Dish Best Served Cold - Leighann Dobbs Page 0,1

down along the long slippery patch.

As she was throwing the final scoop down to cover the grease, she felt a chill, and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She turned around quickly, as if someone was creeping up behind her. More than once lately, she had felt like someone was watching her, that something odd was going on. Just little things, like items being moved in the kitchen when she swore she hadn’t moved them. Noises outside but no one else being there.

More than once she had wondered if maybe it was her ex, Raffe Washburn. Her relationship with him wasn’t on the best terms at the moment. Working for him at his restaurant, EightyEight, hadn’t worked out very well, because it wasn’t working with him as she had hoped. It was for him. Something that she was reminded of on a daily basis when he would tell her that she took too long to plan the specials, or that a last-minute dish she had whipped up wasn’t going onto the menu at all. Meanwhile, he was so slow and methodical with his planning that it led to the same boring food every day, and that wasn’t what Sarah wanted to serve as head chef. She liked to be creative and different, spontaneous. That had been the whole reason that she had accepted the position in the first place, to have creative freedom. But having to get Raffe’s approval days ahead of time wasn’t exactly what she had in mind.

She sighed heavily, tossing the scoop back into the barrel and turning to go back inside. Thinking about Raffe made her sad, and she didn’t have time to feel that way. She had a VIP tasting in less than twenty-four hours to focus on.

Brenda stepped out a few feet from behind the dumpster with a smirk on her face. She could tell that Sarah was uneasy. She had looked around the area like she thought she was being followed. Good! She had looked funny sliding down, her arms thrashing around and legs going in different directions. Too bad she hadn’t fallen and broken an ankle or a leg, though. If she had, then she wouldn’t be able to cook, and that would have blown her chance for yet another article in which she was mentioned as being the head chef for the stupid big fundraiser that Gertie O’Rourke was having.

She kicked the side of the dumpster. Sarah didn’t deserve any attention at all for being a good chef! She wasn’t any better than Brenda had been during the Chef Masters Challenge in which they’d both competed.

But of course, because Sarah and Raffe were cheaters, Sarah got all the attention now. And it just happened to be a coincidence that Veronica, the assistant that Brenda had been suspicious of during the contest, worked at O’Rourke’s?

That had basically sealed the deal that Veronica had been in on fixing the cooking contest as well, as far as Brenda was concerned. Heck, that old bat Gertie was probably the ringleader. Brenda knew they all played a role in getting her kicked off the show. Her cooking skills were too good. They had seen her as a threat and wanted her gone.

Meow!

She looked down at Kidney, Gertie’s cat, who was rubbing up against her leg.

“Scram! Stupid cat.”

The cat trotted away, disappearing into the thick brush that was up against the fence that ran along the property.

She eyeballed the cat. Anytime Gertie was in the local papers or on social media, that stupid cat was right there with her. Kidney! Talk about a dumb name. Apparently Gertie had come up with it because her long-lost daughter needed a kidney. Maybe, Brenda thought, she should mess with the cat. That would most likely upset Gertie more than if she burned the damn building down.

But Gertie wasn’t the only person she wanted to make miserable.

Sarah, Veronica, Gertie…they all deserved to be taught a lesson. And, since they all worked together, it would be super easy to mess with them at the same time! But what else could she do? She really wanted to unplug some of the refrigerators and freezers and make the food spoil. But the doors were always locked, and the building was solid.

Aside from a vent that was on the side of the building. She had already unscrewed it and tried to stick her arm inside, but the vent was too long. She was pretty sure that the kitchen was on