“It was a long day.” Ian tightened his arms. “I had a nice lunch with Lucas, though, and that made it better. But my employees are all spooked. Word of the bad reviews got out on top of the health inspection. And all this after the raid. I don’t blame them for being nervous. If I wasn’t so furious, I’d be a lot more nervous myself.”
“I was reading the reviews, and I can tell some of them are completely fake. And there are so many coming in, they can’t all be legit. Your idea that someone is out to get the restaurant is right. I’d like to look into this myself.”
Ian pulled away to stare at him. His sweet face looked drawn, and there were shadows under his brown eyes. “As long as you keep me in the loop. I want to be one hundred percent involved.”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because everyone seems to think I’m better off being left out of things. Do you know how many times my friends have left me out of their fun adventures? Not that this is fun, but you know what I mean.” Ian stepped back and plopped his hands on his slender hips. “I’m tired of being overprotected.”
“You mean you wanted to hang out in a nightclub while a bunch of hired hoods tried to kill Lucas and shot the place up? Or you wanted to ride along to DC with the Masters of Mayhem and take down a group of mercenaries?”
Ian rolled his eyes at Hollis’s incredulous tone. “If Gidget hadn’t shown the news footage, I would never have believed Rowe and Noah brought down an entire building.”
Hollis dropped his head back and groaned. “Rowe even sounded disappointed that it was only a little building.”
“Oh yes, only a few stories tall.” Ian giggled and Hollis found himself feeling lighter. Talking about his “brothers” usually brought Ian some happiness and relief. He turned serious, but the smile still lingered on his lips. “I don’t need the danger and excitement that others seem to crave, but I want to be in the middle of things if it’s about my restaurant.”
Hollis brushed a lock of Ian’s hair off his forehead. “Since this involves your business, you’ll be party to anything I find. I promise.”
“So, what can you do?”
He pointed to a notebook on the breakfast bar. “I’ve made a list of questions for you. Feel up to answering them now?” He eyed the sacks of food. “Want to wait on dinner and help me fold some clothes first? I know how you hate when I leave them too long and they wrinkle.”
Ian nodded and chuckled. “Sure. Dinner will hold.”
They walked into the living room where Hollis had left several baskets of laundry on the hunter-green couch. He flipped on a lamp and heard Ian sigh. He had to bite back a laugh. Yeah, he technically could have already folded the clothes, but most of these were Hollis’s and he didn’t give a shit if they weren’t perfect. The other baskets were full of towels and sheets, and surely it didn’t matter if those were wrinkled.
“We should probably start with the obvious,” Hollis announced as he picked up one of his T-shirts. “Any past harassments or arguments with customers?”
Ian tilted his head and frowned before he shook it. “I can’t think of anything. I mean even the few customers who had complaints were happy when their dinners were comped or they got free desserts. I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to come up with anyone who left that angry, and I am hitting a blank.”
“What about employees? Any that you had to let go or who quit? Anyone you interviewed and didn’t hire that could be angry?”
Ian folded a towel just so before he set it on the coffee table. He picked up another and tried to smooth the wrinkles out of it. “I did have to fire one employee. Ginger. She was disrespectful to my other employees. She was pretty pissed when she left, too.”
“Ginger who?”
“Ginger Roberts.”
Hollis stopped folding to write down her name. “So, that’s one person who could be doing this. I’ll see what I can find on her.” He tapped the notebook with his pen. “What about rival restaurants? Ever hear any rumors that would give us a lead?”
Ian shook his head.
“Ever get into a scuffle with another chef over an ancient secret recipe? Old enemies from your cooking school days?”
Ian glared at him and Hollis couldn’t keep his shoulders from shaking with mirth. While Ian was very serious about his cooking, Hollis couldn’t imagine him ever getting into a fight with another chef.
“Have you been secretly watching those cooking reality shows again?” Ian teased. “You do know that crap is all staged. It’s not real.”
Hollis gasped loudly. “What? Are you serious? Not real?”