Sander led them back past where Dom had stumbled over Jeremy’s body, and Dom found himself involuntarily tensing. Perhaps he wasn’t so calm about finding a body as he had first thought. But they were walking past it and he put it from his mind, focusing on projecting an intimidating enough presence that Sander would back off.
They stopped well behind the structure that contained the desserts, at the edge of the trees. No one was nearby. Dom was beginning to feel suspicious and worried; it hadn’t occurred to him until now that Sander could be leading them off to eliminate them. Or worse, kill Dom and abduct Kiko for some sick reason.
And yet when Sander turned to them, it was with an actual concern on his face. His posture relaxed somewhat, his eyes and demeanor lowered. He almost looked to be playing a more submissive role now, looking to Kiko, who was eyeing him with displeased anticipation. Dom was not sure what to make of this role reassignment. It threw him, and it was only made worse by the fact that both Sander and Kiko seemed to ease right into it.
“What is it?” asked Kiko, trace of annoyance in his voice. Dom realized they’d done this sort of thing before, were used to it. Sander’s face flickered a hesitant smile.
“I don’t want to get involved,” said Sander.
“I figured that.”
“It’s about Hailey.” Sander sounded vaguely defiant, but Kiko hadn’t changed. Dom was beginning to feel awkward. He wanted to do the questioning, but he didn’t know how to handle the fact that Sander seemed to almost be begging now.
Kiko tilted his head slightly in an I’m-listening gesture.
“She told me about it this morning, before she got sick,” said Sander. “But none of it’s my problem. I don’t want it to reflect on me. It’s been hard enough with Jeremy’s murder to keep it from reflecting poorly on me—it’s not particularly good for my image to be a suspect.”
“We feel so sorry for you,” said Dom. Sander glanced at him, but Kiko kept his hard look trained on the chef.
“What did she tell you?”
“About the note. She was shaken, or wanted me to think that. She brought a note that someone had left under the wiper on her car. I can’t be part of some sort of conspiracy. I don’t want to be part of some conspiracy. This is the most time I’ve spent with the Kidwells to begin with, I don’t want to be drawn into petty small-town shit.”
“Sander, what’s the point of not telling me everything?” asked Kiko, making an annoyed gesture with both arms. Sander winced. “You really are the same person you were a decade ago, aren’t you?”
Dom felt more awkward the longer he stood there. Irritation was creeping over his shock now, though, and the realization that Kiko and Sander were so comfortable because they were acting out something they’d done a hundred times before.
“What was in the note?” asked Kiko, firmly. Sander sighed.
“It was a threat,” he said. “I don’t remember what exactly, but it was specifically for her. A bit cryptic. She wanted to know whether I’d gotten one too—she seemed to think we were being targeted. I told her no, of course, and my room was broken into. She didn’t seem to care about that, which is obviously more of a threat. A note is practically nothing, could even be a prank. But the complete destruction of a space that is supposed to be safe and secure?”
Kiko sighed.
“And what do you want me to do?” he asked.
Sander gave a shrug, tiny hopeful smile creeping along his face.
“You’re a bit of a detective now, I hear,” he said. “I reported my room’s vandalism, of course, but I doubt she’s taking the note to the police. Someone ought to do something, don’t you think?”
Kiko actually shot Sander a glare. It was raw, intense. Dom was proud.
“I’m done making up for you,” said Kiko. “If you think the police should know, you tell them.”
“It’ll weigh on your conscience more than mine. I know you, Kiko—”
“Did you get a threatening note too?” asked Kiko. Sander shook his head.
“That’s just it, no—you’d think if someone was coming after the three of us for some reason we’d know why. I’m beginning to wonder if she made it all up. I certainly don’t want to talk to her again. I was hoping—”
“No,” said Kiko. “I’m not delivering your messages, either.”
“But—”
Kiko shook his head. Sander’s eyes narrowed and he began to straighten somewhat.
“You know,” he said, “I argued on your behalf back there. You wouldn’t have won the grilling contest if it weren’t for me. I’m your advocate, Kiko.”
Dom didn’t care to listen to any more of this. He took a step forward.
“I think he’s told us everything, Kiko,” he said. “Let’s go.”
To Dom’s surprise, Sander didn’t object when they left. Dom took them the long way around so that they wouldn’t have to pass by where he had found Jeremy’s body again.
* * * *
Kiko braced himself to explain, but Dom was quiet as they drove to Yolks on You, quiet as Kiko unlocked the place and went to the counter. He doubted Chad would be in the mood to eat anything, but Kiko wanted to bring him a small box of chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs, Chad’s favorite, to at the very least cheer him up a little. Kiko tried to shake the feeling that the teen was in the hospital again because of him, tried to tell himself that Chad would have eaten the chili anyway.
“What do you think Hailey would like?” he asked. When he glanced up at Dom, it was to see the man shrug.
“It’s chocolate.”
Kiko frowned, tossed a few different flavors into a box, and led the way back out, locking the store behind him. Although he waited, Dom still didn’t say anything, and Kiko decided he’d have to address it.
“That’s just how Sander is,” he said, turning onto the highway.
“That whining, you mean.” Dom sounded unimpressed.
“If you want to call it that.”
Dom gave an unamused laugh.
“You know, for a moment there I thought you had switched roles. But Sander was still playing you.”
“He’s always been a manipulative asshole,” said Kiko, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. “He used to do that a lot, appeal to me to make his excuses for him. It got so bad in the last few weeks before he went away his mother would end up calling me to ask about him before she’d even try to get a hold of him.”
“And you loved this bastard?”
Dom sounded distinctly prickly. Kiko frowned. He didn’t want to be blamed for any of it.
“Right. You’ve clearly never fallen for anyone toxic. I forgot how good a judge of character you are.”
He expected Dom to strike back at that, but the man fell silent instead. When Kiko glanced over, he saw Dom shooting the Wisconsin countryside a sour look, as though the fields full of corn and cows were to blame.
“Sorry,” he muttered to the window. Kiko barely heard the apology before Dom turned back around. “I don’t think it’s wrong for me to not like seeing him treat you like shit.”
“I can handle it, Dom. He’s not going to pressure me into anything with his overt flirting.”
“Yeah, but what if I wanted to use one of those lines on you?”
Kiko glanced over at Dom, saw the exaggerated expression of sadness on his face. Kiko could not hold back a smile, a small chuckle. Dom joking about this was good. Kiko felt relieved. If they could get past the tension Sander caused, then maybe they had a chance together long-term, and he couldn’t deny to himself that he wanted that.
But he put it from his mind. He would have time to plan for the future later, once the murderer had been caught and Dom was over the urge to do something stupid. He focused his attention on other matters.
“I hope Hailey kept that threatening note,” he said.
“Could you recognize Sander’s handwriting?” asked Dom, hopeful. Kiko smiled a little at Dom’s stubborn fixation, shook his head slightly.
“It might not be a handwritten note, and I don’t know.”
“All it would take is something simple like that,” said Dom. “A handwriting match, and we’ve got him.”
“As much as I know you want to link Sander to this, that wouldn’t be the only thing to explain. In fact, depending on the content of the note, even if Sander wrote it and we could prove it, we’d have to figure out how everything else pointed back to him, too, or else then it could be argued that the note had nothing to do with Jeremy’s murder, but something else entirely.”
Dom swore.
“But it has to be him, Kiko. Think about it. Jeremy’s dead—maybe he tried to manipulate the guy like he tried with you, and Jeremy wouldn’t go for it. I still like the refusal-to-have-sex option for what set him off. And now Hailey’s in the hospital. It would be suspicious to kill two people the same way, so he goes after her in a way that looks like she did it herself. With her out of the way, he gets full rights to the cookbook.”
“Maybe. But even so, she’s not out of the way, is she? She’s in the hospital—a very safe place to be if you’re sick and someone wants to kill you.”
“It’s him. It has to be.”
Kiko resisted the impulse to roll his eyes.
“Let’s rule Hailey out first. She could have stabbed her own brother, poisoned her own chili, and eaten it. Maybe even broken into Sander’s room for some reason, if that’s related.”
“You’re still defending him,” said Dom. “My god, Kiko. You’re still making his excuses for him.”
“No, I’m trying to figure this out.”
“I bet he staged his own break-in. I’ve been winning my bets recently.”
“We still have to figure some other things out,” said Kiko. “Why was Jeremy even killed to begin with? Hailey’s note might explain something about it.”
“If she didn’t make the note herself,” said Dom, sounding like he enjoyed throwing Kiko’s ideas back at him.
“Okay. If she didn’t make the note herself,” said Kiko, thinking it was easier to just go along with Dom at this point. “There’s Beverly and Elena, who weren’t happy with the Kidwells participation in the Knee High Festival. Why was Elena drinking so much that first night?”
“Oh, I got this,” said Dom. “She was experimenting adding cherry flavor to Buddy’s Porter Potty Beer Floats. She probably also felt guilty that her choclohol drink caused the incident between Joy and Beverly.”
“When did you learn this?” asked Kiko. Dom shrugged. Kiko frowned. “We need to catch each other up on what we know.”
“That’d probably be a good idea,” said Dom.
* * * *
The more Dom and Kiko had talked on the ride to the hospital, the more annoyed Dom grew. He didn’t want to believe Sander was as smart as he’d have to be to pull this all off. Manipulative and abusive, definitely, and smart when it came to that, but then, stabbing Jeremy would have to be a break from that, an act of rage, when his nature was to talk his way into what he wanted. And Dom did not want to think Sander clever enough to both poison Hailey and leave her a threatening note to make it seem like she had orchestrated the entire thing.
But Sander had to be the murderer.
“Maybe they’re in on it together,” said Dom as they took the stairs. “Sander and Hailey.”
“Why?” asked Kiko.
“Jeremy must have done something that pissed them both off.”
“No, I mean what makes you think Sander would go in on anything with someone?”
Dom frowned. Kiko had a point.
“He’s doing this cookbook,” he said. Kiko opened the door to the third floor.
“He’s been letting them do all the work, and I’m sure they had to follow his vision for it. I’m sure he’s calling the shots like on everything else he does with another person.”
Dom glanced at Kiko.
“The sex must have been awful,” he said. Kiko turned left and led them down the hallway. Dom moved to keep up. “I’m not taking a swing at you, I’m commiserating. I’ve had some downright terrible se—”
“Dom,” said Kiko, turning to him, “I doubt bringing our sex lives into the room will make Hailey more open to talking to us.”
“Agreed,” said Dom, hoping Kiko wouldn’t ask him to keep silent, too. But Kiko didn’t, instead entering the room and taking the lead, convincing Hailey to let them see her. Dom sat as Kiko presented the assorted egg-shaped chocolates to her.
“Thanks,” said Hailey, sticking them on the stand beside the bed. “But I’m not about to eat anything someone gives me right now.”
Dom thought that was a bit rude, but Kiko merely gave an understanding nod and sat near the bed.
“I don’t blame you,” he said. She gave a mirthless laugh.
“Sure,” she said. “You think I poisoned my own chili too.”
Kiko just waited patiently at that. Hailey fell silent, stuck in the bed with fluids, expression bordering on glare. Dom wanted very much to say something, to start demanding answers from her, but knew he should take Kiko’s lead on this one. He must have a reason why he wasn’t pressing her about the chili. Maybe he thought she’d be more likely to offer up the information herself if he didn’t push her.
“We’re just concerned, Hailey,” said Dom, wanting to move the conversation along. Kiko’s eyes flicked to him, but Dom didn’t say anything more than that.
“Concerned? Yeah, you’re concerned about something, but it sure isn’t me.”
Dom noticed Kiko giving him a meaningful near-glare and realized he wanted Dom to do something to smooth the waters with Hailey. Dom had only one idea of what that might be, and he didn’t care to do it. But Kiko was waiting, and Hailey looked about ready to demand they both leave. He gritted his teeth and groveled.
“Look,” said Dom, barreling right along even though Hailey kept her gaze firmly fixed on the wall. “I know you think I had something to do with your brother’s murder. But I did really only find him. I was a bit shocked, otherwise I would have immediately called 911. I know telling you this won’t matter, but I’ll say it anyway: I’m sorry.”
When Dom glanced at Kiko again the man gave him a slight nod. Dom wanted to return with a rude gesture but decided against it because he figured the moment he did Hailey would turn and look right at him. Hailey sighed dramatically.
“Fine,” she said. “You’re concerned. What do you want?”
“Well,” said Kiko, “We were talking with Sander about what’s been going on, because his room was broken into—”
“That’s bullshit, you know,” said Hailey, glaring at Kiko. “That’s all Sander is. I’m sure he made it up.”
“What did I tell you?” asked Dom before he could help himself, but the reaction seemed to make Hailey more comfortable.
“The entire thing’s been a series of issues, he wants to relate everything back to the damned cookbook. I bet he made it all up so he had something interesting to post to his social media.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Kiko.
“Because it was all about that for him. He wanted more visibility. Jer and I had to promise to post at least twenty-five times a day, anything at all. We agreed to let Sander use the recipes from the dishes we entered in the contests on his blog. He was doing sort of a promotional freebie thing. He promised to post each recipe of ours that won, the idea being to get people to follow along through the Knee High Festival, to make it a bit more exciting.”
“Let me guess,” said Dom. “He was going to make sure every recipe of yours won.”
“Of course,” said Hailey. “I don’t know how he planned to do it, but he said he’d figure out how we could win multiple times. He really wanted to offer those recipes for free, promote the book with its own recipes he said. He was pissed when I withdrew from the competitions.”
“So you think he went back to his hotel and staged a break-in so he’d have something to say online,” said Kiko.
“I’m surprised he didn’t do more than that, really. He must have been angrier than that if he went back to his room and busted the place up. He was furious we hadn’t put the agreement about the contest recipes in writing, and if we had, he wouldn’t have let me back out.”
Dom was suddenly very glad Kiko had insisted they speak with Hailey. She alone could probably give them all the information on Sander they needed.
“Do you think he left the note for you, then?” asked Kiko. “He mentioned a note.”
Hailey studied him for a moment, then turned to do the same to Dom. She moved to rummage around on her stand.
“I’m not sure. He denied it when I asked him this morning. Here.”
She handed a folded piece of paper to Kiko, who took it and opened it slowly. Dom was ready to stand and cross to Kiko, read over his shoulder, but then Kiko began to read aloud.
“You know you’re in the wrong. It’s not yours. Turn it over before it’s too late. 3:00 P.M., the Fourth, red tote backstage.”
* * * *