when Javier started dancing with some other girl.” He glanced around. “I know, the guy was a jerk with women, but that doesn’t mean he killed her. The guy already had a new one on the line, why would he care?”
“Heather was in love with him.” Hope spoke up for the first time since she’d heard the news. Everyone turned to look at her and she shrank back from the attention. “I knew her from high school. We were in a Young Leaders community service club. We stayed in touch after we graduated. She was a good person and didn’t deserve to die like this.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Angie hadn’t realized Hope had known the girl. “Do you need some time? We can drop down to a three-person team for the night.”
“I can do it. Heather and I weren’t close, we were more like Facebook friends. She talked about Javier and how wonderful he was for the last month. She’d fallen hard.” Hope shook her head. “She always fell for the guys who were never going to work out. Even in high school, she went for the players. I’ll visit her parents tomorrow. They must be heartbroken.”
“If you change your mind, you let me know.” Something in Hope’s tone made her question the relationship, but it wasn’t her business. Angie glanced around the room. The team looked sad at the tragic news but not wiped out. In a small community like River Vista, the death of one of its own had to make an impression on everyone. “We okay? I was going to add a new item, but I think we’ll hold off until next week. Let’s go over the menu.”
As they prepped for the upcoming service, the kitchen was quiet, each person lost in their own thoughts. Angie turned on the CD player and classical music poured out. Estebe must have left one of his discs in the machine. Somehow the music felt right and the team started working together, talking quietly. When the temp hire showed up, Hope took him over to the dishwasher stand and explained his job and how to work the machine.
Felicia came into the room a few minutes before opening. She stood near Angie, taking in the quiet kitchen. “Everyone all right?”
“We’ll be fine. Are we ready to open?” Angie glanced around the room and realized her words were true. The group had been shocked at the news, but they’d bounced back and stepped into Estebe’s absence well.
“The first table just got seated.” Felicia followed Angie’s glance around the room. “That didn’t take long.”
“What do you mean?”
Felicia smiled as she stepped away toward the front. “You have a team here, not just employees.”
As she cooked, Angie realized Felicia was right. When times were good or tough, the kitchen crew would get through it. Not for the first time, she felt like she was exactly where she needed to be.
* * * *
On most Sundays, Angie liked to sleep in, but for many reasons, today her mind was running a mile a minute. She’d thought about calling Estebe more than once, but she always set the phone down, knowing it sent the wrong message. She might not see their relationship as more than friends, but she didn’t need to throw any more gas on that flame for others in town, especially Missy Stockwell. At least her husband had been nice, even though he’d compared her restaurant to a chain. Maybe she’d make up a dessert and take it over to the Farm Store tomorrow. She could say it was to thank them for coming in, but that made a bad precedent for other townies who she didn’t bake a personal thank-you for. She really just wanted to give Missy a piece of her mind, not a piece of pie.
“Hey, are you decent?” Ian’s voice called through the house. She’d been upstairs, gathering laundry to start her chores.
“Depends on what you call decent.” She called back. Glancing in the mirror, she pulled her hair back behind her ears. She looked fine. For a Sunday morning. “I’ll be right down. Grab some coffee.”
“That will work. I brought something to eat from the store.”
By the time she’d gotten downstairs and put the laundry basket on top of the washer, Ian was sitting at the table talking to Dom and sipping his coffee. A zucchini bread sat sliced on a plate at the table, and she noticed her own cup had been refilled. “You don’t have to bring food with every visit. I am a chef, you know.”
“I like this zucchini bread. I know you probably have an amazing recipe, but I didn’t want to ask you to bake on this lovely day.” He gave Dom one last rub under his ear, then stood to wash his hands. “I take it you heard about Estebe’s cousin?”
“He called me yesterday afternoon, as he couldn’t come into work. Did Sheriff Brown really arrest Javier?” She slipped into her chair and took a slice of the bread. She sniffed it, then took a bite. Ian was right, it was good. But her recipe was better. She hadn’t made zucchini bread in years. She’d need to pull it out. Maybe figure a way to make a dessert for the restaurant out of the moist bread.
“He didn’t arrest him. He just brought him in for questioning. According to Allen, he sent them home about seven last night.” Ian sipped on his coffee. “Allen’s a mess. Two murders this summer and he’s gone over twenty years without one. I think he’s consulting with someone from the Idaho State Police in Meridian.”
“It must be hard.” Angie felt a twinge of guilt. She moves back, people start dying. Maybe she was a Typhoid Mary or something.
“Don’t go there.” Ian must have read the thought on her face. “Just because you’re here doesn’t mean you caused these things. Unless you’re a vicious serial killer and I’m a completely bad judge of character.”
“If I was, you wouldn’t be spending all your free time with Mildred.” Angie sipped her coffee. “You know, there was a weird vibe in the air Friday night. I left the building and thought someone was watching me.”
“Did you see who it was?” Ian sat straighter, his gaze tight on her face.
Angie laughed. “Yeah. It was Estebe. He waited for me to leave to make sure I’d be safe. Who does that? Most of my crew takes off as soon as the shift’s over. He hangs around because I don’t have good lighting in the back parking lot.”
“Well, that’s good.” Ian’s face didn’t match his words, but Angie let the comment go. They’d already had that conversation. No need to dig it up again.
“Anyway, it just felt weird. I don’t think I’ve ever felt uncomfortable in that lot, and there were a lot of times when we were getting the restaurant ready that I didn’t leave for home until after midnight.” She picked up a piece of zucchini bread and sniffed it, trying to decide if there was cinnamon and nutmeg or maybe some other spice in the mix. “I’ll call an electrician next week and get them to add some security lights. Even if I feel okay, Felicia lives there.”
“And she likes to go to the Red Eye at night,” Ian added.
“She’s a single adult. She has a right to go to a bar if she wants to go.” Angie didn’t like the sharp tone in her voice.
Ian held up his hands, blocking the emotional assault. “I’m not saying anything against Felicia. I’m saying she should be safe walking in an alley in River Vista. It’s not like we’re a big city like New York, Los Angeles, or even St. Louis.”
“Or Boise. I’ve heard on the news some surprising crimes that have been happening in their downtown area. Of course, it has way too many bars per city block down there. We’re
