Page 13 of Covert Chaos

"What's the plan?" Hattie asked.

Emmeline shrugged. "I don't know. Rachel told me that Beckwith was working on it. She doesn't know either. Beckwith was going to talk to Charles tonight about it."

We all looked at each other. "Here?" Hattie asked. "Were they meeting here?"

Emmeline shook her head. "No, that's why I was surprised that Charles was here. Do you think Beckwith talked to him? If he's mad, I don't want to be around." She wiped her hands on her pants. "Maybe I should leave."

Ohh…I hated seeing women afraid of men, of standing their ground. Fresh urgency surged through me, new determination. It was bad enough that Charles might have killed his brother and set up Hattie for it. But ongoing intimidation of women? Screw that. "No," I said. "You're safe in here. We'll find him and see what's going on."

Emmeline's gaze swiveled to me, and I saw her gaze go to my bulging sweatshirt again. It was like a train wreck she was trying not to look at. "Who are you?"

I locked my left arm around King Tut, and held out my right to shake her hand. "Mia Murphy. I own the marina."

She didn't shake my hand, which I tried not to take personally. She did have her hands full of pie prep, right? Of course, my hands were full of a six-ton cat, and I'd managed to get a hand free, but I was special, so it was fine.

Recognition flashed in Emmeline's eyes, and I knew she'd heard of me. I paused, bracing myself for the kind of reaction that Rachel had had, but after a brief hesitation, she put down the pie, shook my hand, and smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Emmeline Wilson. Friend of Hattie's."

I relaxed. Wow. I had totally overreacted there. Not everyone hated me. I needed to pull myself together. Apparently, I was getting paranoid. "Me, too."

Lucy waved. "I'm Lucy Grande. Also a friend of Hattie's."

Hattie rolled her eyes. "You all make me sound like I'm way less selective than I am. Very few people make it onto my friend list."

I grinned. "Hattie, you wrap many, many people into your protective circle, and we all know it."

She snapped her fingers at me. "Quiet, little minion. I am a mountain of independence." But her eyes were twinkling with amusement. "Emmeline, if you see Charles, text me. You still have my number?"

"Yes, I do. Thanks."

I paused, wondering how far to push it with Emmeline. She seemed a little nervous, but she was also the third wheel in the Diamond Pie Baking Company. "Has Beckwith been here tonight?"

Emmeline shook her head. "I haven’t seen him, but I've been in the kitchen for the last couple hours."

"Why?" Now that I thought about it, wasn’t that odd? "You serve the pies you sell?"

She laughed. "No, not usually. But they were short of help tonight, and I always want to make sure my pies are plated well. It makes a difference."

Hattie nodded. "Take pride in your work, and others will do the same."

"Right? Always." Emmeline shrugged. "With Charles out of the business and not using his connections to help us get clients, every opportunity matters more. I wanted this to be right tonight, so when I saw what the pies looked like coming out of the kitchen, I went back to help."

I frowned. "You were eating here tonight?"

She nodded. "With my friend Rachel. She said Beckwith was going to meet us here after his meeting with Charles, and we were going to start planning for the future." She glanced at her phone. "She hasn't texted me that he has come by yet, though. If Charles is here and Beckwith isn't…" She sighed. "Maybe it didn't go well."

Um…yeah…maybe…at least for Beckwith.

Hattie cleared her throat. "Well, if it didn't go well, you always have a spot in my kitchen."

Emmeline smiled with evident gratitude. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Hattie patted the table. "Keep in touch, Emmeline. Tap into your female power. The world needs more badass, successful women who believe they're worth it."

Emmeline grinned. "You bet."

The door to the hallway opened, and I instinctively dove behind Emmeline's table, but it was only a server coming in with an empty tray. I heard Devlin's voice in the hall, and I grimaced. "We need to get out of here."

Nine

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