Hot Stuff by Don Bruns Read Free Book Online Page A

table, kind of troubleshooting. The runner, he just picks up the tub and brings it to you. That’s pretty much hiswhole job. We’ve got levels of servers here, Skip. This isn’t Cap’n Crab.”
    I was learning much more about the restaurant business than I wanted to.
    â€œAnyway, this guy, Carlos, he’s sort of friends with Juan Castro, the dishwasher. Says that Juan found Amanda attractive, but he didn’t think it went any further than that. Sounded to me like a one-sided romance.”
    James nodded, brushing his hair back from his face as we walked into the locker room. “I never got information sent to Em, but I’ve got another name. The staff thinks they’ve got this murder figured out.”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œTwo of the cooks were talking when I got here. These two started it. Then it was like a fire, man. Seemed to catch on everywhere. Sous chef named Joaquin Vanderfield was ready to quit a couple of days ago when he found out Amanda was given the head chef job in South Beach. Guy was really pissed off.”
    â€œGuy was jealous? Pissed off? James, that’s a breakthrough.” The first real reason someone would consider killing Amanda.
    â€œAnd it was the first real information that was offered.”
    Joaquin Vanderfield?
    â€œJoaquin? That’s his name? Really?” Who names their kid Joaquin? I immediately realized there had been an actor named Joaquin. He’d played Johnny Cash in a biopic.
    â€œHe probably would find the name Eugene a little strange too,” James said.
    I found Eugene strange. That’s why I preferred Skip.
    â€œYou met this guy? Joaquin Vanderfield?”
    â€œNo. He called in sick tonight. But apparently he’s a hothead. Blows up when things don’t go his way. The staff thinks he may be the culprit.”
    We now had a dishwasher and a sous chef who conveniently were not at work. It could mean something; it might mean nothing.
    Walking into the employees’ area, I saw a row of old battered metal lockers lining the wall. Half of them had locks hanging from their doors. Restrooms were at the end of the room. Two cooks were already leaving, dressed in street clothes. They nodded at James and me as they headed back down the hall. The rest of the staff who used the area must have gone or were still in the kitchen and dining room cleaning up.
    â€œI’ve got number twenty.” He pointed toward the gunmetal gray door. “I just put my personal stuff, credit cards, and cash in there.”
    James spun the dial on the padlock and opened the locker.
    â€œWhat?” He shouted it out, stepping back and almost knocking me down.
    â€œWhat?” I asked.
    James moved aside, giving me a perfect view into the locker. An apparently blood-stained apron hung from a hook, a kitchen knife pierced through the fabric, the red liquid still wet on the white cloth.
    â€œI thought you said no one knew who we were.” I looked away from the props, watching him as he remained frozen on the spot.
    My partner was silent, never taking his gaze from the apron with the bright red stain.
    â€œJames,” I walked closer, inspecting the staged stabbing, “it’s a joke. Just a knife and an apron. Settle down, man.”
    Finally, he shuddered and spoke.
    â€œIt was locked. Locked, dude.”
    â€œI’m sure there’s an explanation.”
    â€œLike someone doesn’t want me here.”
    â€œHey, you can’t make friends with everyone.”
    â€œThis doesn’t scare you? You don’t look at this as a threat?”
    James glanced around the room as a waiter and another cook walked in.
    â€œSkip, maybe we should reconsider our commitment here.”

CHAPTER TEN

    James and I left the truck in the parking lot and Em picked us up in her new car. Always a new set of wheels. So we’d have a drink, a little catch up on the evening’s activities, and maybe we’d solve the