A Sheetcake Named Desire by Jacklyn Brady Page B

make J. J. happy. And secondly, if word got out that we let the Hightowers walk without paying, everybody will try to get away with it. That we really can’t afford.”
    I wasn’t as worried about the money as I was about the damage to Zydeco’s reputation. Delivering a flawed cake, or even one the client just didn’t like, to a once-in-a-lifetime event wasn’t something we could make better. It wasn’t as if we could offer them a replacement wedding cake and undo the damage.
    “Do you want me to talk to him?”
    Edie squinted up at me, considering my offer. “You’re the boss.”
    Right. “Okay, then. Would you mind setting up an appointment? Maybe Tuesday morning?” At Edie’s nod, I held up the folder. “Do you mind if I hang on to this for a couple of days?”
    “Go for it.” But Edie still looked troubled, and when she spoke again, I realized why. “Listen, Rita, there’s something else you should know.”
    Uh-oh. “Okay. Hit me. What is it?”
    “We’re supposed to be bidding on a job next week—a grand opening for a high-tech company. Philippe was working on the design right before . . . you know.”
    “He didn’t have time to finish it?”
    Edie shook her head. “I don’t know. I looked for the design all over Zydeco this morning, but I can’t find it. I don’t know where it is.”
    My spirits dived even further. Was this a coincidence or another act of sabotage? “Maybe it’s been misplaced,” I suggested optimistically. “The police were all over the building yesterday.”
    “Yeah. Maybe.”
    I told myself not to assume the worst. Stay calm. Don’t panic. There could be a logical explanation. “We’ll find it,” I said, trying hard to sound as if I believed that. “What’s the cutoff date for submitting the bid?”
    “The fifteenth.”
    I glanced at the calendar on the wall. “Next week, right? We should be okay, then. Any idea where he had it last?”
    Edie shook her head slowly. “He had it with him the morning he was killed, and now it’s gone. That’s all I know.”
    It was ridiculous to wonder if the missing design had something to do with Philippe’s murder. Wasn’t it? But maybe he’d walked in on the saboteur and caught him stealing the design?
    “I thought Ox was in charge of graphic design for Zydeco. Does he have a copy?”
    “Not this time. Philippe had decided to work on this cake himself.”
    Philippe created all of his sketches by hand, and he’d rarely bothered to photocopy or scan his work, at least until he was finished. Ox, on the other hand, was more careful. “So there’s no backup.”
    Shaking her head, Edie reached for a humongous softdrink cup hidden behind her computer screen. “I’m afraid not. It’s not just the sketch, either. I know that Philippe had worked out the time line for building the cake and creating all the pieces for it. He spent hours and hours doing that. Plus, he made a list of all the supplies we’d need.”
    “That’s a lot of work to lose,” I agreed. “But it has to be here somewhere. We’ll find it.”
    Edie smiled uncertainly. “I hope so. He worked on that design for days. I feel like it’s his legacy or something.”
    I got to my feet, finally feeling ready to tackle Philippe’s office. I’d look for the missing design, too, while I was in there. “I’d like to go over all the outstanding contracts on the books and get a feel for what’s coming up in the next few weeks. Can you get me a schedule when you have a few minutes?”
    “I post a calendar in the design center at the beginning of every week,” Edie said. “I’ll make you a copy if you’d like.”
    “Thanks. That will help, but a week at a time isn’t quite enough lead time for me. Can you get me the schedule for the next couple of months? Or tell me where to look, and I’ll find it myself.”
    Edie slowly returned her cup to its position behind the monitor, and I witnessed her inner control freak spark to life. “The next couple of