Spike by Kathy Reichs, Brendan Reichs Read Free Book Online Page A

wasn’t he?”
    Hi glanced at his watch. “Dinner ended almost an hour ago. If he’son tonight’s catering crew, he missed the job. Maybe he’s hoping no one will notice.”
    I frowned. “Could be.”
    Ben was now eyeing the door. “But you don’t think so.”
    “It’s just . . .” I shook my head, unsure.
    I looked at Coop.
That
man? Was there somet
hing wrong?
    Coop’s head tilted, as if he struggled with how to respond.
Smell . 
. . off. Smell troub
le.
    The others heard our exchange. Frowning, Shelton removed his clear-lensed glasses. He could see perfectly now, but had no idea how to explain that to his parents. “Lots of things going wrong at this wedding, huh?”
    “Yep.” Hi gave me a significant look. “If we’re laying it out there, I’m still baffled by the liquid in those vases. How could a florist accidentally use chemicals that
kill
flowers?”
    Ben cleared his throat. “Yeah. So. I’ve been thinking about the pins.” He glanced up and met my eye. “I can’t see how they could fall out on their own. The whole point of their design is that they
d
on’t
fall out.”
    “You know, now that I think about it . . .” Shelton pointed a hesitant finger at the door the mystery cook had entered. “Weren’t the caterers wearing uniforms with blue stripes?”
    My pulse sped up. The newcomer had been dressed in white from head to toe.
    “That actually seems right.” Hi tapped his chin, making a show of considering Shelton’s words. “You think the guy’s working for HYDRA? Or is just drunk and lost?”
    Snap decision. “Let’s go see.”
    Popping to my feet, I headed for the door. The boys exchanged mental shrugs before rising and following. Cooper leapt to join me, but I placed a hand on his furry head.
    Sorry,
boy. Out of bounds.
Wait here
.
    He whined, but stayed put.
Ca
ll if need
.
    Inside the door, the reception was straight ahead, but a covert scan of the ballroom failed to turn up our mystery chef. I ducked back out before anyone noticed me. “He’s not in there, which isn’t surprising.”
    Hi pointed to our left, down a short hallway. “Only one other way to go.”
    I nodded. The corridor led to the kitchen, which was empty for the moment. I paused in the doorway as doubt began creeping in. What was I doing, really?
    Footfalls in an adjacent room. I looked to Ben, who shrugged. “Why not?”
    We entered a small staging room connected to the ballroom by a pair of swinging doors. Music and laughter leaked through the cracks, but I only had eyes for our chef. The big man had his back to us as he hovered over Whitney’s triple-tiered wedding cake.
    I put a finger to my lips, edging closer for a better look. The man was smoothing the cake’s frosting with a flat-bladed implement. He held something in his other hand I couldn’t see. As I watched, he glanced at a notepad lying on the cake’s rolling cart.
    Nothing about this felt right.
    “Hey!” I called out.
    The man flinched, then spun around, keeping both hands hidden behind his back. He seemed to recognize us after a beat. His gaze darted to the kitchen door, then the doors leading to the ballroom. He blew out a shaky breath, once again looking relieved. “Yes?” he snapped in an annoyed voice.
    “What are you doing in here?” I squinted at the notepad. Something was scribbled in cursive on its face.
    Biggs noticed my glance. Eyes widening, his right hand shot out, ripping off the top sheet and crumpling it in his fist. The notepad tumbled to the carpet, ignored. “Just, uh, relaxing the frosting mixture,” hestammered, eyes once again darting between the doors. “We don’t want it to, um, harden before the cake is served. Pretty basic stuff.”
    His back was ramrod straight. Beads of sweat darkened his temples.
    All my alarms were sounding at once.
    Something was wrong.
    Check
him out
, Ben sent, as if he’d read my thoughts. He may have.
    I stepped closer to Biggs than most strangers find comfortable.