Hot to the Touch

“This is what’s driving me crazy,” Ace said. “He could have been in here ten minutes or twenty or forty. You know what its like on the line. It’s crazy at times.”

“Does anyone know the password but you?” Troy asked.

Darcy bit her lip. “I had the file protected on the computer, but not the flash drive.”

Troy bit back as much exasperation as he could. “Which wasn’t disturbed. Is the password something this guy could guess?”

“No.” She was emphatic. “And I change it regularly.”

“Does anyone else know it?”

“Sean. He needs to know it in case I’m not around.”

“Would he have anything to gain by passing it along?”

“No. And I trust him.”

“So…” He was trying desperately to lead her to the obvious conclusion: Nothing happened. Instead, she whirled away from him and faced Ace.

“How can we find out how long he was in there? Can we ask one of the waitresses?” Her voice was getting higher, more anxious. “Maybe Josie or Alice noticed how long he was gone from the party. We should call them now.”

Troy stared at her, feeling as if he was in déjà vu hell. “It’s after midnight.”

Darcy gave him a look that plainly said he wasn’t getting that the lives of every man, woman and child in the state of Wisconsin—no, the entire country, were at stake. “This is important, Troy.”

Oh, if he had a dime for every time he’d heard that one…

“I think anyone you called would be more cooperative if you waited until morning. I know I would be.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes, jammed her hands on her hips. “I’m sorry, is my livelihood being threatened an annoyance to you?”

Troy glanced at Ace. He didn’t want to get into it with witnesses, but her sarcasm set him off. “Not at all. With this complete lack of evidence I don’t blame you for panicking.”

She took three steps, bringing her out of her office to face him toe to toe. “I told you, Raoul is a creep. I don’t trust him with anything. It was a huge mistake being at all pleasant to him, and now I might have to pay for that.”

“Okay.” Troy pushed away from the counter, folded his arms. “Say he did take them. Then what?”

“He has my recipes and can serves my dishes, or variations of them, at his restaurant.”

“And?”

She laughed incredulously. “He doesn’t deserve them. They’re mine.”

“Agreed. What’s the alternative? No one saw him. Nothing was disturbed. Will you call and ask if he took them? I’m pretty sure he’ll say no. Then what? Search his restaurant? Illegal. Tattle to the newspaper? He’ll spin it that you’re jealous and making up lies to discredit him.”

Darcy looked as if she were about to cry. “He can’t get away with this.”

“Get away with what?” He lifted his hands, let them slap down on his thighs. “We know nothing. We’ve proved nothing. We can’t even come up with a legitimate reason to suspect anything. There is nothing we can do, especially tonight. Let’s go home and go to bed for God’s sake.”

“That’s all you can think of? Sex? My career could be going down the toilet.”

Oh, for crying out loud.

“Okay.” Troy backed off, hands up. “This is too weird for me. It’s late, Darcy, and we’re all tired and some of us are a little hysterical.”

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “I can’t leave this. I took your advice, I lowered my guard where Raoul is concerned and look what happened.”

Troy stared at her. Who was this bitter woman and what had she done with playful, loving Darcy? “You’re saying this was my fault?”

“Not directly.”

“Even indirectly?”

“You changed me. You made me softer. People said I was becoming more human.” She had her hands to her temples, looking ready to tear her hair out. “No, I mean—”

“Oh, wow, human. Sorry, really, that must have been horrible for you.” Troy glanced at Ace, who was standing on the other side of the kitchen, head down, pretending not to listen. He moved closer to Darcy and lowered his voice. “Look, all you know is that Raoul said hi to the staff and made a phone call in your office.”