulance to hospitals in the area. Others were being taken by shuttles, and some were evaluated on site and released, with suggestions to see their own doctors for possible treatment.

“What’s going on, Nancy?” George asked when we had finished giving all the samples to the EMTs. “Was this just bad food, or are we looking at more sabotage here?”

“We’re going to find out soon, I hope,” I answered. “That’s why I’m getting my own samples. One set’s for the doctors, one’s for the criminal investigators.”

“So your instincts are telling you this was intentional.”

“My instincts are telling me to not take anything for granted, and to consider this a crime until I find out the truth. If this poisoning was intentional, whoever is doing this has crossed the line.”

“I fired the caterers,” Morris said, joining us as we watched the last vehicles leave for town.

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