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Michaela hung up her cell phone and entered the bar through the back door. She dropped her purse in her office and smiled as she entered the main taproom of the pub named for her mother. The original Biddy McPherson's pub was in Dublin, Michaela's hometown. It had been built by her father years and years ago, shortly after he’d married her mother. The pub was a local watering hole for seafaring men and locals. The bar was no longer owned by her family, but the new owners had kept her mother's name. Michaela's bar was almost an exact replica of the one in Ireland. She’d spent three years with contractors and builders, and her life savings to get it right.
Sean, her drop-dead gorgeous restaurant and bar manager, was working behind the bar. Business was brisk, especially for Wednesday night, so she joined him, pulled a few taps using the perfect Guinness pour to help him catch up. He flashed his brilliant smile at her as his dark eyes approved her appearance. "Hi, thanks for the help. You look good. You must’ve gotten some rest on your trip. We've been fairly steady tonight. Business is good for mid-week."
"Well, it is hump day so that's good to hear," she said as she flashed him a smile. "Can you meet me in my office? I’ve got something I want to talk to you about. Gather some of the waitstaff too, as many as you can without slowing down service."
A shadow crossed Sean's handsome face and he nodded. Something was up and it wasn’t good. "Sure, let me check the kitchen, gather a few folks and we’ll be right in.
Michaela stopped at a few tables and greeted her guests as she and Angel made their way around the bar and back to her office. She waved to several tables of Richmond police enjoying some Irish Red and Guinness in their favorite corner. The bar had a lot of local traffic and happy hour was always busy during the week. And Wednesday, well it was almost the weekend, so the weekend had begun. Biddy McPherson’s wide assortment of Irish beer and whiskey made Mic’s bar one of Richmond’s favorite nightspots.
Sean met her in her office. He had gathered the maître d’, several waiters, waitresses, and bus boys.
Mic greeted them warmly and said, “I don’t know if you’ve heard about the questionable restaurant poisonings today at the Hotel Madison and one of the restaurants down the street but—”
“Poisonings? That’s horrible, but how?” a young waitress interrupted, her young face filled with fear.
Michaela nodded, “Yeah, the police are thinking someone poisoned either food or beverage at these restaurants and so far, one lady has died and four others are hospitalized and they sound very sick.”
“Have they identified the poison? How’d they do it?” Sean asked as his eyes scanned the restaurant patrons outside of Mic’s office.
Mic shook her head. “We don’t know. The poison hasn’t been identified, but I’m confident it will be soon. The Poison Control experts are involved, they’ve called in the FBI forensic experts and they’re analyzing data now. In the meantime, they’ve closed the kitchens at the Hotel Madison and Fred’s down the street. Both places have forensics techs climbing out of the woodwork... checking every floor board and pot in the place.” Mic read fear and concern on the faces of her employees.
Sean nodded. “What do you want us to do? We’ll do anything and everything to prevent this,” he promised, his handsome face darkened by anger and resolve.
“Oh my God, this is terrifying,” a young waitress cried. “Poisoning people in a bar. That’s criminal, just horrible,” she wailed as she flashed frightened eyes at Michaela.
Michaela nodded. “Yeah, it is,” Mic agreed, “but we’re not gonna let it happen here at Biddy’s,” she said convincingly as she touched the young woman’s shoulder.
“How, how can we stop it? This place is big.” The waitress asked as her teeth started to chatter. She hugged herself to stop shaking.
“We’re gonna talk about that right now,” Mic said. “If you’re scared or uncomfortable, you can take a few days off until all of this is over. It’ll be fine,” Michaela offered. “No problem.”
The young woman stuck out her lower lip and said, “No. I’m stayin’. We’ll fight this together,” she said stubbornly. “I’m in.”
Mic checked the faces of her staff. “Any of you are welcome to a short vacation. I’ll understand if you take time off. I never considered anything like this would ever happen when I hired you,” she ended with a weak smile.
“No, no. Hell no. We’re in,” Sean said. “We love this place right, gang?”
Mic looked appreciably at her restaurant crew as they all nodded. “Thanks, guys, really appreciate it.
A waiter nodded and asked, “Now, what do we do?”
Mic was quiet for a few seconds and said, “I think we’re vulnerable because of the high number of police, and law enforcement guys who come here. The best thing we can do is be vigilant, check for anyone who looks suspicious or tries to access non-public areas.”
“We should limit access to the keg room and refrigerated areas to you, me, and one other staff member,” Sean suggested. “If we have someone poison or tamper with a keg, we’re dead in the water.”
Fear jumped up Mic’s spine at that thought. She fought for control as she considered a poisoned keg of beer. “Yeah, absolutely. I cringe at the thought,” she admitted as she rubbed chill bumps from her arms and fought the hysteria that was creeping through her body. “I’d also like to install several more bolt locks on those areas... both on the doors and windows... make them as secure and as hard to enter as possible. Maybe even a keypad lock with the combination known only to two or three people.”
Sean nodded. “That’s easy. What about the kitchen? We can’t lock that off.”
Mic considered this and said, “Let’s assign a waiter to that area. Just to watch people who come and go. I’d suggest someone who knows all of the waitstaff and can easily identify anyone who isn’t.”
Sean nodded. “Sure. We can do that.” He looked over at Jerry and said, “You’re on, man. When you’re off, I’ll cover for you. We can easily get a bartender.”
Jerry nodded and Mic said, “Thanks, Jerry. I’m gonna hire off-duty police officers, hopefully ones who know most of you. I'm going to go over,” she pointed to the RPD booth, “and ask them for recommendations."
"So, you'd keep police officers in the kitchen 24/7? Is that the plan?" Sean asked.
Michaela nodded. "Yeah. That's the best plan I have for right now. I'm open for suggestions from any of you."
Sean checked out the staff and said, "I think we’re okay for now, Mic. I'll keep you posted. How much longer will you be here tonight?"
She looked at her watch and said, "Only a few more minutes. I have another meeting I need to get to but call me at home or on my cell.”
Sean nodded, “Done, what else?”
“Just communicate this to the day staff. I'll be in by lunch, but if you could get the communication flow going, I'd appreciate it."
"Will do," Sean assured her. He looked around the group, "I’ll get the bolts and take care of the locks now. Anyone have any questions?"
The waitstaff shook their heads.
"Thank you all," Mic said to the group as they began to file out of her office, most of them stopping to pat or play with Angel on their way out. "I appreciate your work and your vigilance."
Her restaurant staff assured her things would be fine and Mic hoped they would be. Boy, I’ve hired some great folks and I am so lucky to have Sean.
Mic called to Angel and, along with Sean, they toured the keg room and the kitchen. She frowned as she looked at the four windows in the commercial kitchen. Even though the kitchen and tap room windows were barred, she knew a determined criminal could easily get in. She and Angel left by the back entrance and she called Lieutenant Stoddard and asked him for recommendations for security. Damn the world we live in. She and Angel got home only ten minutes before General Rothrock was due to arrive. This is no different from terrorism. In fact, it is terrorism, domestic terrorism. She shook her head and cursed softly.