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Chapter 12
Friday
The whirlwind of Zoe burst through the door, reaching for Julia. “Sorry I didn’t have this for you yesterday,” she said, hugging her.
Julia closed her eyes, wishing the same thing. Then she stepped away. “You have it today, and that’s what matters.” She saw Zoe staring at Spence, and she said, “This is Spence Flynn. He works with Nico. He’s going to stay here overnight and then stay at my house during the afternoon and evening.”
“Great idea.” Zoe reached out to shake Flynn’s hand. “I’m Zoe Melbourn. Mel’s sister.”
Flynn studied her as he shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Zoe. I didn’t realize Mel had a sister.”
“Yeah.” Zoe said with a tiny smile. “I’m the smart one.”
Flynn narrowed his eyes. “Really? Don’t know about that. Mel’s pretty damn smart.”
“Whoa!” Zoe held up her hands. “Just joking, Spence. Trying to break the ice.”
“No need for any ice to be broken,” Flynn retorted. “I’m here to do a job. Not to socialize.”
Julia mentally rolled her eyes. No sign of those dimples now.
“So noted,” Zoe shot back. She turned to Julia. “Let’s do this.”
Amazed at how quickly Zoe and Flynn had gone head to head, Julia flicked her gaze to Flynn. Back to Zoe. She could practically see sparks flying off both of them. “Let’s do it on my computer,” she said to Zoe. “I think it’ll be easier and quicker.”
“Quicker is good,” Zoe muttered with a side glance at Flynn.
Ten minutes later, Zoe pulled a flash drive out of Julia’s computer and handed it to her. “You might want to keep this in your safe. Just to make sure no one finds it and wonders if you’ve figured out their little scheme.”
“Good idea,” Julia replied, closing her fist around the small flash drive. “Let me make sure I understand how this software works. Your program will log whenever a meal is deleted from the system and specify the server’s number, as well as the ID used to delete it.”
“Exactly,” Zoe said. “To check the meals deleted and the server numbers, just go to the page I installed.” She pulled it up quickly, and when Julia nodded, shut it again. “You and Delia can still delete meals, using your passwords. Have you changed them lately?”
“A couple days ago. As soon as Nico started counting meals delivered.”
“Okay. Let’s see what happens tonight. We’ll go from there.”
Julia hugged her friend tightly. “Thanks so much,” she whispered. “Madeline’s is taking a huge hit every night from this. Now we can figure out who’s stealing from me.”
Zoe gripped her shoulders tightly. “If any meals go missing tonight, call me before you fire anyone. We’ll figure out the next move together.”
“It’ll be late before we know,” Julia pointed out.
“I’m working on a rush job. I’ll be awake,” Zoe said. Her glance touched everyone. Lingered a little longer on Spence. “I have to run. Get on this rush job.”
Julia walked her to the door, said goodbye again and locked the door behind her. When she got back to her office, Nico and Flynn had their heads together. They looked up when Julia appeared and moved apart.
“So,” Spence said. “Zoe. She always so… intense?”
Julia hesitated. “She’s easy-going with me,” she finally said. “Low maintenance. Probably not so much at work. She takes her business very seriously.” She narrowed her gaze at the new agent. “You were pretty intense yourself.”
“Usually people say I’m too easy-going,” Spence retorted.
“Then I guess you should avoid Zoe. She seems to bring out the worst in you. And you bring out the worst in her.”
“I’ll be thrilled to avoid her,” he muttered. “Hope she knows what she’s doing with that program of hers.”
“It’ll do exactly what Zoe said it will do,” Julia said. She had complete confidence in her friend. “We’re already pretty confident it’s Ruth and Andra who’re stealing the money along with Carole, the hostess. This will just prove it.”
