Branded for You (23 page)

When Mike had the information and the warrant, he arranged for backup to meet him at Taylor’s apartment.

“If the man’s home it’ll save us some time chasing him down,” Mike said to Ryan before they headed on out.

When they reached the apartment complex, Mike and Ryan waited for the deputy to arrive as backup. When Deputy Choate arrived, the three of them went to Taylor’s apartment door. Ryan stayed back as Mike knocked.

After a few knocks, Taylor came to the door wearing a white wife-beater T-shirt. He looked rumpled and bleary eyed, like he was stinking drunk. The moment he got a look at the badge on Mike’s belt and saw the deputy behind him, his entire demeanor changed. He straightened, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the doorframe with one hand, his other hand holding the door.

“I’m Sheriff McBride,” Mike said. “Are you Julian Taylor?”

The man licked his lips. “Yes.”

Mike gave the deputy a signal before he said, “Julian Taylor, we have a warrant for your arrest.”

Taylor looked like he was about to wet his pants. “For what?”

“For breaking and entering,” Mike said as the deputy grabbed Taylor by his arm, jerked him out of the doorway, and cuffed him.

“What are you talking about?” Taylor said, his voice shaking.

The deputy started reading Taylor his Miranda rights.

Mike nodded to the deputy. “Get him out of here.”

Ryan and Mike stood on the opposite side of the one-way mirror as they studied Taylor who sat at a bare wooden table in the interrogation room. His head was hanging as he stared at his lap, his wrists cuffed behind him.

“Let’s see what he has to say.” Mike clapped Ryan on the shoulder then left Ryan standing in the viewing room.

Ryan watched as Mike walked into the interrogation room.

Mike moved in front of the table “I understand you’ve waived your right for an attorney.”

“I don’t have anything to hide,” Taylor said but looked nervous. “I’m innocent.”

“Why did you break into the Hummingbird Café, Julian?” Mike asked.

“I didn’t break into the café,” Taylor said, and his throat worked as he swallowed.

“We know you broke in,” Mike said. “We want to know why.”

Taylor’s knee bounced showing his nervousness. “I told you I didn’t break in.”

“We have a tape from a security camera showing you breaking in.” Mike sat in the chair on the opposite side of the table from Taylor.

The man went still as his face went white. “I—I left my cell phone there and I went back to get it.”

“Dumb story. This will go a lot better for you if you tell the truth,” Mike said. “What was in that box you carried in?”

Taylor looked like words were stuck in his throat.

“It was chicken,” Mike stated. “Planting tainted chicken is a felony so you’re doing some serious jail time, Taylor. You got a lot of people sick.”

“No.” Taylor shook his head. “I’d never—”

“Tell you what,” Mike said. “We might be able to strike a deal. You tell me everything, including who you were working for, and you’ll get less jail time. We know you didn’t do this on your own.”

Taylor looked even more panicked. “I—I can’t go to jail.”

“That’s exactly where you’re going if you don’t come clean, Julian,” Mike said. “Now tell me all of it, from the beginning.”

“You said you could give me a deal?” Knee still bouncing, Taylor licked his lips. “What kind of deal can you give me?”

“We’ll take your cooperation into consideration, depending on what you tell us,” Mike said.

“Okay, I’ll tell you everything.” Taylor sucked in his breath then let his words out in a rush. “I didn’t know all those people were going to get sick.”

“Go on,” Mike said.

A sheen of sweat was on Taylor’s forehead as he spoke. “Roger Meyer paid me to replace the chicken in the Hummingbird Café with the chicken in the box.”

Mike’s expression didn’t change. “Do you have any proof?”

Taylor looked like he was thinking about it for a moment and then he said, “Roger gave me instructions. I still have all of the text messages.”

Ryan gave a grim smile as he listened to Taylor spill even more information about Meyer.

“He had his reporter cousin write bad reviews, too,” Taylor said in a rush. “He planned out everything.”

When he finished, Mike turned off the tape recorder and came out of the interrogation room.

“He sure folded fast,” Ryan said as soon as Mike closed the door behind him.

Mike gave a nod. “He’s not a professional and doesn’t have a record. He was scared shitless. Looks like you were right about Meyer.”

Ryan felt some satisfaction. The bastard was going down.

Chapter 26

Roger Meyer came into the restaurant and walked straight past Megan who had been straightening the menus at the hostess stand.

Anger surged through her. “Where are you going?”

The man ignored her and headed into the kitchen. She followed, trying to keep up with him, but his legs were long and he strode ahead of her.

When she reached the kitchen, Meyer was face to face with her mother. Margaret was holding a spatula up and looked like she was going to hit him with it.

“Get out of my kitchen,” Margaret demanded, her eyes red-rimmed from stress and exhaustion.

“You poisoned a hell of a lot of people,” Meyer said with a smirk. “Your business will never recover from it. The smart thing to do is let me take over your lease before you lose everything.”

Margaret’s wore a furious expression. “Go to hell.”

“I’ll get it sooner or later.” Meyer laughed. “Might as well do it before you’re in so much debt you won’t be able to crawl out of it.”

Margaret straightened and raised her chin. “Get out of my kitchen.”

“It won’t be yours much longer.” Meyer smiled.

Megan stepped closer and opened her mouth to echo her mother and kick Meyer out, but a man walked past her, catching her off guard. She didn’t get a good look at the man who wore a Stetson, a leather jacket, and Wrangler jeans.

The man said, “Hello, Roger.”

Meyer turned, his face registering some surprise before he put on a fake pleasant expression. “Good afternoon, Sheriff McBride.”

Megan blinked. She sensed more men behind her and stepped out of the way as a deputy passed her. Ryan was standing in the kitchen doorway, watching.

Confused, Megan gave the sheriff and deputy more space.

“Roger, I have a warrant for your arrest,” Sheriff McBride said then gave a nod to the deputy who approached Meyer.

“What the hell?” Meyer jerked away from the deputy.

“Do we need to add resisting arrest to the other charges?” the sheriff asked.

Meyer’s jaw tightened as he let the deputy cuff him. “What charges?”

The sheriff started listing charges and Megan’s eyes widened. Meyer was being arrested for tainted chicken being planted in the restaurant. He had been the one to poison all of those people.

When the sheriff finished, the deputy read Meyer his Miranda rights. The man clenched his teeth, his face red with anger.

A news cameraman entered and started recording Meyer’s arrest.

“I wish Paul was here to see this,” Margaret said. “You all but killed him.”

Meyer gave Margaret a furious glare but said nothing as the deputy pushed past the cameraman and escorted him out of the kitchen. Meyer saw Ryan and his angry expression intensified.

The cameraman followed Meyer through the restaurant as the deputy took him out to the waiting cruiser.

Margaret smiled. “Thank you, Sheriff.”

Sheriff McBride glanced at Ryan. “Thank Ryan here. He figured it all out and put it together.”

Margaret walked up to Ryan and looked at him a moment before she hugged him. When she stepped back, she smiled at him and wiped a tear from her eyes. “We really had the wrong impression of you. I’m sorry.” She brushed away another tear. “Thank you.”

When the sheriff left, Megan went into Ryan’s arms, so much relief pouring through her that she could barely stand it. She lifted her face to his and he kissed her until her head spun with it.

* * * * *

Megan unfolded the newspaper on the hostess stand and found yet another article covering everything that had transpired over the past year, culminating with the poisoning of multiple individuals.

Roger Meyer’s vendetta against the Hummingbird Café made front-page news in Prescott. News stations and newspapers in Phoenix picked up the story about how Meyer had paid someone to plant tainted chicken in the café, which had caused more than twenty people to come down with food poisoning.

More information came out about the extent of Meyer’s mission to take down the café. He’d paid a reporter to give the café bad reviews in the Prescott Review and had written multiple bad reviews from non-existent patrons.

All of which had nearly devastated the small family restaurant.

Meyer was going to prison. His own restaurant, Chuck Wagon, had been shut down.

Tess and Margaret walked into the dining room as Megan opened the newspaper she was holding to the Lifestyle section.

Megan’s jaw dropped. She looked up at her mother and sister. “There’s a feature article written about the history of our family’s café in Albuquerque and how successful it was before the business was moved to Prescott.”

“Really?” Tess went up to Megan and leaned over her shoulder. “It talks about how the restaurant received four and five star reviews from customers and media outlets and how the food and service were award winning.”

“That’s fantastic.” Margaret beamed as she joined Megan and Tess.

Megan folded up the newspaper and tucked it away in the hostess station. “Hopefully that will all be good for our second grand re-reopening.”

“I’m sure it will,” Tess said with a broad smile.

Today was a special day. Not only was it the grand re-reopening, but the restaurant was holding a fundraiser to help Mary Jane Dow pay her medical bills. Her son, Bill, was so grateful he’d been working as often as he could to help the café prepare for the fundraiser whenever Ryan could spare him. Ryan had been great about letting Bill have extra time off.

Margaret had hired two waitresses for the evening but Megan was there today because an unusually large crowd was hoped for. The new cook came with a sterling recommendation from a Phoenix restaurant and had extensive credentials that they’d verified. After Julian Taylor, they weren’t taking any chances.

Bells jangled and in walked Mr. Cowell, owner of the buildings that Meyer and the Dysons leased.

“Good morning,” Margaret said to the balding man with a broad smile.

“How are you doing, Mrs. Dyson?” the man asked. “And you as well, ladies?” he nodded at Tess and Megan.

“Great,” Megan and Tess each said at the same time then smiled at each other.

“Just fine,” Margaret said. “What can I do for you?”

“I have a proposition for you,” Mr. Cowell said. “I’d like to lease to you the building that the Chuck Wagon occupied. I can offer you a special rate.”

Margaret looked intrigued. “What would that be?”

He told her and added, “I’d be willing to give you free rent at the front end to help get your business turned around. I realize you’ve suffered a setback with all that happened, but I have a good feeling that your restaurant will recover and prosper.”

“Thank you,” Margaret said. “I’ll give it some serious consideration and get back with you.”

The man smiled. “I’ll see you tonight at your grand reopening.”

“Grand re-reopening,” Tess said with a laugh.

Both Tess and Margaret headed back to the kitchen after Mr. Cowell left.

As they returned to their duties, Megan thought about the invitation that had just arrived this morning. She fished it out of her purse, which she’d temporarily put behind the hostess station. She looked at the fancy script on the heavy paper. Her ex-sister-in-law, Christine, and her fiancé, Todd, were getting married in a month.

She smiled to herself. The pain that used to accompany thoughts of Bart had all but vanished. She would love to see her ex-in-laws and she shouldn’t let a little thing like her ex-husband ruin her friendship with Grace, Montgomery, and Christine.

Bells jangled at the door and Megan looked up to see Ryan coming through the door. Every time she saw him, she felt warmth flow through her and her heart filled in a way that gave her a feeling of completeness that she’d never felt before.

He gave her the sexy smile, which sent familiar butterflies through her belly. She went to him and he took her into his arms and gave her a kiss that set her senses on fire.

When he stepped back she handed him the invitation. “My ex-sister-in-law is getting married.” He took the folded paper from her. “Would you like to go with me?” she asked.

He smiled and looked at the invitation. “Whatever the date is, I’ll make it work.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

He put his hands on her waist and his forehead against hers. “I’d go anywhere for you.”

* * * * *

The night had been successful beyond their expectations. There was even a thirty-minute wait and no one seemed to be bothered by the length of time it would take to be seated.

Thirty percent of the night’s profits were going to the fund for Mary Jane Dow and there was also a large acrylic box that filled with donations throughout the evening. Meg watched, nearly overwhelmed by the outpouring from the community, as the level of cash rose and rose.

It was so busy that even Ryan had good naturedly put on an apron and helped in the kitchen.

When the last patron had left for the evening, Megan, Tess, Margaret, and Ryan sat at a table.

“What a night,” Margaret said.

“It was incredible,” Tess said. “It blew away our last re-opening and that one was a huge success.”

“Ryan,” Margaret said, and he turned his attention to her. “I’ve been thinking about the proposal you and your uncle made about the house.” She took a deep breath. “I want to sell the house and get a smaller place. Now that Paul’s gone, I don’t need such a big house. So do whatever you need to and I’m sure everything will work out fine.”