Executive Dirt: A Sedona O'Hala Mystery by Maria Schneider Page A

bacteria—”
    Mom twisted her napkin in her fingers and pushed her chair back to stand.
    “Dad, they are from the grocery!” I yelled.  “No issues with freshness. Plucked right out of the hen house. Fresh and boiled!”
    Mark grinned at me and spooned in another bite of tiramisu.  Huntington frowned down at his plate, his doubt obvious. “All of this cake was made from the same batch?” he asked. “You didn’t make a special piece or two for anyone?”
    I hadn’t thought of that, but it made me smile. “Yes, Huntington, your cake is from the exact same batch as everyone else’s. Plus, I didn’t know you were coming.”
    He didn’t look as though he believed me, but the tiramisu was excellent so he didn’t refuse to eat it.
    Mom muttered something about making Dad’s with special eggs. “No, Dad is safe, too.”
    Mark laughed, but changed it to a cough when my mother glanced his way.
    The tiramisu and coffee disappeared despite Dad changing his lecture to how chicken poop was excellent fertilizer for the garden.
    When it was time for Mark and Steve to depart, and gosh, they wasted no time after eating, Steve handed me a piece of paper.  “Garden club meeting time and place.  Sewing ones too.”  He smiled innocently, knowing I wouldn’t discuss a case in front of my parents since it was better if they remained completely in the dark about any case, past or present. 
    “Thanks.”
    Mark shot him a cold glare and opened the door, urging Steve along in front of him.  I followed them both out.  My parents probably would have opted to allow me some privacy, but Dad spotted Steve’s new stealth car sitting in the driveway.
    “Is that a Porsche?” he asked, his head tilting as he stepped outside.  It was already past dusk, but because of my involvement with Huntington and his investigations, my porch light was more of a lighthouse beacon than a normal bulb.  Good lighting might keep any escaped convicts or friends of Huntington who were roaming the neighborhood from wandering onto my property.  If the glare of discovery didn’t stop them, I’d at least be able to see them clearly if I had to shoot.
    Steve failed to hide a note of pride in his voice when he answered Dad. “It’s the Panamera electric hybrid.”
    I looked back to find my mother leaning against the door jamb with her hand over her eyes. “Mark, you might want to come back inside and have another piece of cake.  This could take a while,” she said.
    Mark glanced at me.  “Car buff?”
    I shook my head.  “Not really.  But you know how I work at technology companies and like cool gadgets?”  He raised an eyebrow in lieu of answering, but I continued. “I get that from Dad.  I noticed Huntington’s new car the other day, but didn’t know it was an electric hybrid.”
    If it had been anyone other than Steve, I’d have gone and admired the car too, but there was no point in feeding his ego.  To be fair, Dad also asked about Mark’s Lexus hybrid.  Mark didn’t even have a chance to leave the porch, never mind answer the questions. Huntington knew every feature on Mark’s SUV as if he owned it himself.
    Mom retrieved her sweater, and we loitered while Steve extolled the virtues of his new hybrid, including the all-important zero to sixty in “just under five seconds.”
    Mark put his arm around me, and we leaned on each other.
    Just another night with my oddball family and eclectic friends.

Chapter 13
     
    I fully expected Cary to read me the riot act for disappearing “early” two days in a row.  Never mind that five-thirty was a perfectly normal quitting time, and never mind that I started work at seven.  He would choose to recall that I hadn’t worked the previous weekend, so by his standards, I hadn’t shown up for a solid week.
    Huddled in my cube, I downloaded the latest code and started testing. My spreadsheet already listed several hours of completed tests.
    Now that I knew the secret, I activated the