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“Last, but not least, we still have time for the beauty pageant. Biscuit Bowl team up first. Show us your bikinis.”
I took off my robe self-consciously, even though everyone had said I looked fine in my bikini. This was different, being up on a stage for everyone to gawk at.
I didn’t have to worry about anyone noticing me, though; not with Uncle Saul and Ollie’s onstage antics. Delia and I stood to one side as the men showed their muscles and generally acted like idiots.
“Can you believe that?” Delia asked me when Ollie lifted Uncle Saul and held him in the air.
“I knew he was strong. There’s a lot more to Ollie than any of us knows.”
“I think that’s true, Zoe.” She smiled at me. “He’s such a nice person. I’m worried about hurting him. I don’t have good luck with relationships.”
“Maybe this time will be different for you.” I waved shyly to Miguel, who waved back.
“Thank you for the show, Team Biscuit Bowl,” Patrick said. “Team Shut Up and Eat, come on up.”
Bobbie’s daughter was stu
We all applauded again. Bobbie and her daughter were very popular, but Ollie and Uncle Saul’s craziness won the day.
“Team Biscuit Bowl wins the pageant, and a Caribbean cruise,” Patrick screamed. “Congratulations!”
Shut Up and Eat’s prize for wi
Patrick was gri
The electronic board had to be prodded a little, but it finally came up with the names of the two finalists.
“Biscuit Bowl is on top!” Ollie yelled and did fist pumps in the air.
“That’s right!” Patrick pointed at him. “The Biscuit Bowl from Mobile, Alabama, is number one. And since Shut Up and Eat from Charleston, South Carolina, wore their bikinis, they are our ru
We all applauded. Some of the men clapped Dante on the back and shook hands with him. He didn’t seem to be a good loser like the others had tried to be, letting his disappointment and anger show.
“Only two teams left.” Patrick faced the TV camera, his voice dramatic. He might have been a
As soon as he’d finished speaking, the assistants began taking everything apart. The trucks would move on, and the race would continue with the Biscuit Bowl in the lead.
“You know, I almost think we might win this race,” I said to Chef Art.
“Zoe, we are go
Everything in the Biscuit Bowl was tied down or locked up, and we were ready to go. Everyone took their turns in the cool-down tent dressing room to change out of their bikinis. What a relief!
Miguel didn’t want to leave Birmingham without making sure Tina was all right. I didn’t want to leave without him. We decided to go to the hospital.
“If it’s all the same to you, Zoe,” Uncle Saul said, “I’d just as soon go on home and check on Alabaster—and a certain wildlife officer I’ve missed. I can drive the food truck and take Crème Brûlée with me, if that would make it easier. This will give me a chance to think about what we should serve tomorrow for our race-wi
That was fine with me. I gave him, and Crème Brûlée, a kiss.
“You be a good boy,” I said to my sometimes-wayward cat. “You don’t want Alabaster to eat you!”
He turned up his nose and ignored me, obviously disgusted with the whole affair. I rubbed his tummy, and he pushed at me with his soft paws.
“It’s going to be good to be home,” I told him as I strapped him into the truck seat. “I’ll make you something really special for di
He wasn’t impressed. Uncle Saul got into the food truck. I waved to him as he drove away from Birmingham.
Delia winked as I got into the front seat of Miguel’s car with him. She and Ollie were in the backseat. I didn’t know if Tina would be leaving Birmingham with us or not. If she was, she was going to have to sit in the back with Ollie and Delia. I was seriously tired of her falling all over Miguel. Where did she actually live anyway? Maybe she could go there, or to Florida with her mother.
– – – – – – –
We got to the hospital. Miguel went to see if Tina had been admitted. Ollie went with him. Delia and I went to the floor where Helms was recovering.
“It’s nice of you to go and see this woman, even though she and her partner have been a pain in the butt,” Delia said when we were in the elevator.
“She’s been all right. She’s just doing her job. I feel bad that she had something important to tell me after she was shot and I couldn’t understand her. I hope she and Marsh can figure it all out.”
“Like I said,” Delia drawled, “mighty nice.”
The elevator chimed and we got off. I started toward the nurses’ station to ask about Helms. There was no sign of Marsh or anyone else waiting to see her. I supposed Marsh had to work even though she was hurt, and her family probably hadn’t arrived yet.
“I’d like to see Detective Macey Helms, please.”
“Are you a member of the family?” the nurse asked me.
“No, but I was with her when she was brought in.”
Dark eyes in a chocolate brown face narrowed. “She isn’t allowed visitors right now, except family. Sorry.”
I opened my mouth to argue the point, and an alarm went off. People started ru
One of them was Detective Marsh. “Someone tried to get into Helms’s room,” he yelled. “I think he wanted to finish what he started.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
“How is that possible in a hospital?” I yelled after him. “Where’s security?”
“We should get out of here.” Delia glanced nervously around us. “It could be dangerous, Zoe.”
“No! We have to find out what happened. Didn’t they have a police officer protecting her?”
The nurse at the desk heaved herself out of the chair. “We don’t need anyone to protect our patients. We have the best security in the world.”
“It sounds like it,” I muttered before following Marsh.
“I’m going to find Miguel and Ollie,” Delia said. “Watch your back, Zoe.”
I walked quickly down the hall, looking for Marsh. Everyone else was ru
The door to one room was open. I saw Marsh standing in there and went in to see what he was doing.
“Zoe.” He glanced at me and then back at his partner. “Macey’s safe, thank goodness. I’d like to know what she found out that made her a target.”
“Me, too.”
“You couldn’t understand anything that she was trying to tell you after she was shot?”
“She only said that she had information about what had happened. It had to be important. She almost died trying to get to me.”