Free Black Widow by Jennifer Estep Page B

shoulder at Madeline and Emery for guidance, but he noticed me watching and caught himself. He snapped back to face me, although he took several seconds to tuck his phone away, button his suit jacket, and calm down, thinking about how to handle the situation. But apparently, he had another ace up his sleeve, because a pleased smile spread across his face.
    â€œI’m afraid that won’t be possible, Ms. Blanco,” Dobson said, a cheery note in his low, gravelly tone. “Because in addition to my questions, Ms. Winona Wright here is one of the chief inspectors with the Ashland Health Department, and she’s had some disturbing complaints about your restaurant.”
    He gestured, and the woman with the clipboard slowly stepped forward, her eyes fixed on the pig tracks on the floor, instead of looking at me. Obviously she didn’t want to be here. I wondered how Dobson had bribed or bulliedher into making an appearance. Didn’t much matter. She was about to cause problems.
    â€œWhat sort of complaints?” I asked in an icy tone.
    â€œBugs in people’s food, roaches in the storerooms, filthy restrooms, unsafe working conditions . . .” the inspector mumbled, her voice pitching lower and softer with each supposed infraction.
    Finally, she finished, and Dobson fixed his gaze on me. “So, as you can see, Ms. Wright needs to do a full inspection in order to substantiate the validity of these claims,” he crowed, knowing that he had outmaneuvered me.
    Dobson brought his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle that made even Sophia wince. “Come on in, boys!” he called out.
    The cops outside on the street headed toward the front door, and the invasion of the Pork Pit officially began.

6
    I might not have to go with Dobson to the station for questioning, but there was nothing I could do about the health inspector, who had the legal right to inspect every corner of my restaurant anytime she wanted to.
    Including right now.
    Given the tension, accusations, and hostility in the air, everyone was suddenly eager to push their plates away, pay up, and skedaddle, especially at the thought that there might be bugs in their food and cockroaches crawling around in the corners. Of course, the real roaches were out in the open where everyone could see them—Dobson, Madeline, and Emery—but I’d have a hard time convincing my customers of that.
    So I gave the waitstaff the rest of the day off with pay, stationed Catalina at the cash register, and told her to charge everyone half price as they left, if they were even willing to pay that much for my supposedly tainted food.I wasn’t going to quibble about money today. No, I had far bigger problems to worry about.
    â€œWhat do you want me to do?” Owen asked in a low voice, coming over to stand beside me. “Whatever you need, you know I’m here for you, Gin.”
    I shook my head. “There’s nothing you can do. Go, take care of Eva’s problem at school and the one with your business deal. That’s the best thing you can do for me right now. Madeline’s screwing with us, and I need to know that you guys are safe.”
    Besides, something could always go terribly wrong here, with all the cops with all their guns swarming all over everything, and I wanted the two of them out of the line of fire, should it come to that.
    â€œAre you sure?” Owen asked. “I can stay. I want to stay.”
    His violet eyes glittered with anger, and he eyed Dobson with open hostility, Owen’s fingers curling into fists over and over, as if he wished that he had one of his blacksmith hammers handy so he could kneecap the giant for me. Owen’s protective stance and obvious care and concern touched me the way it always did—and made me even more determined to get him and Eva out of here before something worse happened.
    â€œI’m sure.”
    â€œI’ll call you later,”