Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #16)(18)

Hannah gave a wave as she spotted Mike and began to wind her way through the crowded main dining room. The Corner Tavern attracted both young and old. If you didn’t like steak, you could get chicken, fresh fish, or even a couple of vegetarian dishes. It wasn’t gourmet fare like you could enjoy at Sally and Dick’s restaurant in the Lake Eden Inn, but it was well-prepared, totally delicious, and relatively inexpensive. Even better, as far as the Winnetka County sheriff’s deputies were concerned, the Corner Tavern was only a stone’s throw from the sheriff’s station. As a matter of fact, she’d met Andrea and Barbara here for lunch only last week.

Thoughts of Barbara caused worry to cloud her face and Hannah was frowning when she reached Mike’s table. “Hi, Mike,” she greeted him, forcing a smile.

“What’s the problem?” Mike asked as she sat down.

Hannah had expected as much. Mike was a master interrogator. He picked up on every nuance in a subject’s voice and even the slightest physical signs of emotion. “I can’t decide whether I should have the steak and eggs, or the eggs and steak.”

“Very funny.” Mike reached out to take her hand. “Seriously, Hannah, what is it?”

Hannah decided to be completely truthful . . . at least to a point. “It’s Barbara,” she said. “I’m worried sick about her. Did you find any evidence of foul play last night?”

“You know I can’t tell you that.”

Their waitress came over with orange juice, coffee, and water. “Hi, Mike,” she said with a smile aimed more at Mike than at Hannah.

“Hi, Misty. How are you doing this morning?”

“Good. Very good. I had a wonderful night last night.” She gave Mike a kittenish look as she carefully set down his orange juice. Then she set Hannah’s down without looking and it would have collided with her water glass if Hannah hadn’t grabbed it.

“Excuse me, Misty,” Hannah said to get her attention.

“This isn’t orange juice. It’s milk.”

“Sorry.” By the tone in her voice Hannah could tell she wasn’t sorry at all. “I guess I grabbed the wrong glass. You want it anyway?”

“No thanks. I’ll take an orange juice, please.”

“Okey dokey.” Misty reached out to grab the milk and almost knocked it over. “So Mike . . .” She turned back to him. “Do you two need menus this morning?”

“Not me,” Mike answered, smiling at her. It was the same sexy smile that always made Hannah’s knees feel weak whenever it was directed at her. “I think I know the menu even better than you do.”

“I bet you know a lot of things even better than I do. Of course I know some things, too. Maybe I even know some things that you don’t know.”

This is incredible, Hannah thought. She’s flirting with him right in front of me. What am I? The invisible woman? Of course Mike probably sees her every day when he drops by for coffee. Or for all I know, he could be dating her!

Hannah pressed her lips together to keep her thoughts silent. She didn’t have an exclusive relationship with Mike . . . or Norman either, for that matter. All three of them were free to date other people. She had no right to complain if Mike dated Misty, no right at all. But that didn’t stop the sharp jab of jealousy that ran through her.

It’s only because she’s ignoring you and she’s rude, Hannah’s mind said. That’s why you don’t like her.

But Hannah knew it was also because Misty had a Barbie doll figure and Mike obviously enjoyed the way she was flirting with him.

“Back to what we were talking about before Misty,” Mike picked up the conversation once Misty had taken their orders and left. “And by the way, she flirts with all of the guys like that. It’s kind of cute and it doesn’t mean anything.”

“Right,” Hannah said, although she had her doubts. “I asked you if you’d found anything incriminating at the scene last night in the rose garden or on the penthouse roof.”

“And I said I couldn’t tell you that.” Mike pushed his orange juice over to Hannah. “Take mine. I don’t really want it anyway and Misty will forget all about bringing yours. We gave her our orders and she’ll put them in, but she can only keep one thing in her mind at a time.”

Hannah picked up the orange juice and took a swallow, even though she no longer wanted it. Mike had been nice enough to give it to her and she’d drink it in appreciation. “Let me get this straight. If you found something incriminating at the scene, you couldn’t tell me. Is that right?”

“That’s right. You know that I can’t discuss police business with you.”

“I know that,” Hannah agreed quickly. “But you just told me that it is police business. And that means you found something incriminating.”

“I hate it when you do that!” Mike gave her a long-suffering look. “No, it doesn’t mean that we found something incriminating. All it means is that we found something that could be incriminating and we have to investigate it.”

“You’re equivocating.”

“And you’re probing into something that’s none of your business.”

They glared at each other for a moment and Misty took that exact moment to bring Hannah’s orange juice. “Oh, pooh!” she said, her head swiveling from one to the other the way it would if she were watching a tennis match. “Two somebodies here are mad at each other, huh?”