Hayes’ head leaned to the side, his eyes narrowing. “Who?”
“Alan Benson.”
“The pastor? He was a dead end. Red Snake couldn’t find him,” he stated as if I didn’t know. “We used all of our resources—”
“Not all of them,” I cut him off. His mouth snapped shut. I blinked. “Wow, I guess Dominic does follow HIPAA laws. He didn’t tell you?”
He shook his head once and folded his arms over his chest. “You know Dominic would never break that law, Ash. Grayson and I are still in the dark here.”
“What’s done is done. There’s no changing that.”
His eyes narrowed. “Ash, I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.” I checked my watch. “Look, I have to get down to the restaurant. I don’t have time to go over the last year and half of my life.”
“But you will, won’t you?” he pressed, stepping forward. “When the dust settles, you’ll fill me in?”
My feet carried me to the door, my mind screaming at me to shut up. Hayes and I were cut from very different cloths. He lived by a certain code, which made him the golden boy. There was no way I could tell him who I sourced for outside help. “Maybe. It’s not really a chapter of my life I want to revisit, especially with Angel in this new one.”
“Just tell me this,” he requested. I paused and looked over my shoulder, waiting. “Did you find Benson?”
“I found all of them.”
Hayes’ face changed, but I didn’t have the strength to see the rest. I opened the door, gave him my back, and said, “You’re forgiven, by the way. There will never be any bad blood between us, man. You’re my brother. See you later.”
Then I was gone.
Chapter Sixteen
Angel
My eyes lingered on my blood sugar machine, watching the loading circle. I blew out a breath, my finger tapping on my prep station, sending a low rumble through the stainless-steel table.
“Maybe the batteries are dying,” Alex called as she walked by with a crate full of veggies.
I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “No, these batteries are meant to last six months or longer,” I sighed. A second later, my little magic machine beeped. My eyes dropped, locking in on the number.
One sixty-five.
“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “I can work with that.” With everything going on, I’d had to reschedule my doctor’s appointment, pushing it back a day. Even though it was only an extra twenty-two hours, I knew how much could happen during that time. Heck, your entire life could be flipped upside down in a matter of minutes. As I chanted the number in my mind, I packed up my medical stuff quickly and took it to my locker in the small room off the kitchen. My feet came to a shocking halt as my eyes landed on Felix’s locker. It had been cleared out, the door ajar. “What the hell?”
“Evidence.”
I screeched and jumped back against the door, nearly dropping my things. Scott was leaning against the wall near the corner, his work jacket hanging on his locker door. His longish brown hair was wet, pushed back out of his face, and he was wearing a crumpled white undershirt. His slacks were unbuttoned, his nonslip shoes untied, and his eyes were on the floor.
“The cops came by when you were knee deep in prepping. They cleared out Chef’s locker and took his things to evidence.”
“Goodness, Scott. You scared me,” I pushed out, my heart racing.
He glanced up and gave me a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” He looked me up and down. “The service was beautiful. I thought your eulogy was great.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Kolby was a really great chef.”
“Yes,” I agreed instantly. “Yes, he was.”
Felix was more than that, but we would never get to see it. I regret not getting to know him better.
