Page 9

Nine

" L et's go." Hattie pointed to the back of the kitchen. "Let's go that way."

Emmeline watched us. "Who are you hiding from?"

"Mia's boyfriend," Hattie said cheerfully as she led the way across the kitchen.

"One of many," Lucy said.

I elbowed her. "Just stop with that?—"

The back door flew open, and a gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous, Black woman burst through the door and crashed right into Hattie. "Whoops!" She grabbed Hattie’s shoulders to steady her, then burst into a huge smile. "Hattie! What trouble are you causing in my kitchen?"

"Chef Felicia!" Hattie sidestepped a big, ebullient hug, which made me laugh. Hattie wasn't really the type to randomly hug. "I heard you were here. Congrats on this new position."

"Thank you! It's been amazing! I love having my own kitchen." Chef Felicia's hair was hidden under her chef's hat, and her white chef's shirt was splattered with food. At first glance, she sort of looked like she'd been murdered, too, but it was definitely just food.

Yay for that. I didn't need a walking corpse in my life right now. That would take being a Corpse Whisperer to a level I had no interest in attaining.

She was wearing no makeup or jewelry. And yet, this woman was radiant. Not just her face, but her entire being seemed to emanate joy for life.

I wanted to be that happy. She was my life idol.

Hattie pointed at me and Lucy, even as she continued to move toward the hallway. "These gals are my nearest and dearest, Mia Murphy and Lucy Grande. Ladies, meet Chef Felicia, who is almost as good as I am."

"Almost as good as you, Hattie? That makes my day. That’s the gold standard right there." Amusement flickered on Chef Felicia's face. "Dare I even ask why you and your friends are in my kitchen?"

"We're being hunted by Mia's boyfriend," Hattie said cheerfully. "Can you pretend you didn't see us?" Hattie reached the back door and shoved it open. "It's girls date night," she said. "No one wants a man to invade girls date night."

"Agreed," Chef Felicia said. "I'd say this is an odd place for girls date night, but I've known you long enough not to be surprised by anything." There was warmth in her voice that made my heart smile.

I liked this gorgeous, model-worthy breath of beautifulness. She accepted Hattie as she was, and that made her a winner in my book.

Hattie paused. "How do you like working with Beckwith and Charles for those pies?"

Chef Felicia’s gaze slid over to Emmeline, then back to Hattie. "They're fine."

They weren't fine. She was lying. Dammit. All these people were lying.

At that moment, the door to Devlin's hallway began to open.

No more time for questions. But what was going on with Chef Felicia and the Barnes brothers?

Hattie placed her index finger across her lips and pointed at the door.

Chef Felicia winked. "Don't you worry, my dear. Head on out to the back deck. I'll send drinks out. Go do your girl stuff!" Then she grabbed her spoon and headed toward Devlin's door.

Hattie and Lucy sprinted out the door into the back hall, but I paused, because I couldn't quite help it. I wanted to see what was going to happen.

King Tut poked his head out of my sweatshirt, and I let him. If I got caught, King Tut being with me in a commercial kitchen would not be the top issue I was dealing with.

Emmeline pulled out her phone to text.

The door opened, and I saw Devlin poke his head in, but before he could take a step inside, Chef Felicia parked herself in front of him. "Hey! Out of my kitchen! Now!" she shouted, waving her spoon like a crazy celebrity chef gone mad.

Devlin looked at her sharply, but didn't pull back. "Did three women come through here?"

Emmeline looked up at the sound of his voice, her eyes going wide. Then she shoved her phone in her pocket, pulled back her shoulders, and started cutting slices of pie.

The kitchen door opened, and Rachel burst in, bumping into Devlin. "Where's Mia? Mia Murphy is here," she told Devlin. "She's hiding from you."

Yep. I definitely would vote for Felicia over Rachel as best friend of the year. Had Emmeline been texting Rachel? Emmeline had seemed too nice to betray Hattie. One of them alone might not have the strength to kill Beckwith and drag him out to the truck, but together? I would vote yes.

Devlin swore under his breath. "I thought I saw Mia. Did you see where she went?"

"She's in here somewhere." Rachel looked pouty.

I looked at Emmeline, catching her just as she slipped into the back of the kitchen between some shelves, and then she was out of sight.

Interesting.

Well, at least she hadn't ratted us out to Devlin and Rachel. Emmeline might hang out with less savory folk, but her moral code had some decent standards.

"I’ve been in the hall. The only place she could be is here." Devlin turned to scan the kitchen again, and I pulled back and crouched so only my right eye was around the door. I was also below eye level, because most people looked at eye level, not below.

Of course, Devlin was a great cop, so he would probably look down, but maybe his observation skills were out of practice after living in Bass Derby for a while.

Felicia put both hands on her hips, pulled her shoulders back, and stepped right in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "This is my kitchen," she snapped. "I can assure you that no one has been running through here, and that includes you both. Out. Now."

She was fierce. I loved her.

Devlin narrowed his eyes at her, apparently decided she was in cahoots with us (damn his cop instincts), and looked past her, scanning the kitchen.

I ducked out of sight just before he looked my way. Hattie and Lucy were waiting in the hallway as I let the door shut gently. "He's such a suspicious man," I said. "It's so annoying."

Hattie grinned. "Well, he does know you pretty well. How could he be anything but suspicious? Speaking of suspicious, did you guys find Charles?"

We both shook our heads as we headed toward the back deck. "No sign of him," I said. "He must be in the bathroom, or the back room. We didn't get that far."

"Let's recap on the deck," Hattie said. "We'll figure this out."

I paused as we passed the door of the storage room. "The entire kitchen staff heard Chef Felicia tell us to go to the deck. I don't think we should go there." I pushed open the door to the storage room. "Let's go this way."

I stepped inside, saw the meat freezer that we'd recently had a bad experience with, and decided to ignore it. "What do you guys think?" I asked as Lucy and Hattie followed me inside.

Lucy locked the door behind her.

"I think Charles and Beckwith had it out over the business," Hattie said. "It went south."

Lucy nodded. "I agree. We need to talk to Charles."

I ran my hands through my hair. "No, we don't. We're definitely not talking to him. He's big and scary and a possible murderer."

Hattie grinned. "So, we find evidence, right? To trap him?"

I nodded. "Exactly."

"Emmeline probably knows more," Hattie said. "She sold her recipes to the Barnes brothers. Losing control over your livelihood can make any woman cranky. She'll be willing to talk."

"Or Rachel," Lucy said. "There's a lot of hostility in that woman."

Hattie frowned. "Which Rachel are you guys talking about?"

"Rachel Harrison," Lucy said.

"Son of a biscuit." Hattie sighed. "She was Emmeline's best friend in high school. Rachel was trouble. Emmeline begged me to give her a job because she was broke, but I caught her stealing credit card numbers the first night. I fired her, and had a long talk with Emmeline about choosing her friends. Last I heard, Emmeline had cut her off."

Yeah, that was the vibe I got from her. "Sounds like they're in business together again."

Hattie sighed, and looked over at me. "You pick up on anything else?"

I walked across the room and peered out the window at the lake. "I feel like there's something going on with their business that we need to find out about.”

"It's a pie situation," Hattie agreed. "See? Recipes matter. They are worth gold."

"But murder?" I shook my head. "People murder over money, yes. Revenge, yes. Love, yes, Power, yes. Jealousy, yes. Recipes, no. Unless it’s tied to something else like money, love, power, or revenge."

"Recipes are money," Hattie said.

"But for the Diamond Pie Baking Company? Is that enough money?" I shifted King Tut, thinking. "And why you, Hattie? Why did they pick you to dump the body on?"

Hattie shook her head. "Honestly, they all have a reason."

I glanced at Lucy, who sighed. "What are they?"

Hattie sat down on a crate. "I dated Beckwith briefly at one time."

I nodded. "You mentioned that."

"He tried to convince me to go into business with him, but I refused. No woman should ever go into business with a man. Woman power all the way."

I grinned. "We know about Rachel, but what about Emmeline?"

"Mia!" Devlin's voice echoed down the hall, and we all went silent as his footsteps strode past the room.

Stubborn man had blown right past Felicia and headed to the side deck.

"He's going to come back and realize we're in here," Lucy said. "Why does he care where you are?"

"Because he knows I'm up to something. Let's go before he turns around." I hurried to the door, opened it, and peered out just as Devlin walked out the door to the deck. "It's clear!" I sprinted back down the hall to the kitchen, Lucy and Hattie on my tail.

We raced through the kitchen, waving at Chef Felicia as we sprinted past. Emmeline and Rachel were nowhere to be seen.

Chef Felicia turned to watch us. "Is that a cat? Do you have a cat in my kitchen? Hattie, you know better than that!"

And then we were out of the kitchen before she could stop us.