Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 187

Elsa

POV

The week was long as I planned how to make them all sick and possibly dead. I had given the warden the menus for them to sign off on last Monday, so I had time to get what I needed. Today was the day I got to do something. I asked for at least a week, and my

time was up. It was getting the ball rolling today, or I would be in trouble with the bosses.

The kitchen was quiet when I walked in. My shift does not start for another half hour, but I have some mushrooms that must be added to the mushroom soup and the gravy on the meat for dinner tonight. I blended the mixture in and made sure to keep the staff meals separate. I had just finished and started on the preparation for breakfast when others on the shift began to arrive.

'Hi Elsa, what do you need us to do first?' I was the head chef, and this would cost me my job, but I am getting on in life and ready to move into retirement, as long as I do not end up in jail myself.

'Morning team, scrambled eggs and toast, assorted cereals for breakfast, assorted sandwiches for lunch, and we are making some beef and vegetables for the main and mushroom soup; please bake some buns for the soup. I gave out the orders, and the people started to prepare. Many paragraphs are missing. Read the complete book on FindNovel.net.We made two lots, one for the staff and the rest for the inmates. The staff are in smaller pots and will get served first. I observed, ensuring they kept the soup and the mushrooms for the pies. I was deeply concerned about the well-being of our staff, as I never want to make them sick, though I would love a couple to end up ill.

The whole day, I was worried, watching, sweating, and still trying to be my usual self, laughing with my kitchen staff and keeping the place happy and content. It was not easy when I watched the soup terrine being taken to the staff, and they had a choice of soups when the inmates did not. I was glad my staff was well-trained; they never tasted the inmate's food; if it tasted terrible, it was too bad.

The soup went out to the inmates, and some returned for seconds. Soon, all the soup was gone, and the mains came out. This jail treats these people well; they say they are top people yet to be convicted, so they are treated nicer. Once the first lot of gravy was done, they went to make more as they went for more food. I made sure the pots and pans and serving dishes were washed so nothing got contaminated by the concoction I made earlier. All the worry was over; it had been consumed; now it is wait and see; sometime tonight, a lot of lousy stomach aches will happen, and by the end of a week, most will be dead if I am lucky.

Elsa and her crew cleaned up the dining hall and kitchen, and the leftovers in the fridge were not contaminated, so if it is checked, there will be no sign of foul play on our part. We left around eight o'clock, as usual, and everything went smoothly. As we left, a wave of relief washed over me; the day was over, and the worry was behind us.

Once home, I called Spider.

'Elsa. News?' He asked, noise in the background said he was at a club.

'Have feed the prisoners death cap mushrooms, most if not all, should die within the week. None should live much past that if the doctor is inapt as I believe he is. I say I had hoped we got the same doctor to come in; he does not like prisoners, and these ones even less because they feel like they are above others. 'Keep me posted. Third POV

In the jail, the first sounds of distress were heard around two o'clock in the morning. Moans of pain and vomiting filled the air, soon more and then more, till every prisoner was complaining about a sore tummy and vomiting. The nurse on the night shift could not handle that many sick people and called for the doctor. The doctor took an hour to reach there and gave them all a shot to stop the vomiting and let them sleep. He said food poisoning, maybe something was off, and as no staff was sick, it might be just a bad batch of leftovers, and he thought no more about it. He left the nurse to clean up the mess and said to call him if anything changes.

The rest of the night, they slept, thanks to the jab the doctor gave; the next morning, many could not be woken up, having fallen into a coma.

Elza POV

When I arrived in the morning, I was sent to the warden's office. I knocked on the door and waited.

'Come in,' He said, taking a deep breath before entering, and then putting on a cheery smile I normally wear when I see the warden.

'Hi Elsa, I just wanted to inform you that last night we had all the prisoners come down with food poisoning, and you might have some doctors come and take samples of any leftovers if you have any. Help them out as much as you can! He was staring at me, waiting for something.

'Oh, wonder what it was? I have only fresh ingredients that come from the co-op. I acted innocent and put a confused look on my face; it must have worked as he nodded and made some notes in his book.

I heard that the doctor had been called back to look closer at the sick. He arrived later that morning, bringing along two other doctors and a handful of nurses, with so many sick that he did not wish to treat them all himself. The doctors went to those in coma first, and they took blood samples and mouth swabs. Those who were not in comas were given pain relief and something for nausea; so far, no one thought anything about being sick; it was all food poisoning and would clear up in a day or so.

We made food for staff, and no prisoners were up to eating; the mess hall was starting to have beds put in there as the hospital could not cope with all the sick people.

'Morning, may we come in. A young doctor was at our kitchen door, and his appearance made some of the young girls giggle as they took him in.

'Yes, You wish to take samples?' I asked, knowing there was no contaminated food left there, but I made sure there were other leftovers for them to take samples from.

'Please. He followed me to the fridge and took samples of the left of pies, gravy, and soups; all were what was served to the staff, but they would not know that. He then took a few mushrooms, which surprised me, but I said nothing; this doctor was being thorough, and I cannot blame him for that. 'Bye, doctor' a couple of my girls sang as he left the kitchen, his cheek turned pink.

Hank POV

I got a call from a colleague this morning. He had been to a place where a large number of people were sick. He did not say where or when he had gone there; he just said that he was concerned about a large number of food poisoning incidents and wondered if I had heard of any food contaminants being reported by the authorities. There had not been a report of an outbreak, and he was content he did all he could. I am kicking myself for not asking where the outbreak was and offering my services; I might be able to help him out. But then, do I want to risk going to an infected area when Bethany is pregnant? I can't risk returning something contagious; what if it was not food poisoning? Though I doubt a doctor would miss a diagnosis, it can and does happen when symptoms are similar.

'Morning Felicity, how are you doing now?' I was worried. She took the news about Kitty and her sisters hard.

'Better today, Dad. It took a bit of convincing by Theo to let it go; he said we are still your children, and making an issue of it might hurt you. I do not want to hurt you any more than you have already been hurt.' She came, kissed my cheek, and smiled softly; we talked as we prepared food for everyone.

'You seemed cozy with that woman, and I think you should go for it, Dad, after telling us how long it had been since you were with a woman, and by the way, you hid it well. You have my approval to go for it!

That was nice of her to say, and I am trying to see if this could be something more.

It was nice that even Scott stayed the night; we had a great evening together, and all of us got along well. I learned both twins were teachers. The one I like is a kindergarten teacher, and the one Scott likes is a high school teacher. Neither has been married, and both have had bad experiences with cheating boyfriends. They have tried sharing and as individuals, but the male always ended up straying. I never thought I would say this, but I was interested in the idea of sharing. I spoke with Scott when it was just us in the room, and he was okay with the idea, so we are looking at a time we can experiment if the girls are into it. I am nervous but willing to give it a go.

We have all been hurt by someone, and I do not think these women could hurt me any more than I have already been broken.

The woman came into the kitchen and helped with the food. I could see that all the ladies got on well; even Bethany was laughing with them, something that had never happened with Kitty.

There is hope here and peace in the house. As it has never been in all my years of marriage, it is what I had always hoped: a home would be like one large group.

After eating, Felicity headed home, and Bethany and Theo headed to the hospital to check on the patients.

That left the four of us, and if what the ladies had mentioned a short while again, our first attempt at being a foursome was about to happen, and I was both excited and nervous at the same time. This is totally out of my comfort zone, and Scott agrees with me; we are going to let the ladies take the lead and walk us down the wild side.