“Good thinking.”

I had to ask for Miguel’s room number. Tina hid behind some plants near the elevators while I did. With so many police hanging around with the race, they could pick her up for questioning at any time.

I thought about what Delia had said about Tina on the way to Birmingham. I felt almost as sure as she did that Tina was setting Miguel up. I also thought it would be good to keep her close so we could watch her.

Miguel was surprised and pleased to see her when we knocked on his door. He ushered us in quickly and glanced up and down the hall before he closed and locked the door.

“She was hiding in the Biscuit Bowl.” I sat in a nice soft chair.

He hugged her and smiled. “I’m glad you got out of Atlanta. This gives us a chance to talk. The police are going to want to question you again about our relationship. They think you paid me to kill Alex.”

Tina started crying softly. Miguel gave her some tissues and sat down.

“I thought I should keep an eye on Alex. That’s why I decided to follow the food truck race. He didn’t know I was there.” She sniffled and blew her nose very daintily. “I was afraid he might try one of his stupid stunts. That’s why I sent Rosie, our daughter, down to stay with my mother. To protect her. Everything was a scheme with Alex. I didn’t want Rosie to be part of whatever he was planning.”

Miguel got her a bottle of water. He smiled at me. “Can I get you something, Zoe? We can order from room service.”

“No. I’m fine.” I yawned. “Just tired and ready to beat Our Daily Bread. I want to go home with fifty thousand dollars.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He turned back to Tina, and I thought about leaving. They didn’t really need me there to discuss what had happened—not more than I needed a nap anyway.

Miguel told her what the police thought had happened to Alex. “They think you wanted him dead to end the divorce problems and to get custody of Rosie. They think you hired me to do it.”

Tina laughed in a bitter, non-amused way. “That’s rich. Like Alex ever wanted Rosie. That was only to hurt me.”

“Even that sounds like a possible motive to kill him,” I added.

“I can’t talk to them again, Miguel.” She repeated what she’d said outside to me. The only difference was that she sounded a little more pathetic—and sexy. “I just can’t. This is too much for me. I can’t take anymore.”

She cried. He put his arms around her. I tried to remember that they were only friends and that I wasn’t jealous. At least not much.

I got to my feet. “You know, I think I’m going to go to my room. I’m surprised Crème Brûlée has stayed in the tote all this time. He needs to eat and I need to sleep. I’ll see you two later. Miguel, we’re working on the shopping list. If you can’t do it, just let me know.”

“I’ll take care of it. Just send me the list.” He looked up at me over Tina’s head. “I’m sorry about this, Zoe. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Sure.” I picked up the tote and held it carefully in my arms. The weight seemed to distribute better that way and made my cat easier to carry.

I opened the door and surprised Detective Marsh, who was standing there with his hand up, ready to knock.

TWENTY-TWO

There was no time to warn Miguel and Tina. Helms was right behind Marsh as they barged into the hotel room.

“Doesn’t that make a cozy picture?” Marsh asked his partner.

Helms smiled. “It surely does. I wonder if they were doing a lot of this the day they decided to kill Alex Pardini.”

Miguel and Tina sprang apart. He looked guilty. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

“What do you want now?” Miguel demanded. “You can’t prove we did anything wrong. You would be better served looking for the real killer.”

“I think we’re better served talking to your girlfriend,” Marsh said. “I can’t believe you’d lead poor Zoe on this way. One lady friend wasn’t enough for you?”

Miguel glanced at me. I shrugged. As far as I was concerned, Marsh didn’t know his head from a hole in the ground. I wasn’t taking his word for anything.

“Maybe you should both come to the Birmingham police station with us,” Helms suggested.

“Yeah,” Marsh agreed. “Let’s have a little talk, shall we?”

Miguel took a deep, frustrated breath. “Whatever you say, detectives. Come on, Tina. Let’s get this over with.”

Marsh led the way to the elevator. I was still standing at the doorway, waiting for Helms to leave the hotel room.

“Could I talk to you for a minute, Zoe?” She glanced at the elevator but didn’t leave the room.

I closed the hotel door. Crème Brûlée had begun shifting around uncomfortably in the tote bag. “Sure. I have to get my cat to my room. We can talk there.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Your cat? You brought your cat with you on the race?”

“Have you ever tried to get a cat sitter on short notice? My mother wouldn’t take him. My father was out of town. Ollie, Delia, and my uncle are with me. That pretty much dries up my pool of cat sitters.”

Helms opened the door and said something to Marsh. I wasn’t close enough to hear what it was. This was probably part of a divide and conquer kind of thing. She’d find that I was too loyal to Miguel to give anything away.

By the time we reached my room, finally, Crème Brûlée was starting to meow loudly and claw at the bag. I gave my key card to Helms and she opened the door. I held the tote bag down, and Crème Brûlée jumped out with a parting hiss at me.

“Wow. He’s a big fella,” Helms said.

“He’s a little sensitive about it.” I put the empty tote on the bed and massaged my arm. I loved my cat, but he was hard to carry around. “Every time I take him to the vet, he suggests Crème Brûlée should lose weight. He’s not crazy about that idea.”

Helms sat on the edge of the bed as I fed my cat. “I’m surprised they’ve let him in all of these hotels.”

I glanced up at her. “You’re not the cat police, right?”

“No. Not at all. But I am looking for a killer, Zoe.”

“I know. What can I do to help?”

“I’ve thought about what you said to McSwain. Now that we know your friend Reggie’s death wasn’t an accident, I’ve been trying to figure out what McSwain said to someone that got him killed.”

“And have you come up with anything?”

She nodded. “The only thing that makes sense to me is that McSwain knew the other person Alex was plotting with. I don’t know if that means he was a friend of McSwain’s or what. I think that’s why the second person had to kill Reggie.”

“And Alex? Surely he wasn’t plotting his own death?”

“I don’t think so. I know that Tina has a lover—and I don’t believe it’s Miguel like Marsh does. I think Tina’s lover may have killed Alex for her. And he may have killed McSwain because they knew each other.”

Her cell phone buzzed, and she looked at it. “That’s Marsh, complaining because he can’t find me. He thinks I have to be close by all the time. I hope we get something from Tina that leads us in the right direction.”

She got to her feet, and I saw her to the door.

Helms put her hand on my arm. “I don’t trust Tina. Something’s not right with that girl. Look out for her.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I closed the door and locked it when she was gone. I talked on the phone with Uncle Saul for a few minutes about our food list for tomorrow and what we were going to do if Miguel couldn’t shop.

Uncle Saul told me not to worry about it. “Chef Art and I have that under control. He had his car brought up here from Mobile for tonight. If you trust me, I’ll shop and get something amazing for tomorrow.”