Read Online A Cookbook Conspiracy by Kate Carlisle - Free Book Online Page B

waited for the police to arrive. I was still breathing a little heavily,
     but I was fine. Alive, anyway.
    Savannah sat on one of the barstools, looking dazed and confused. Thanks to Derek’s
     quick thinking, she now wore thin rubber gloves over her bloodied hands. He’d seen
     the box of disposable gloves on a shelf by the industrial dishwashing machine and
     had urged her to put them on to protect any blood evidence on her hands.
    I forced a glass of water into Savannah’s glove-sheathed hand and told her to keep
     sipping it.
    “I didn’t kill him,” she whispered.
    “I know, sweetie.”
    She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand and strained to look at me. “How
     do you know?”
    “Because you’re a vegetarian.”
    “Really?”
    “No, you twit,” I said softly. “It’s because I know you. You don’t step on spiders.
     You wouldn’t hurt a bug to save your own life. And you wouldn’t stick a knife in someone’s
     gut and kill them in cold blood, no matter how big a jerk he was. So I know you didn’t
     do it, but I just wish you’d seen who did.”
    “Me, too.” Her shoulders sagged and she looked exhausted enough to slide off her seat.
     I eased her stool closer to the bar so she could lean her elbows on the shiny surface.
    I just didn’t want her to fall asleep. We had turned every light on full blast, so
     the room was illuminated as brightly as if the sun were blazing down on us. Derek
     had locked the front door in case any passersby got the idea that we were open for
     business.
    I decided to try and keep Savannah talking. Maybe something would click and she would
     remember a detail that might help.
    “Did you see anyone run out the back door?” I asked. The kitchen door leading to the
     back alley had been wide open when we arrived. The killer must’ve run out that door
     and disappeared downthe alley. At least that was my best guess. If it was true, we might’ve missed him
     by only a few seconds. Maybe we’d even passed him on the sidewalk earlier. The thought
     gave me goose bumps.
    “I don’t think so,” Savannah said for maybe the umpteenth time. Her tone was dull
     and her eyes were unfocused. I’d never seen her like this before, and while I understood
     that she was freaked-out, I didn’t have time for it.
    “That answer’s not going to work for the police, Savannah,” I said quietly. “You either
     saw someone or you didn’t. I know you’re tired, but you need to remember everything
     that happened after we left you earlier tonight. You should talk it out. I can help
     you. We can go over it all before the police get here.”
    She nodded but said nothing.
    Derek stepped close, pressed his lips to my ear and murmured, “She’s in shock, love.
     Let her be for now.”
    “But the cops are going to drag her off to jail. I can’t let that happen.”
    He touched my hair lightly, smoothed one thick strand off my cheek. “We’ll make sure
     it doesn’t.”
    Staring up at Derek’s face, I absently counted the few fine lines that branched out
     from the corners of his intelligent blue eyes. I knew he’d worked some dangerous jobs,
     been in a number of harrowing situations. Even if he hadn’t told me about them, his
     eyes would have given him away. They were constantly assessing, occasionally challenging,
     always compelling. I wondered which of his adventures had earned him the most wrinkles—not
     that he had many. Just enough to make him interesting. Some of them were from laughter,
     I knew, but most were hard-won. And all of them had gone into building the character
     of the man who stood by me tonight.
    My heart swelled. What outstanding deed had I done to deserve his loyalty and love?
     It was stunning to know that he occasionally wondered the same thing about me.
    “I’m so scared,” I whispered.
    “I know.” He wrapped his arms around me and held me for a long moment.
    I sniffled. “I’m going to lose all my friends.”
    I heard him chuckle.