Page 49 of Cornered

“More guests?” Donovan didn’t look up from the notepad he’d pulled from his pocket while she spoke.

“We’re booked solid Monday night through next week. I haven’t looked beyond that. But I needthiskitchen operational by Monday.” The low-key panic she’d been fighting since she walked into the kitchen threatened to overwhelm her. “And I need to see my pantry and cooler as soon as possible. If the food has been tampered with...”

Should she even try to cook with the fresh food she had on hand? The sealed items would be fine, but what about the produce? The meat? Did she have time to buy more for tonight?

“Cassie?”

She looked up at Donovan’s question and realized he must have been talking to her and she’d zoned out. “Sorry. What was that?”

“I said we’ll do our best to get your kitchen back to you by tomorrow. I’m not sure about tonight though. And I’m not sure about the food either. That’s going to be your department.”

Bronwyn rejoined them as he finished speaking. “My apologies, everyone.”

Cal pulled her into a hug. “You okay?”

“Honestly? No. I’m not okay. Thanks for stepping in.” Her thank-you somehow managed to include Mo even though she didn’t look at him.

Donovan took photos of the word “oops” and then set the camera down. He pulled some kind of collection tube from the bag he’d brought in and scraped up several samples of the red sauce. Once they were labeled and secured, he took one more sample and raised it to his nose.

“I don’t know if huffing the evidence is the best plan.” Mo’s voice was low and lazy, and the laughter in it was heavily veiled. But it was there.

Donovan shot Mo a glare. “I’m not going to huff it. Or tasteit.” He held out the small sample. “I’m not an expert. But it smells like sriracha.” He looked at Cassie. “Do you use it?”

“Yes. I make it from scratch, and we have multiple squeeze bottles in the cooler and the prep areas.”

Donovan finished up with the sriracha and then grabbed the camera again. He took a photo of the hole in the refrigerator and asked, “Bronwyn, what kind of video surveillance do you have for this space?”

Bronwyn groaned. “Not as much as you’d think.”

Donovan shifted and took a photo of a mixing bowl that last night held a salad and today looked like someone had taken batting practice on it. “I know Gray’s talked to you about this. I assume nothing has changed?”

Bronwyn leaned against a counter and dropped her head back. “The situation with Landry highlighted the need for more surveillance but to be honest, I haven’t made it the priority I should have.”

Cal frowned at her. “You have to stop taking on all the responsibility—”

“Stop trying to give me an out, Cal! I’m the CEO. Who else is responsible?” Her frustration was evident.

“You have a board,” Cal responded with the same tone. “You have people who work for you. I assume this means that most of them continue not to do their jobs.”

Cassie looked between the two of them, then to Mo and Donovan, who looked on with identical expressions of concern.

Bronwyn gave Cal a tight smile. “None of that is important right now. What matters is that we don’t have cameras inside. And the cameras we have outside don’t record constantly. If the security guards didn’t see anything from their live feeds in the control room, there’s not going to be anything else to show who was here last night.”

She pulled the card on the lanyard around her neck andshowed them her security badge. “We do track who enters and exits all of the controlled entries. But I can’t imagine that anyone would be foolish enough to scan themselves in and then destroy the kitchen.”

“I’ll need those logs, regardless.” Donovan snapped more photos. “We might catch a break.”

“I’ll get them for you this morning.”

“And any video you do have.”

“Of course.”

There was a long pause where the only sound was that of Donovan’s camera shutter. Then Mo stepped forward. “Cal, how about you and I go make a pass through the dining area. Check all the doors. That okay with you, Donovan?”

“Go for it.”

Mo stalked out of the kitchen. Cal followed him.

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