Victor slid the bowl closer. “It’s quite delicious, Virginia. I suspect you may regret sharing it with me.”
“I doubt it.”
“I wanna clear the air about somethin’,” said Bobbi as she inched her bowl toward the center of the table. “If you’re gonna be openin’ a whole new branch of Mona Michelle, you’re gonna have to put me and Dawna in charge of somethin’, Victor. We’ve got seniority, which is a fancy way of sayin’ we’ve been with the company a lot longer than she has.” She nodded across the table at Jackie.
“Amen to that,” said Dawna.
Victor grinned. “You’ve lost your distaste of the elderly so quickly, ladies? How do you explain that?”
The girls exchanged a meaningful look before Bobbi placed a reverent hand over her heart. She turned doe eyes on Victor. “We both know it’s what Krystal would have wanted. She was so dedicated. So … so maniacal about her job. We can almost feel her presence with us now, can’t you?”
“That’s Krystal?” Jackie scanned the ceiling. “I thought it was a draft from the air conditioner.”
“Krystal never would have left you in the hands of amateurs,” swore Bobbi, “and neither will we.”
Especially if it meant booting Jackie off a higher rung of the corporate ladder. The girls definitely had their priorities.
“Could we declare a moratorium on shop talk?” asked Cal. “I’d like to enjoy my lobster bisque without the pain of heartburn.”
“You want mine, too?” asked Bobbi, nudging it toward him. “I can’t get past the color.”
“Me either,” said Dawna. “Mine’s free for the takin’. Anyone want it?”
Jackie sucked in her breath like a Hoover with a faulty motor. “Stop! Don’t anyone touch those bowls! They might be contaminated.”
Yup. That got everyone’s attention.
“Euw!” Dawna snatched her hands off the table. “Contaminated with what?”
“With whatever you and Bobbi used to kill Krystal.”
“WHAT?” they cried in unison.
“Don’t deny it,” warned Jackie. “You wanted to eliminate the top competitor to improve your odds at earning the bonus, so you whacked her.”
Bobbi’s mouth rounded like a knothole. “That’s not true!”
Virginia eyed the girls with cool detachment. “Are you listening to this, Victor? Your fair-haired beauties may be natural-born killers.”
“We are not!” protested Dawna. “There’s nothin’ natural about us.”
Virginia settled back in her chair and smiled. “Actually, I rather like the idea. So how did you do it? Peroxide? Or were you afraid you wouldn’t have enough to see you through the entire trip, so you decided to substitute something else?”
Bobbi gasped. “Are y’all gonna sit there and let her talk to us like that?”
“I’m okay with it,” said Jackie.
Dawna shot an explosive look at Virginia. “If you don’t take that back, I mean to tell ya, I don’t care if you are Victor’s wife. Me and Bobbi will sue you for libel.”
“No, you won’t,” said Cal.
“Oh, yah?” challenged Bobbi. “You just watch us, sugah.”