the recipes and the instructions. I'll tell you what, we were so busy that afternoon, we didn't know which end was up. I don't even know how long he was here. All I know is that last I saw him, Brad was writing down the list of things he was supposed to bring tonight."
"Celery salt, tomato juice, Tabasco." Reading from his own list, Kegan emptied his cotton market bag. There was already a bunch of crisp, green celery on the table, and he laid a hand on it. "It's just as well Brad isn't here. I'll bet he didn't buy organic celery."
"I'll bet he didn't, either. But still . . ." Against my better judgment, I'd promised Eve and Valerie that I'd investigate Brad. That didn't mean I was comfortable with the situation. Or that I'd ever talk myself into doing it again. I looked at the door one more time and whispered words I thought I'd never hear myself say: "Come on, let's get this over with. Get in here, Brad."
And for one, incredible moment, I thought my fervent prayer had actually worked. The kitchen door swung open, and a man swaggered into the room.
It took only a second for me to realize it was the wrong swagger. And this was definitely the wrong man.
Oh yeah, right then and there, I knew those weren't the only things that were wrong.
Because the man who walked into Bellywasher's kitchen that night was none other than Tyler Cooper.
Q HERE'S THE READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION
of the whole, ugly story.
Eve used to be engaged to Tyler. This isn't any big news, of course, because over the years, Eve's been engaged to a lot of guys (including the senator who tried to kill us). I have any number of unworn matron of honor gowns in the back of my closet to prove it. But I digress.
The big deal about Eve and Tyler's engagement is that, unlike all those other engagements and not counting the fiancé who wanted us dead, Eve isn't the one who broke it off. Tyler broke up with her. And believe me, it wasn't pretty.
Since then, we'd heard through the grapevine that Tyler was engaged again, this time to a woman named Kaitlin Sands. Eve pretends not to care, but remember, I'd known Eve since the day in kindergarten when we were assigned to be each other's bathroom buddy. She might talk the talk, but she didn't walk the walk. Not when it came to Tyler.
Tyler Cooper was Eve's own personal human version of poison ivy. He was in her system, and until she found the right antidote, the itch would never go away.
One look at Tyler sent all of those thoughts spinning through my head, along with the realization that I was glad Eve wasn't anywhere near the restaurant that night. Until I realized that Tyler Cooper—Lieutenant Tyler Cooper of the Arlington Police Department—didn't have any reason to be barging into a cooking class in Alexandria.
Not unless something was wrong.
In one, heart-stopping instant, I remembered all those phone calls I'd made to Eve earlier in the day, and all the times she hadn't answered the phone. My mouth went dry. There was a lump in my throat. I was up at the front of the room even before the kitchen door stopped swinging and— who could blame me—I didn't bother with the niceties. I was suddenly too nervous, and besides, when it came to nice, Tyler didn't know the meaning of the word.
"What happened?" I asked him. "What's wrong?"
I hadn't seen Tyler since we did the final wrap-up of our investigation into Sarah Whitaker's murder. He didn't look any happier now than he had been then. Then, the fact that I'd out-investigated him and solved a murder he couldn't had soured his already acid personality even more. Now . . .
"Miss Capshaw." The way Tyler said it and the way he tipped his head in my direction wasn't so much a greeting as it was simply his way of saying that seeing me again was his cross to bear. "I can't say I'm surprised to find myself here again. There's something about you and dead
"Celery salt, tomato juice, Tabasco." Reading from his own list, Kegan emptied his cotton market bag. There was already a bunch of crisp, green celery on the table, and he laid a hand on it. "It's just as well Brad isn't here. I'll bet he didn't buy organic celery."
"I'll bet he didn't, either. But still . . ." Against my better judgment, I'd promised Eve and Valerie that I'd investigate Brad. That didn't mean I was comfortable with the situation. Or that I'd ever talk myself into doing it again. I looked at the door one more time and whispered words I thought I'd never hear myself say: "Come on, let's get this over with. Get in here, Brad."
And for one, incredible moment, I thought my fervent prayer had actually worked. The kitchen door swung open, and a man swaggered into the room.
It took only a second for me to realize it was the wrong swagger. And this was definitely the wrong man.
Oh yeah, right then and there, I knew those weren't the only things that were wrong.
Because the man who walked into Bellywasher's kitchen that night was none other than Tyler Cooper.
Q HERE'S THE READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION
of the whole, ugly story.
Eve used to be engaged to Tyler. This isn't any big news, of course, because over the years, Eve's been engaged to a lot of guys (including the senator who tried to kill us). I have any number of unworn matron of honor gowns in the back of my closet to prove it. But I digress.
The big deal about Eve and Tyler's engagement is that, unlike all those other engagements and not counting the fiancé who wanted us dead, Eve isn't the one who broke it off. Tyler broke up with her. And believe me, it wasn't pretty.
Since then, we'd heard through the grapevine that Tyler was engaged again, this time to a woman named Kaitlin Sands. Eve pretends not to care, but remember, I'd known Eve since the day in kindergarten when we were assigned to be each other's bathroom buddy. She might talk the talk, but she didn't walk the walk. Not when it came to Tyler.
Tyler Cooper was Eve's own personal human version of poison ivy. He was in her system, and until she found the right antidote, the itch would never go away.
One look at Tyler sent all of those thoughts spinning through my head, along with the realization that I was glad Eve wasn't anywhere near the restaurant that night. Until I realized that Tyler Cooper—Lieutenant Tyler Cooper of the Arlington Police Department—didn't have any reason to be barging into a cooking class in Alexandria.
Not unless something was wrong.
In one, heart-stopping instant, I remembered all those phone calls I'd made to Eve earlier in the day, and all the times she hadn't answered the phone. My mouth went dry. There was a lump in my throat. I was up at the front of the room even before the kitchen door stopped swinging and— who could blame me—I didn't bother with the niceties. I was suddenly too nervous, and besides, when it came to nice, Tyler didn't know the meaning of the word.
"What happened?" I asked him. "What's wrong?"
I hadn't seen Tyler since we did the final wrap-up of our investigation into Sarah Whitaker's murder. He didn't look any happier now than he had been then. Then, the fact that I'd out-investigated him and solved a murder he couldn't had soured his already acid personality even more. Now . . .
"Miss Capshaw." The way Tyler said it and the way he tipped his head in my direction wasn't so much a greeting as it was simply his way of saying that seeing me again was his cross to bear. "I can't say I'm surprised to find myself here again. There's something about you and dead
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