Killer Cuisine

by Velvet Vaughn

“She smiled and squeezed his hand. “I appreciate the vote of confidence. If I do leave, I’m going to speak with Dion about you.”

  “You don’t have to,” he protested.

  “I want to. You deserve your own kitchen, Henry. You have all the skills and dedication. You’re efficient, you work well with the wait staff, you’re organized and professional and you keep me up to date on everything. I’d be lost without you. He’d be silly not to promote you.” Dion liked to hire chefs who’d trained for years learning the craft. Henry was a relative newcomer. He dropped out of college, forgoing a degree in aeronautical engineering to enroll in a culinary institute, much to the dismay of his parents. They still weren’t completely on board, and Kait knew being awarded the executive chef position at Fresh! would go a long way towards gaining their respect.

  He smiled shyly. “Thanks for that.”

  “I’m not just saying it. I mean it. Wholeheartedly.”

  He blinked quickly and sniffed again. “Enough about me. How’s it going here?” He looked around the house and whistled. “This place is a mansion.”

  “It is,” she agreed. “Other than that, things aren’t great.”

  “I heard about Cora Crenshaw,” he said. “Wow.”

  Kait’s eyes widened when Ralph Priddy walked in the door carrying a large box. The tattooed man with beady eyes always made her nervous. He was leering at her now, his gold tooth flashing. She fought the urge to shiver.

  She turned away and focused on Henry. “Would you like a tour?”

  “Henry!”

  He made a disgusted face at Amy’s summons. “I’ll have to take a raincheck. Amy seems to think she can boss me around when you aren’t there.” He waved and scurried to the kitchen. Kait felt horrible. Henry was an excellent cook and they had many of the same philosophies in using healthy ingredients. They complimented each other well. Why hadn’t she spoken to Dion already? He dropped another peg by not promoting Henry while she was gone.

  The meal was good but Amy had overdone the spices on a few dishes. Kait held her tongue. Dan and the rest of the crew joined them and the meal passed with several lively discussions bantering around the table.

  Kendall had invited many of the staff to eat with them so Taylor and Dante were there, along with Jade and Logan. Dorian had arrived to be with Kendall. Detective Hurley dined with them as well.

  As soon as the meal ended and the dishes were cleared away, Kendall called for quiet and informed them that Cora Crenshaw had been murdered.

  “How?” Ronald asked. “We were all there.”

  “She was poisoned.”

  “I knew it,” Joy boasted. “Kaitlyn killed her. She should be kicked off—or better yet, in jail.”

  “Shut up, Joy,” Ronald said.

  “Yes, Joy, I’d advise you to keep your mouth closed,” Kendall chastised. “The poison was on the fork, not the food.”

  “Still, it was her dish.” Joy crossed her arms defiantly.

  “If I have to warn you one more time, I will remove you from this show. Do you understand?” Kendall’s voice was harsh.

  Joy’s eyes widened and she nodded.

  “Good.”

  “Does that mean there’s still a show?” Darrin asked.

  “I’ve spoken with the executives at CuisineTV and they’ve given me the okay to continue, so we’ll shoot the next episode tomorrow.”

  A round of cheers erupted around the table. Once the excitement died down, Shandee asked, “Do they have any suspects? I mean, how safe are we going back?”

  “No suspects yet and that’s a good question. All the utensils and cookware that the police didn’t confiscate for the investigation have been thoroughly sanitized. The supplies from Palmer’s Pantry had to be destroyed for safety reasons but they’ve agreed to restock the shelves. The security company beefed up protection so no one will be able to tamper with the ingredients.”

  All of the extra precautions had to impact Kendall’s budget for the show. Still, Kait was relieved there was still a show. She knew Kendall had been worried they’d pull the plug.

  “If there are no more questions, relax, enjoy the pool and get some rest. We’ll try this again in the morning.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The crew from Fresh! had cleaned up the dishes from dinner and gone home. The meal was decent, but nowhere near the level of Kaitlyn’s cooking. Some of the food had a strange taste, like spices that really shouldn’t have been combined, in Dan’s humble opinion.

  Several of the occupants of the house had gone outside to swim after dinner. Abby followed Dion McArthur out the door and he hadn’t seen her return. Poor Mason.

  Kaitlyn gave him a little wave as she headed upstairs. Did she want him to join her? Would he? He sighed.

  Logan sidled over. “When are you going to give in and admit to yourself that you’ve got it bad, little brother?”

  “Shut up,” he said without heat. “Where’s my niece?”

  “Nice change of the subject,” Logan smirked. “Lauren’s watching her.” Isabella idolized the teenager and followed her around like a puppy. “Kai’s with them.”

  “Poor Lauren,” Dan chuckled.

  “Tell me about it,” Logan laughed. “Bella won’t leave her alone for a second and Kai—”

  A scream split the air.

  “That’s Kait.” Dan took off at a dead run, Logan on his heels, followed by Dante and Dorian.

  “Mason, keep everyone downstairs,” Logan said when the other man came charging.

  Dan navigated the steps three at a time, his SIG Sauer in his grip. He didn’t bother to look, but knew his brother and co-workers had their weapons out as well. He didn’t even slow as he burst into Kait’s room. His eyes darted everywhere, finding her standing beside her bed with her hands covering her mouth. He rushed to her side. “Kait?”

  She pointed to the bed and then buried her face against his chest. He motioned to Logan with his head. His brother pulled back the cover. “Ah, damn,” Logan muttered.

  Dante turned to usher Taylor, Jade and Kendall out the door.

  “I tried to stop them,” Mason insisted breathlessly from the doorway.

  “Yeah, they don’t take orders well,” Dorian informed him.

  The ever-present camera crew poked their heads inside, filming the action.

  “What is it, Dorian?” Kendall asked. “What happened?”

  “Someone watches too much Godfather,” Dante grumbled.

  “It’s the head of a dog,” Dorian answered.

  “Oh, God,” Jade said and then dashed for the bathroom. Her pregnancy caused even the smallest incident to upset her stomach. Taylor hurried after her.

  “Who would do something like this?” Kendall asked, fighting tears.

  Dorian pulled her into his arms. “Some sick, twisted bastard.”

  “We should leave the room, preserve the scene as much as possible,” Logan said, ushering everyone into the hall. “I’ll call it in and meet with the detective…after I check on my wife.” He met Jade coming out of the bathroom and pulled her to him.

  “I’ll take her home,” Dorian offered. “Kendall, Taylor?”

  They both shook their heads. “We should be here.”

  “Okay. I’ll see Jade home safely and then I’ll be back.”

  Logan phoned Detective Hurley, who’d only left a few minutes earlier. He turned his car around and headed back.

  Kendall called the others inside to let them know what happened. Ronald plastered himself to Kait’s side. “You can bunk with me.”

  No way in hell, Dan thought. He didn’t care if the guy was gay, Kaitlyn would be with him. Period.

  “Surely you can see that all of the problems are with her,” Joy pleaded her case to Kendall, indicating Kaitlyn. “She needs to go before something else happens.”

  “Didn’t you learn anything?” Darrin asked, pointing to the camera.

  “That sounded like a threat to me,” Shandee added.

  “Me
, too,” Ronald piped up.

  “Oh for crying out loud, that wasn’t a threat,” Joy insisted. “I was just saying that bad things seem to happen around her.”

  “Try not saying anything,” Keisei advised.

  Joy flounced off and threw herself into a chair in the great room.

  Detective Hurley returned and soon a crew arrived to sweep her room and remove the head. “There are no inside cameras so unless we pull fingerprints or DNA evidence, it’ll be tough to prove who did it,” he told them. “Anyone who was in the house wouldn’t have an alibi. This could’ve been done at any time. And if they went to this much trouble to smuggle the head here, I don’t see them making a mistake like leaving fingerprints, but you never know. Criminals aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed.”

  #

  The cops left and the others drifted to their rooms. Ronald reiterated his offer for Kait to stay in his room. She politely declined. She didn’t want to go back upstairs, period.

  Her stomach hurt. This was a direct attack on her. Joy wasn’t wrong about that. What possible reason would someone have to kill an innocent dog and cut off its head? Kendall decided to keep the latest incident from the network honchos since it had to be someone targeting Kait.

  She was sitting in a chair in the great room, contemplating everything. Should she quit so the others would be safe? But what would happen if she went back to the restaurant? Would her unknown enemy step up the attacks?

  Dan came up to her and held out his hand. She grasped it like a lifeline. She’d follow him anywhere. He led her down the hall and opened a door to the bedroom he was using. This one was large and airy. Some of his things were scattered around. Then she noticed her bags.

  He followed her gaze. “I hope you don’t mind, but I had Mason bring your things down here. I figured you didn’t want—”

  It was all he got out before she threw herself at him. He stumbled back a step but quickly recovered to take over the kiss. She loved kissing him. It was her most favorite activity. His lips were both soft and firm and he knew how to use them.

  He bent to scoop her in his arms without breaking contact. He gently placed her on the bed and then brushed a strand of hair from her face.

  “Dan—”

  “Shh.” He dusted another kiss across her lips. “You’re safe in here. Get some rest. I’m going to make sure everything’s locked up tight.”

  She almost begged him to stay. “You’ll come back?” And hold me, she silently added. She really wanted him to make love to her. It’d been too long and she missed him. But he was holding back.

  “Soon,” he assured her. After one more brief kiss, he was gone.

  #

  Dan yawned and turned into the lot behind the van. He’d only gotten a couple of hours of rest last night. Sleep was impossible with Kaitlyn in his arms. He stayed and talked to Mason until he was sure she was asleep. He didn’t think he could stop if she kissed him again. He wanted her too damn badly and it had been too damn long since he held her in his arms, their bodies joined in the most intimate way possible. He wanted it more than he wanted his next breath.

  Being noble sucked, big time.

  He considered detouring to her bungalow and punching Frankie but he might get his chance later. The bastard would be here today for the taping of the show. Great. Dan couldn’t wait to meet him. Not.

  He’d called Hurley to see if he’d found out anything after interviewing the staff who’d catered dinner. He’d talked to everyone except one of the waiters and Amy Warren. Naturally, everyone denied knowing anything about the dog head or having seen anyone sneak upstairs. The crime scene personnel had printed everyone from the house to match ones found in the room but there were dozens so it would take a while to sort through them all.

  His cell rang as he shifted to park. He checked the display and pressed the button. “Hey, Mylonas, what’s up?”

  “I’m on my way over.”

  “Good. I’m—” He glanced over just as a tall man approached Kaitlyn and raised his arm. A ray of sunshine broke through a cloud and glinted off the shiny blade of a knife.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dan was out of the SUV in a heartbeat, his gun in his hand. The man yelled for Kait at the same time he did. She spun around with a look of surprise on her face, glancing between him and the other man. Dan didn’t hesitate. He dove for the attacker and took him down.

  “Au secours!”

  “Dan, stop!”

  He didn’t even hear Kaitlyn’s command. He was in full battle mode. He slammed the man’s hand against the ground until he cried out and dropped the knife.

  “Do not kill me, s’il vous plait!”

  Something clawed at his shoulder and it took a minute for him to realize it was Kaitlyn.

  “Get off of him, Dan. You’re crushing him.”

  With a shove, he sprawled to the side and narrowed his eyes at her. “You know this dirtbag?” She ignored him in favor of said dirtbag.

  “François, are you okay?”

  Dan’s gaze snapped to the other man. Blonde hair. Chiseled features. His blue eyes were dazed, but other than that, he looked exactly like the pictures scattered around Kaitlyn’s house. This was indeed Frankie. Her boyfriend.

  “Son of a bitch,” Dan muttered pushing to his feet. How cliché. Former boyfriend attacking current one. His life had been reduced to an episode of The Jerry Springer Show. In a move of compassion—for which he really had none for this man—he held out his hand and helped him to his feet. Seemed the decent thing to do since he was the one who face-planted him in the first place.

  Kaitlyn threw herself in Frankie’s arms and Dan gritted his teeth. It wasn’t golden-haired Adonis she was playing tonsil hockey with last night, thank you very much.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked Frankie.

  “I wanted to bring you my lucky knife.” He pointed to the object on the ground. “I thought after what happened, you could use some good fortune, non?”

  “Oh, that was so sweet of you.”

  Sweet? Sweet? “You go running after a woman with a knife in this country, pal, and you’ll be eating lead. You’re lucky I just disabled you.”

  François turned his puzzled gaze to Kaitlyn. “This I do not understand. Why would I want to eat lead? I am a gourmand, no?”

  Kait smiled at him and Dan gritted his teeth harder. He was surprised he didn’t crack enamel. “It’s American slang. Eating lead means getting shot.”

  “Oh. Oh!” François eyes widened. “Non, I would never hurt Kaitlyn.” He hugged her tightly and closed his eyes. “I love her.”

  Dan was pretty sure steam was pouring from his ears. His trigger finger itched so bad, he almost gave it free reign. He glanced up to see that Mason had ushered the other contestants inside except for Ronald, who stared as if enraptured. Then he caught the look on Kaitlyn’s face. What the hell was the smile she was aiming his way? She looked pleased with herself.

  She patted Adonis’s muscled chest. “François? I’d like you to meet Dan Bradley. Dan, François."

  “So this is him, non?” Adonis asked with one blonde brow arched. He crossed his muscular arms and blatantly checked Dan out from head to toe…and everything in between. He fought the urge to use his hands to cover his man-parts. “Oui, I understand now,” François murmured.

  Dan grunted a response. What he really wanted to do was introduce Frankie to his fist.

  “And this is Ronald Foley.”

  Dan stumbled as something knocked into him. He lifted his gun, only to discover it was Ronald hustling to brush by him.

  “François,” Ronald gushed. “It’s so good to meet you. Kaitlyn is my new best friend so any friend of hers is a friend of mine.” He threw his arms around the Frenchman, who looked amused.

  A weird sensation struck Dan. It was almost cartoon-like, when two characters fell in love and you could see the floating red hearts emanating from their bodies to beat in tandem above their heads. That’s what
he felt here. He raised a brow at Kaitlyn but she didn’t notice. She was too busy watching her friends embrace with her hands clasped against her chest, a wistful smile tilting her lips and tears in her eyes.

  The two men seemed to be lost in their own world while his was fracturing around him. He grabbed Kait’s hand, startling her. He didn’t care. He needed answers. He guided her to the sidewalk.

  “You mean François is—”

  “Shh, lower your voice,” she chided, pushing him out of earshot of the two men. “If you’re asking if he proudly waves the rainbow flag, the answer is yes.”

  Dan’s jaw dropped. “Is that a recent development?”

  She glared at him. “So what you really mean is did I drive him to the other team?”

  “Yes. No,” he sputtered and wiped a hand down his face. His world had seriously tilted and he couldn’t regain his balance. How many years had he believed that these two were lovers? Every time he saw her, he dreaded hearing the news that they were engaged. “I can’t believe he’s gay. How come you never told me?”

  She shrugged. “You never gave me the chance. You just assumed I went to Paris and jumped into the bed of the first Frenchman I met. Isn’t that what you accused me of doing?”

  Had he? Shit. Probably. Sounded like something he would do. “So you kept up the charade all this time? Made me think he was your boyfriend?”

  “Pretty much.”

  So much time—years— wasted and it was all his fault. He had accused her of sleeping around. He’d even spouted something like “France is for lovers,” or some such shit. He was a colossal idiot. He deserved to be kicked to the curb. “Why?” he asked.

  “Why did I omit the truth, I just told you—”

  “No, why do you keep letting me back into your life? I don’t deserve it. I’m an ass.”

  “You are,” she agreed easily. “But you’re like Oreo ice cream. I know it’s bad for me but I can’t help it. Apparently, I’m addicted.”

  That did it. Dan pulled her into his arms and crushed his mouth to hers.

  #

  “Kait, can you believe it? François is from France and my specialty is French cuisine! It’s kismet or something.”