A Taste of Danger by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

9

Cooking Up a Storm

Horrified, Monica jumped up and tossed her napkin on the floor. “This is beyond disgusting!”

Every eye in the room turned toward her table. “It’s repulsive,” she continued. Nancy craned her neck. “Repulsive” sure described the awful smell, and the sight of the melted fingers of the glove oozing into the stuffing was enough to turn anyone’s stomach.

“Mr. Rinaldi, be forewarned: Before I leave town, I’m reporting you people to the health department,” Monica threatened.

Nancy caught her breath. That was all Mike needed.

Mike turned ashen. “Ms. Sanchez, please. Cadot wasn’t in the kitchen to oversee things. Someone was careless. I’ll bring you whatever you want for dinner—we have other specialties tonight, and—”

Monica waved him off with her hand. “Forget it. I’ve got a granola bar in my room. That’ll tide me over until I leave tomorrow morning. I don’t trust anything from your kitchen.”

“Monica, please, calm down.” Isabelle got up. She put her hand on Monica’s shoulder. “This was an accident.”

“This place has too many ‘accidents,’ ” Monica insisted as Lauren came out of the kitchen. “What’s clear,” Monica fumed, “is that this resort is plagued by sloppy management! If you and Oscar want to stay, that’s your business. I can find my own way home.”

“Ms. Sanchez?” Lauren said. “Please, if there’s a problem, let us try to help.”

“ ‘Us’?” a soft voice repeated tightly from right behind Nancy. She looked up to see Jillian. She must have come in from the front desk. How long had she been standing there? Jillian shot an angry glance at Lauren, then visibly struggled to master herself. Clearing her throat, she clapped her hands together and addressed the room. “Sorry, there’s been a problem here. Please continue to enjoy your dinners.” Dropping her voice she said to Mike, “Get rid of that thing now. I’ll deal with the guests.”

Turning to Monica, she put out both her hands in a pleading gesture. “Monica, if there is anything I can do to make up for this . . .”

Monica gave an annoyed snort and marched off without answering. Lauren hurried after her.

“Oscar, Isabelle, what can we do for you?” Jillian positioned herself between them and the serving table while Mike and Naomi picked up both trays. As they headed for the kitchen, Nancy followed, not waiting to hear the Sanchezes respond to Jillian.

The kitchen door had barely swung shut when Naomi tore off her apron. The two sous-chefs Lauren had called in earlier looked up from the stove. Cadot’s young helpers were whispering to each other. When Mike walked in, they traded nervous looks, then went back to silently filling customer orders. Nancy realized news of the latest dining disaster had already reached the kitchen.

Mike took the platter off the tray and put it on the counter. “Deal with this,” he told Naomi.

The girl averted her eyes from the ruined pheasant. “I—I can’t!” she stammered. She didn’t just look revolted and a little green, she looked plain frightened. Why would she be scared? Nancy wondered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.