Since I knew Ollie had taken good care of Crème Brûlée during their unscheduled stop, I took a minute to check the back of the food truck. Sometimes I’d found that doing any work on the vehicle caused havoc in the kitchen area. I thought I might as well straighten things up now before we sent Miguel out for supplies.
I was surprised and pleased to find that everything had been tied down and put away so well that nothing had shifted.
I was even more surprised to find Tina Gerard sleeping on the floor.
She woke up, startled, when I walked up to her. “Oh, Zoe. I know what this looks like. I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you to see the police.”
“It looks like you were trying to get out of Atlanta without anyone knowing,” I said.
“That’s exactly what it is. I couldn’t deal with the police again while we were there. I hope Miguel is okay. Did you have to leave him behind?”
“No. He’s here, and he’s fine. But I think he might have some questions for you.”
– – – – – – –
Crème Brûlée wasn’t happy about going into the tote. Lucky for me he wasn’t much of a fighter. He gave me a few dirty looks and howled a little. He tried catching on to the side of the tote with his back legs.
“You don’t want to stay out here by yourself,” I reasoned with him. “We have to sneak you inside. Food will be there, and a nice soft bed. Quit fighting.”
Tina laughed as I tried to get my cat in the bag. “I don’t think he agrees with you.”
I gave him one final shove and he plopped into the bag. “He doesn’t understand. He’ll be fine once I get him inside. I think we’re both ready to go home.”
“I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much trouble,” she apologized as we walked toward the elevator.
“This whole race has been nothing but trouble.” I pressed the up button. “Do you know if the producers did some of this stuff on purpose? Like cutting the power cords and hijacking one of the food trucks?”
“I haven’t really talked to Alex in so long, I wouldn’t know, Zoe.”
“What about your daughter?” We walked into the elevator. “Is she somewhere safe?”
Tina nodded. “She’s with my mother. I don’t think anyone will bother them in Tampa.”
“Good thinking.”
I had to ask for Miguel’s room number. Tina hid behind some plants near the elevators while I did. With so many police hanging around with the race, they could pick her up for questioning at any time.
I thought about what Delia had said about Tina on the way to Birmingham. I felt almost as sure as she did that Tina was setting Miguel up. I also thought it would be good to keep her close so we could watch her.
Miguel was surprised and pleased to see her when we knocked on his door. He ushered us in quickly and glanced up and down the hall before he closed and locked the door.
“She was hiding in the Biscuit Bowl.” I sat in a nice soft chair.
He hugged her and smiled. “I’m glad you got out of Atlanta. This gives us a chance to talk. The police are going to want to question you again about our relationship. They think you paid me to kill Alex.”
Tina started crying softly. Miguel gave her some tissues and sat down.
“I thought I should keep an eye on Alex. That’s why I decided to follow the food truck race. He didn’t know I was there.” She sniffled and blew her nose very daintily. “I was afraid he might try one of his stupid stunts. That’s why I sent Rosie, our daughter, down to stay with my mother. To protect her. Everything was a scheme with Alex. I didn’t want Rosie to be part of whatever he was planning.”
Miguel got her a bottle of water. He smiled at me. “Can I get you something, Zoe? We can order from room service.”
“No. I’m fine.” I yawned. “Just tired and ready to beat Our Daily Bread. I want to go home with fifty thousand dollars.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He turned back to Tina, and I thought about leaving. They didn’t really need me there to discuss what had happened—not more than I needed a nap anyway.
Miguel told her what the police thought had happened to Alex. “They think you wanted him dead to end the divorce problems and to get custody of Rosie. They think you hired me to do it.”
Tina laughed in a bitter, non-amused way. “That’s rich. Like Alex ever wanted Rosie. That was only to hurt me.”
“Even that sounds like a possible motive to kill him,” I added.
“I can’t talk to them again, Miguel.” She repeated what she’d said outside to me. The only difference was that she sounded a little more pathetic—and sexy. “I just can’t. This is too much for me. I can’t take anymore.”
She cried. He put his arms around her. I tried to remember that they were only friends and that I wasn’t jealous. At least not much.
I got to my feet. “You know, I think I’m going to go to my room. I’m surprised Crème Brûlée has stayed in the tote all this time. He needs to eat and I need to sleep. I’ll see you two later. Miguel, we’re working on the shopping list. If you can’t do it, just let me know.”
“I’ll take care of it. Just send me the list.” He looked up at me over Tina’s head. “I’m sorry about this, Zoe. I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Sure.” I picked up the tote and held it carefully in my arms. The weight seemed to distribute better that way and made my cat easier to carry.
I opened the door and surprised Detective Marsh, who was standing there with his hand up, ready to knock.
TWENTY-TWO
There was no time to warn Miguel and Tina. Helms was right behind Marsh as they barged into the hotel room.
“Doesn’t that make a cozy picture?” Marsh asked his partner.
Helms smiled. “It surely does. I wonder if they were doing a lot of this the day they decided to kill Alex Pardini.”
Miguel and Tina sprang apart. He looked guilty. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
“What do you want now?” Miguel demanded. “You can’t prove we did anything wrong. You would be better served looking for the real killer.”
“I think we’re better served talking to your girlfriend,” Marsh said. “I can’t believe you’d lead poor Zoe on this way. One lady friend wasn’t enough for you?”
Miguel glanced at me. I shrugged. As far as I was concerned, Marsh didn’t know his head from a hole in the ground. I wasn’t taking his word for anything.
“Maybe you should both come to the Birmingham police station with us,” Helms suggested.
“Yeah,” Marsh agreed. “Let’s have a little talk, shall we?”
Miguel took a deep, frustrated breath. “Whatever you say, detectives. Come on, Tina. Let’s get this over with.”
Marsh led the way to the elevator. I was still standing at the doorway, waiting for Helms to leave the hotel room.
“Could I talk to you for a minute, Zoe?” She glanced at the elevator but didn’t leave the room.
I closed the hotel door. Crème Brûlée had begun shifting around uncomfortably in the tote bag. “Sure. I have to get my cat to my room. We can talk there.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Your cat? You brought your cat with you on the race?”
“Have you ever tried to get a cat sitter on short notice? My mother wouldn’t take him. My father was out of town. Ollie, Delia, and my uncle are with me. That pretty much dries up my pool of cat sitters.”
Helms opened the door and said something to Marsh. I wasn’t close enough to hear what it was. This was probably part of a divide and conquer kind of thing. She’d find that I was too loyal to Miguel to give anything away.
By the time we reached my room, finally, Crème Brûlée was starting to meow loudly and claw at the bag. I gave my key card to Helms and she opened the door. I held the tote bag down, and Crème Brûlée jumped out with a parting hiss at me.