Fry Another Day

Delia got up and grabbed one of the dress bags. “I have just the thing. Once he sees you in this during di

I swallowed hard. Big step! “Okay. But could we start by dating first? You know, di

She laughed. “Oh, Zoe, you’re such an amateur. Just put yourself in my hands. Miguel won’t know what hit him.”

I hoped I’d know what to do with that kind of reaction, but I agreed. What did I have to lose?

“By the way,” she said softly with that strange smile again. “Is Ollie involved with anyone?”

I cheerfully told her that he wasn’t. He’d be thrilled when he found out she liked him back.

We talked for a while about Ollie and what I knew about him, which wasn’t much.

“Ollie’s sexy, don’t you think?”

Sexy? Ollie?

“Maybe, but it’s hard for me to see him like that. I’ve never seen him with a woman.”

“I can see it in him.” Her tone was fairly purring. “You probably just don’t notice, Zoe. He’s more like your brother.”

“I think Ollie is handsome, in a rugged kind of way. He’s much younger than he looks, I think. It may have been a while since he had a relationship.”

Should I tell her what I knew about Ollie’s past? I only had it secondhand from Miguel. I decided it wasn’t my story to tell. When he was ready, he’d say something to her.

“Ollie’s a real man.” Delia brushed her long brown hair, looking at herself in the mirror. “He’s exactly my type.”

She was about to show me the dress that would be perfect for me when my cell phone rang. It was a call from the front desk. Someone was there to see me.

“Hold that thought,” I said to Delia. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“I’m meeting someone. It’s a while until di

I wasn’t at all sure that Delia understood the concept of dating.

But it was a plan, and I didn’t have any other bright ideas on how to make Miguel notice me. I decided I could deal with the consequences after the plan had worked.

I was definitely going to need a shower, and my hair needed some extra conditioning after being under Chef Art’s hat all day. I’d have plenty of time to get to that. I took my room key and went down to the front desk.

I thought it could be Alex or Chef Art waiting for me downstairs. Instead, it was Detectives Helms and Marsh. I was surprised to see them since I was in another city and state.

“Let’s sit down over here for a moment,” Detective Helms said after our initial wary greetings.

At least the greetings were wary on my part. What were they doing here?

We sat down in a few chairs near a window and a pretty fountain with some plants growing around it. I was glad Miguel wasn’t there, on one hand, and sorry that he wasn’t on the other. I’d have to mind my own tongue.

“Miss Chase.” Detective Helms smiled in a much friendlier ma

“Sure. What’s up?”

“We have special permission to be here with the race after what happened in Charlotte to Mr. Johnson and Detective McSwain. Our chief believes we’ve found evidence that proves the hit-and-run was intentional.”

“What kind of evidence?” I wondered how they could tell the difference between a hit-and-run being intentional or not.

“That’s on a need-to-know basis.” Detective Marsh still had his hostile attitude toward me.

“I guess that means I don’t need to know.” I smiled as I got to my feet. “I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m stressed enough with the food truck race—not to mention everything else that’s happening. I don’t need your stress, too.”

Helms nudged Marsh with her elbow and nodded at me.

“Oh, all right. We need your help, Miss Chase. Our lab techs found video footage of what happened to McSwain. The car didn’t even try and stop for him. In fact, it went faster and swerved toward him. It was murder.”

“We believe it’s all wrapped up with the information you gave him and the food truck race.” Helms smiled at me again, trying to look pleasant. She wasn’t very good at it, even though she looked fabulous in her black suit.

“I don’t know what I can do to help.” I sat back down in one of the comfy chairs. “I told you what I knew earlier. Believe me, I didn’t hold anything back. You can ask Miguel, my lawyer.”

“We understand that there were more problems involving the race when you got here today,” Helms said. “Piecing these murders together might be a lot easier for us with someone on the inside.”

I understood. “I’ll be glad to tell you what I know when I know something else.”

“That would be a good start,” Marsh said.

“It was vandalism here. No one was hurt or killed. You can probably find out more from the Columbia police. I gave them my statement.”

“You didn’t see anyone hanging around the food trucks before it happened, did you?” Helms wanted to know.

“I went down there to check on things. The food trucks are in the underground parking area. The damage was already done. I didn’t see anyone down there.”

“Were all the food trucks damaged?” Marsh had a bored expression on his face.

“Only the ones that got here early. There were a few that were just arriving. Someone got in and out before that.”

“I’d like to give you my personal cell phone number.” Helms handed me a business card. “You can call me here anytime, day or night. If you see or hear anything suspicious, let me know. I promise we won’t follow you around. Just keep us informed.”

I put the paper in my pocket. “Okay. I hope there isn’t anything else. Tempers are short already.”

Detective Marsh thanked me. “We appreciate your help.”

I went back upstairs to think about everything. I took a nice hot shower, put on a cucumber facial mask, and let my hair conditioner sink in for a while. Delia was gone. It was still a long time until di

I looked at the roller skates on the floor near the bed. I thought I might as well give them a try. I could still opt out of tomorrow’s challenge. Maybe better that than to look like an idiot.

Not knowing if I might fall a few times, I put on a new pair of jeans and a Biscuit Bowl tank top. I’d noticed a back area in the parking lot outside that might be a good place to practice without an audience.

My hair was still damp but was already perking up after a day of abuse. It was good to get the deep fryer smell and feel off me. I realized I was lucky that Miguel hadn’t tried to kiss me while we were waiting downstairs for the police. That might’ve been disgusting, and a little sweet potato flavored.

Outside, it was warm, but the sun was lower and a cool breeze was skittering around between the buildings. I sat on the curb and put on the skates. I hadn’t worn skates since college and my job as a carhop. It had been fun at the time, but it didn’t sound like much fun now.

Fifty thousand dollars was a powerful motivator. I could skate and sing. The worst that could happen might be that someone would ask me to shut up. I’d sing quietly.

There were large trash bins in the area where I’d chosen to practice. I held on to one as I got up from the curb. My legs felt like spaghetti. I would have fallen if it wasn’t for the trash bin.

Maybe I was wrong about the whole thing. Maybe this would be a good challenge for me to sit out.

“Having any luck?”

Miguel’s voice startled me. I felt the skates slip out from under me and panicked, flailing around like an octopus. I would’ve fallen on my rear end, but Miguel caught me before I hit the ground.

“Thanks.” I was a little breathless. Our faces were very close together, and his arms were around me. “You always seem to show up at the right time.”