Cook the Books

totally lost your mind since I’ve been gone?”
    My expression became serious. “Actually, yes.”
    He hung his head. “I’m sorry. But what would give you the idea that I’m with Snacker’s girlfriend? I talked to Owen before I called you, and he told me that you had this crazy notion that I’d hooked up with that girl. There is no truth to that idea whatsoever.” Josh slid his body on top of mine and brushed the hair from my face. “None at all.”
    “But I saw you two together. Last Friday.” I didn’t particularly want to reveal that I’d been hiding behind a potted plant, spying on him. “I just happened to be coming out of the ladies’ room when you told her how hot she was. Not that she isn’t, but...”
    “You nut!” Josh said with a smile. “Didn’t you notice that a lot of the food that night was lukewarm when it got to the table?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I was taking Georgie and all the other servers to task for ruining the food. They were all so incompetent. They kept letting the plates sit too long before taking them to the tables.”
    “Oh.” I gazed into his blue eyes and gently ran my hand down his back. “So you’re not interested in Georgie?”
    “God no. There is only one woman I’m interested in, Chloe.”
    “Oh,” I said again.
    “But you’re right about one thing. Georgie is not above cheating on Snacker.”
    “I know. Digger, right?”
    “Yeah. How’d you know that?”
    “That was another conversation that I happened to overhear.”
    “My, you heard a lot that night, didn’t you?” Josh teased. “I can tell you that Digger wasn’t the only guy she was cheating on Snacker with. I never thought Snacker would be the faithful one in a relationship, but he seems really into her. I feel bad for him, although he’s probably earned it after all the messing around he’s done in his life.”
    “You don’t think... you don’t think that Snacker could have...” I started.
    “No. Snacker did not kill Digger.” Josh shook his head. “Did Snacker know that his girlfriend was having an affair with Digger, his close friend? No one—not even Snacker, who has his own knack for philandering—would like that.”
    “I can’t believe that he would ever do something so gruesome. He loved Digger, just like I did.”
    “He did benefit from Digger’s death, though. He got the executive chef job at the Penthouse.”
    “I hate to admit it, but Snacker’s not the most honest, upright person I know, and yes, he did need the money. But that’s all.”
    “Do you know he stole some of your recipes? You couldn’t have missed the spring rolls he put on the menu. He thought you’d be in Hawaii and you’d never know.”
    “No, no.” Josh shook his head. “Snacker didn’t steal my recipes. After Digger died, Snacker asked me to help him with the menu. I gave him a ton of help, so of course the menu had my mark on it. I don’t mind if I give my permission, so it’s not like he was being sneaky or anything. Besides, after the opening, Snacker told me that he couldn’t handle being the executive chef there. He’s going to step down as soon as they find a replacement. He’s not ready, and he knows it. He never wanted that job, Chloe.”
    “Good. What about Digger’s girlfriend, Ellie? After all, Digger betrayed her with her best friend. She did seem totally devoted to him.”
    “Hmm.” Josh rolled off me and propped himself up on his elbow while he traced a finger over my stomach. “That’s actually a possibility.”
    “I was the one who had to tell Ellie about Digger’s death, and she took it really hard. She was genuinely upset and heartbroken. She asked me to call Georgie. Ellie was obviously on good terms with her friend then. Or she was pretending to be. I know that she went through Digger’s e-mail after he died, but she could have done the same thing before his death and found out that he was cheating on her with Georgie. I think she took Digger’s laptop from his apartment after the fire,” I said, remembering the clean, soot-free outline that I’d seen on the desk. “When she told me that she hadn’t been there, she lied.”
    “She’s a better suspect than Snacker, that’s for sure. Listen, Chloe,” Josh said, turning my face to his. “I have to talk to you about Kyle. I don’t know how involved you are with him, but—”
    “I’m not involved with him at all, Josh. Not like that. I’m just his cookbook assistant.”
    “Really? That’s a