Maybe if Ali had chosen me, I would have splurged for such a meal, or perhaps not. She didn’t strike me as the elegant dining type of woman. Not that I really knew what kind of a woman she was.
Ever since my last conversation with Holly, I hadn’t spoken about it to anyone. Not even the guys, or Alice and Maggie. Everyone had let it go, and I appreciated it. From time to time, when I heard the song on the radio that we’d danced to, I would think about her and hoped that she was doing well with the other guy.
I knew that the show would be airing on television soon, and I was still on the fence about watching it or not. Maybe I would, or maybe I wouldn't. I guess that would depend on how I felt that day, and if I wanted to have it rubbed in my face.
I growled silently to myself as we pulled down an alley and parked behind the restaurant as requested. Mike carried a notebook and was at the back door to the kitchen before me.
He knocked, and it opened a moment later. I was looking down at my phone when the door opened, and I started to step forward to introduce myself. I glanced up and did a double take as the woman gasped. “You!”
“Um,” I hesitated. I could turn around and walk the fuck away, or I could man up and be a professional here. So she hadn’t picked me; she went with someone else. I needed to get over that. “Hi, I didn’t expect to see you again. I’m Harvey, and this is Mike. We work with Safety Zone Security. I think you were expecting us.”
She laughed, slightly uncomfortable, or maybe nervously. “Hi, Harvey, Mike. I’m Ali Davidson; please come in.”
She stepped to the side, looking away from me and biting her lip. Holy shit! Alice had known about this! Did Jake? Is that why Jake hadn’t said anything? What the hell!
“What’s the sitrep here?” Mike asked as he leaned toward me and spoke softly. “Anything I should know?”
I shook my head slightly and turned to Ali. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the base of her neck, and she wore chef pants and a t-shirt with black sneakers. She looked so different than when we had danced but just as good—if not better.
“Um…” She swallowed nervously as her eyes jumped everywhere but toward me. “Did Alice explain what was going on?”
“No,” Mike said after I didn’t answer. She glanced at me and then turned her gaze to him. I figured it would probably be easier for her to speak with him. In fact, it would probably be a whole lot easier on both of us if I wasn’t even here. Why the hell would they do this to me? “We only know that something is going on here, and you needed some cameras.”
“Okay, so, about two months ago, I had an issue with food poisoning here in the kitchen.”
“You had food poisoning?” I asked, and she shook her head, keeping her attention on Mike.
“No, a customer, actually two.”
“Alright, what does that have to do with someone sabotaging your business?” He glanced around. “Is this your restaurant?”
“No, not really. I’m the Head Chef here, so while I don’t own it, it’s my restaurant because I run it. I control everything that happens in my kitchen. The Health Department came out and inspected our kitchen twice then, once they closed us for two days, but everything came back clean. All the tests were normal. I demand my employees to keep the highest of cleaning standards.”
“So maybe they got it from someplace else,” Mike replied.
“I would like to think so, but my kitchen is the only constant.”
“So if this happened two months ago, why are you asking for help now?” he asked her.
“Because last week there was another case, and yesterday, there were two more.” She winced, and her gaze fell on mine. I saw the frustration and pain in her eyes, but more than that, I saw anger and the need to fight back. “If I don’t figure out what is going on, they are going to close my kitchen down for good. I’ll be ruined as a chef. I can’t afford that, especially when I am not doing anything wrong.”
“So, you want us to put cameras in your kitchen because you think one of your employees is responsible for poisoning the diners?”