“Actually, I don’t know if that’s true. Josh called me today,” Ade confessed. “He wanted to know what you thought was going on with Digger before he died.”
“He called you?”
“Yup. He was in a rotten mood. Partly because of Digger, partly because he’s staying with Snacker, whose girlfriend is there all the time, and partly because of you.”
“What did he say about me? What did he say?” I demanded.
“He didn’t have to say anything, Chloe. I know Josh pretty well, and I know that he was fishing for details. Asking me how you were, what you’ve been up to, that kind of thing.”
“Did he say anything about hearing Kyle last night when he called?”
“No, not specifically, but he wouldn’t ask about you if he didn’t still care. I could hear it in his voice.” Adrianna cocked her head to side and looked at me. “Chloe? Why didn’t you go to Hawaii with Josh?”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you go to Hawaii?”
I rolled my eyes. “Ade! People don’t just drop their lives and run off to Hawaii for the hell of it.”
“It wouldn’t have been for the hell of it. It would have been for you. For you and Josh.”
“I have responsibilities. School, for one. My whole family is in Boston. And there’s you and Owen and Patrick. I wasn’t about to leave all of you,” I insisted. “Oh my God! You think I should have gone.”
She shrugged. “You said no awfully quickly.”
“He asked awfully quickly,” I spat back. “He asked me to go with him and left the next day.”
“True. But you could have met up with him. You didn’t have to leave that minute. And there are other graduate schools in the country, including in Hawaii, I’ll bet, and plane rides home and phone calls and e-mails.”
“I cannot believe you. So you wouldn’t have cared if I’d just left?”
“Of course I would have cared, dummy. I would miss you like crazy. We all would. But you and I will always be best friends, no matter where you are.”
“Hawaii is not exactly an option now, is it? I said no, and we broke up. What’s done is done.”
“It’s not done yet, Chloe,” Ade said as she put her hand on my arm. “You don’t get that many chances at truly mind-blowing romance. I almost lost Owen once, and I thank God every day that I didn’t. He is without a doubt the love of my life. And I think Josh might be yours.”
“Well, he’s not. Stop talking like we’re fated to be together or some nonsense like that. More important than my stupid love life is what happened to Digger. So, Josh is asking around about him? I only had one short phone call with Digger a few days before he died, and I didn’t get the sense that anything was wrong. I mean, sure, he was working like crazy to get the restaurant ready to open, but that’s nothing unusual. The only weird thing that’s happened is that his girlfriend, Ellie, was all heartbroken and depressed about Digger’s death one minute and then furious and hateful about him the next. Somebody else might know more, but I hadn’t really been in touch with Digger since Josh left. Division of friends and all that. You can tell Josh that.”
“Tell him yourself.” Ade winked at me and set her coffee down. “I’m starving. Got anything to eat?”
“Yeah, help yourself,” I said distractedly.
Adrianna got up to get us a snack, and I poked through the mail. I couldn’t believe that Josh had called Adrianna. She was my best friend, and he knew damn well that she’d tell me about their phone call. I set aside a few bills to pay and scanned a menu for a new Vietnamese restaurant that had just opened. There was also a formal-looking envelope that had my name and address practically embossed in red lettering. I ripped it open, wondering whether someone I knew was getting married. The ivory note card inside, which was covered in the same fancy lettering as the envelope, turned out to be an invitation to the opening of the Penthouse. The date was the coming Friday: short notice. But Digger’s death must have thrown a major wrench into the restaurant’s plans. I dropped the invitation in my lap. Ellie had obviously put me on the guest list, and my name hadn’t been removed after Digger’s death. Well, I was always happy to support a new restaurant, and the food was sure to be good; Digger had presumably been replaced with someone equally gifted in the kitchen.
I looked more closely at the invitation to see who the new executive chef was. Jason Freelin. It took me a second to place the name. Although I actually knew Jason Freelin, no one ever called him that. He was known only as Snacker. So, Josh’s old (well, now temporarily current) roommate and former sous-chef at Simmer had taken over for Digger! I was amazed, mystified, and skeptical. I mean, I loved Snacker. He was funny, charming, and charismatic, and he really was a wonderful friend to Josh and a great cook. But as the title suggests, an executive chef needs to have exactly the kind of executive ability that Snacker lacked. I simply could not picture Snacker mustering the skill to lead an entire staff and to run the whole business end of the kitchen at a large restaurant. Executive ability must’ve been why Digger got the job in the first place; besides being talented, he was tough, disciplined, and organized. Yeah, he swore all the time and had a bit of a temper, but he knew how to take charge, and he could get the job done. Snacker, on the other hand, was more likely to flirt with hot waitresses than he was to do inventory or to prepare for health department inspections.
When Adrianna set a plate down on the table, I suddenly realized how hungry I was. She’d put together some cheese, crackers, olives, and slices of sopresatta. “Yum!” I smeared some creamy goat cheese onto a cracker and showed Ade the invitation. “Check out who got Digger’s job.”
Adrianna scanned the note card. “Who the hell is Jason Freelin?”
“You made out with him and you don’t know his name? That’s Snacker.”
“You have to be kidding me. When would he have time to run a restaurant, what with all the flirting he’s got to fit into his day? I feel sorry for that Georgie girl. Snacker can’t be the best boyfriend out there.”
“Wait, what?” I spoke through a mouthful of food. “Did you say Georgie?”
Ade nodded. “Yeah, Josh mentioned her name to me. Why? Do you know her?”
Of course. Georgie was Ellie’s friend, the one I’d called to be with Ellie after I’d broken the news about Digger. Ellie had called Georgie’s boyfriend Jay. Aha! Jay had to be short for Jason. Only a girlfriend could get away with calling Snacker by anything close to his real name. One of the women, Ellie or Georgie, must have introduced the other to Digger or to Snacker. Digger and Snacker were old friends who’d been competing for the same job at the Penthouse. I explained the foursome to Adrianna.
“I bet Digger kept Snacker in line with Georgie. Digger seemed like a good guy. I hope Snacker wasn’t too pissed off at him for beating him out for the job.”
“Well… what if he was? You don’t think Snacker would… you know?” I ran my finger across my throat.
“Don’t you think for one minute that Snacker killed Digger! Are you insane?”
“I know you and Snacker had your little thing a while back, but it doesn’t mean you have to scream at me for thinking out loud.” I crossed my arms and glared at her.
“First of all, stop referring to my poorly chosen little dalliance with Snacker. It was nothing but a few hot kisses here and there, and it was a stupid, horrible mistake, and I’m lucky Owen forgave me for it. But, by the way”-she leaned toward me-“he is a fantastic kisser. Not too much tongue, strong lips. So if things don’t happen with Josh or Kyle, you might want to look his way.”
“Now who’s gone insane?” I playfully pushed her away. “Look, if Josh thinks that someone killed Digger, then it’s worth thinking about. What Josh said was that Digger was a professional chef who’d never have done something careless at home that could start a kitchen fire.”
“So you’re suggesting that Snacker killed Digger to get his job? Snacker was already the sous-chef there, right? Why would he want more responsibility? You know how he is, Chloe. He’s a goof. Yes, he’s probably fooling around on poor Georgie, so fine, maybe you could call him disloyal and opportunistic, but he didn’t murder anyone. Who else could have wanted Digger out of the picture?”
“There’s this neighbor of Digger’s, Norris, who actually seemed relieved that he didn’t have to live next door to Digger anymore.” I told Ade about Norris’s litany of complaints against the chef. “And why is Ellie suddenly so bullshit at her dead boyfriend? I have no idea what that’s about.”
“So you’ve got a chef, a neighbor, and a girlfriend to investigate now.”
“Josh started this, so blame him. And stop hogging the Brie.”
FOURTEEN
