Read Here Comes Trouble for Free Online Page A

only pair of work shoes.
    Why the man continued to annoy her thoughts with his presence, she’d yet to figure out. He certainly wasn’t worth the pains that flared up in her chest. Years of having him appear when she least expected had her on edge. He knew she still lived in Ray’s house. Would anything stop him from showing up on her doorstep? Or forcing his way in? Dennis had never been physical with her, even when drunk. Thankfully she still had the detective’s card in case he came sniffing around.
    The armful of dishes she’d gathered from the empty table barely made it, without tipping over, to the kitchen where she dumped them in one of the bins to be washed. Usually the busboy did all the clearing. Tonight was an especially busy night so to speed things along, Lacy did the clearing for him.
    “Andrew,” she called to the lanky sixteen-year-old boy. “Tables six and seven need to be cleared.”
    The boy, who already had a bin-full of dirty dishes he’d dumped in the sink, grabbed the rag out of his waistband and ran it in the water.
    “I think the entire town of Trouble is dining out tonight.” Sarah, a recent high school graduate, grumbled as she waited for some entrees.
    Henry, who double-checked every single dish before exiting the kitchen, busily wiped the edges of the white plates for any stray sauces. Once satisfied the plates shone to perfection, he placed them in front of Sarah.
    She looked at the three plates and pulled her thin, dark brows together. “I’m missing a Wellington , Chef.”
    Henry straightened and turned. “Larry, how much longer on that Wellington?”
    The noise of the kitchen made it hard for anyone to have a normal conversation and Henry had to shout to be heard. Add the heat that made Lacy’s hair stick to her neck, and the kitchen was a pretty miserable place to be.
    Larry, who frantically shifted pots around on the nine-burner stove, glanced at the head chef. “I need two minutes on that Wellington , Chef.”
    Henry jabbed a finger at Larry. “Make it one.”
    “Yes, Chef.”
    No one dared talk back to Henry. Everyone knew how deceiving his calm demeanor could be. When he gave an order, his cooks were expected to listen.
    Henry turned around and inspected more dishes. “They’re going to have to wait one more minute.” One of the rules of McDermott’s was all the patrons got their dishes at the same time.
    A heavy sigh radiated from Sarah. Lacy had just about turned around to the kitchen door when Sarah said, “Have you seen Chase tonight?”
    Lacy glanced at the younger girl. She was a cute girl, in a preppy, cheerleader sort of way. Her shiny, dark hair, pulled back in a high ponytail, always swung side to side when she walked. “No, why?”
    She shook her head. “Boy, is he in a bad mood. About an hour ago, I asked him if we had anymore Pinot Grigio. He practically bit my head off.”
    It wasn’t like Chase to snap at his waitresses. “What did he say?”
    Sarah turned and glanced at Larry’s progress, impatient for her Beef Wellington. “One of my customers ordered a bottle of it. But when I went to get it from the wine cooler, there wasn’t any left. So I asked Chase if he knew what had happened to it. He just shook his head and said I needed to tell the customers to order something else. He’s had this thunderous look on his face ever since.”
    Lacy wasn’t sure what to say to that. Maybe Chase hadn’t realized they had just run out of the Pinot. Stuff like that rarely happened, though. She’d only caught glimpses of him tonight, and she hadn’t been looking at his face. Fortunately for her, none of her customers had wanted any Pinot Grigio. Lacy and Chase normally didn’t engage in deep conversations during work, anyway. Most of the time they were snarky remarks from him and a retort from her.   They had a complex relationship Lacy had yet to figure out.
    “Anyway,” Sarah continued as the Beef Wellington was finally placed in front of Henry to