“Believe me, I don’t intend to get hurt,” she whispered. “Dalton’s awesome and everything, but I’ve got my eyes wide-open.” She stepped back, grabbed her already-rinsed mug and refilled it. “Now butt out, please.”
I laughed softly. “Okay, okay. Not that I can blame you. My God, he’s so cute.”
“I know!” She did a dramatic sigh. “It’s like I’ve got my very own Derek doll.”
I snorted. “Please don’t let him hear you say that.”
“Hear you say what?” Derek said.
We both jumped and I laid my hand against my heart. “You scared me silly.”
“He should wear a bell,” Savannah muttered, then glared at him. “How long were you listening in?”
“I just got here,” Derek said, as he wiped his forehead with his gym towel. “And I brought bagels.” He pointed to a brown bag on the bar.
“My hero.” Fresh bagels from Hello Deli, a favorite spot over by South Park, were a rare treat. “Thanks.”
“Cream cheese is in the bag.” Derek nudged his way into our compact kitchen area. “Is there any coffee left?”
I moved out of the way to give him access to the coffeepot. He wore gym shorts and a faded Oxford T-shirt with the sleeves torn off. His tanned skin glistened with sweat from his morning run. My poor little heart was getting quite the aerobic workout.
Savannah eased past me and left the kitchen. “Oh, hi.”
“Hello there.” Dalton said, his voice low and seductive.
I glanced through the bar opening and saw him kissing her. He was dripping in sweat, too, but she didn’t seem to notice or care.
Oh, yeah, no danger there.
My sister didn’t stand a chance.
I hadn’t seen Dalton standing on the other side of the bar and I wondered again how much of our conversation the two men had overheard. I mentally replayed our words and decided it didn’t matter all that much, except for my sister’s slightly twisted “Derek doll” comment.
Savannah’s cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket. “Hello?” There was a long pause as she listened and then she said, “What?”
She sounded so distressed that I hurried into the dining area to find out who was calling her. Derek joined me and we watched her eyes widening more and more at the news she was hearing. A minute later, she hung up, looking shell-shocked.
“What’s wrong, Bugs?” I demanded. “Who was that?”
“It was Kevin. She’s freaking out. The police have taken Peter in for questioning. She thinks he’s going to be arrested for Baxter’s murder.”
Chapter Fifteen
A fat neck of mutton eats well if soaked in red wine twenty-four hours.
—The Cookbook of Obedience Green
“They must’ve found out about the blackmail. Why else would they arrest him?” Too frantic to sit down, Kevin zigzagged back and forth across the living room of her plush hotel suite. Wearing trim jeans, a simple T-shirt, and flip-flops, she looked like she’d be more at home playing catch on the Marina Green.
“They haven’t arrested him, Kevin,” Derek pointed out. “They’re just asking him some questions.” Derek had called Inspector Jaglom on the way over to Kevin’s hotel. He was in the middle of the interrogation, but had briefly told Derek they weren’t planning to arrest Peter. Not yet, anyway.
“Kevin, you should sit down,” I said. “You’ll make yourself sick if you get too worked up over this.” I watched her from the elegant club chair I’d chosen. Two matching chairs had been arranged on either side of a delicate tea table in front of the large window that overlooked Union Square.
The view was fabulous and the room was beyond deluxe. I had been impressed with Baxter’s generosity when I heard that he’d paid for these Campton Place suites for his chef friends. But now, after hearing all the blackmail accusations, I had to wonder who had really picked up the tab.
“But who told the police about the blackmail?” Kevin demanded of no one in particular as she ignored my pleas and kept up her frantic pacing. “I mean, it was just us there. And if someone told about Peter, why not Monty and Margot, too? Why Peter in particular?”
“We don’t know that it is only Peter being investigated,” Derek said in that oh so calm British manner of his.
I blinked at him. Hadn’t considered that. Just because we hadn’t heard about anyone else being called in didn’t mean others hadn’t been.
“That’s true,” Kevin said, and she seemed to take a calming breath.
“Besides,” I continued, “the police might be questioning Peter about something completely different.”
“What could that possibly be?” Kevin’s eyes widened.
“All I meant was,” I said quickly, “maybe they’re just trying to clear up some loose ends.”
She flashed me a look of hope that faded quickly. She wasn’t totally buying my words and I couldn’t blame her.
“But…” Savannah frowned in confusion. “Kevin’s question still stands. How did the police find out about the blackmail?”