so I was used to being on my butt all day."
At the mention of the boss's name, Carrie looked around, expecting some comment from the restaurant owner. "Where is Kelsey?" Carrie felt a little chagrinned she hadn't noticed before then that they were a couple of people short in the kitchen. "And, come to think of it, where's Ginny?"
"Kelsey is in the dining room grilling Matt, and I think Ginny is acting as her backup." Michelle snickered as she said that. "He was squirming like a guilty perp when we came in here. I expect him to break and spill his guts at any moment."
Carrie looked over at Tracy, who shrugged. Then she turned her attention back to Michelle. "What do you mean, 'grilling Matt'?"
Michelle took another sip of her tea. "Matt came into the restaurant about an hour ago, ordered a coffee, and then just sat there. He barely drank it and seemed as if he was super wired, waiting for something to happen - like he was actually on duty. When Ginny asked him if he wanted anything to eat, he asked her if the back door in the kitchen was locked." Michelle shrugged. "It always is, unless we're getting deliveries, and he should know that."
Carrie looked back over at Tracy, this time with one eyebrow raised. "That was one of our new policies," Tracy said, "that we adopted after Kelsey was attacked by that wacko from her past. Matt knows she always keeps that door locked."
The young pastry chef knew Matt better than she did, even if he was the cousin of the men she loved. "So I wonder why he would ask Ginny that?"
Tracy furrowed her brow and shook her head slowly. "I have absolutely no idea what - "
Carrie heard the door swing open behind her, not an unusual occurrence, but the flash of concern on Tracy's face made her pivot around to face whoever had just opened it.
She met Chase's gaze. A flash flood of panic swept her. Then she mentally sighed with relief when she saw Brian standing out in the dining room behind him, looking her way.
"Sugar, can you come on out here and sit with us for a bit? Adam needs to talk to you."
Carrie couldn't logically explain the sense of foreboding, but there was something in the way Chase's voice sounded and in the look he gave her that put her on edge. She set aside the enormous bowl of meat, and covered it. She peeled off her latex gloves and then washed her hands, moving deliberately, bracing herself as she performed the mundane task.
Chase waited patiently for her, and she felt his eyes on her the entire time. When she stepped out into the dining room, he slipped his arm around her. Brian took up position on the other side of her as they led her toward the group that awaited her. Carrie sighed. She felt protected, and that eased the knot in her stomach, at least a little bit. She wasn't surprised to see not only Lusty's sheriff waiting for her, but her sister, too. Julian was there, as was one of Tracy's husbands, Peter, along with Matt, Kelsey, and Ginny, of course.
Carrie sat down at one of the large family-sized tables. She had the sinking feeling that she knew what Adam was going to talk about before he said a word.
Adam took a chair almost directly across from her. "You had an apartment in Dallas, on East Armadillo Street? The building number was 1286?"
Momentarily confused, Carrie nodded. "Yes, apartment number 3C," she said. "I lived there for a couple of years. I only moved from the apartment when I left Dallas to come here around the end of May. Why?"
Adam cocked his head to one side. "Did you register a change of address with the DMV at the time of your move, Carrie?"
She felt her face color. She hadn't, and she didn't understand why Adam would ask such a thing. She didn't think the purpose of this meeting with so many people looking so very somber had anything to do with her tardiness in filing a government form.
"Actually, I only mailed the form off a couple of weeks ago. I had it and filled it out, but it totally slipped my mind to send it. I don't have my new license yet. Adam, what's this about?"
Chase picked up her right hand and threaded his fingers with hers. Brian sat close on the other side of her.
"Sugar, two