Pepperoni Pizza Can Be Murder (6 page)

“Doesn’t matter,” Slick said. “My boys do, and you’ve always taken good care of them. Why don’t you let me repay the favor?”

I was a big fan of his sons, and I had indeed cut them some slack over the years. Why not take advantage of a friend’s offered generosity? “Okay, you sold me.”

“Don’t you want to see it first?” Slick asked, clearly baffled by my sudden turnaround. “I haven’t even quoted you a price.”

“You’re right. I don’t have long, though, so we need to make it quick.”

Slick grinned, and I asked, “What’s so funny?”

“I’ve heard of high-pressure sales before, but never from the customer.”

I followed him inside, and he showed me a stout-looking metal box. “It’s nice,” I said, “but what’s to keep someone from just picking it up and carrying it off?”

“We bolt it to the floor,” he said, as though I’d missed something obvious. “I can have one for you by tomorrow, and I’ll install it myself before you open for business.” He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a price down on it. “This is ten percent over my cost, to cover my handling fees. Should I order one for you?”

Glancing at the figure, I thought it was a substantial amount just to keep my money safe, if I actually had any left after buying it. Still, it was better than having a gun shoved under my nose. “I’ll take it. Thanks, Slick, and thank Nancy for me, too.”

“You bet,” he said.

I left the store feeling immeasurably better, and by the time I got back to the pizzeria, I was beginning to think that I’d managed to put the robbery behind me.

Until I saw who was waiting for me out in front of the Slice.

“D
on’t tell me,” I said to the chief of police as I started to unlock the door of the pizzeria. “You found the guy who robbed me already.”

Kevin Hurley shook his head. “What? No, we don’t have a clue who did it.”

I looked at him, startled by the frank admission. “You’re actually telling me the truth? What happened to the usual line that you’re looking at several suspects?”

He shrugged. “I could tell you that, but would you believe it? Eleanor, I’m afraid it was just a random holdup, and we probably aren’t ever going to catch the guy. Have you bought a safe yet?”

“I just ordered one from Slick,” I admitted.

“Good,” he said.

With the door open, I hesitated before going inside. “Was there something I could help you with?”

He looked almost embarrassed to say what was on his mind, until he finally blurted out, “I came by looking for Josh.”

“It was an assembly, Kevin. Does it really matter that he ditched it to come in early to work? He’s missed being here.”

That got his attention. “Are you telling me that my son left school early?”

It was clearly news to him. Now I’d gotten one of my employees in trouble without meaning to. “You can’t exactly take the high road on this one. I seem to remember that we skipped a few assemblies ourselves in our time, remember?”

He clearly didn’t like having the past thrown back at him, but if he was going to bust his son about what he’d done himself in the past, it was my duty to step up and remind him. At least that’s the way I saw it.

“That was different,” Kevin said.

“Why is that, because it was you, and not him?”

The police chief decided to ignore the question, no matter how valid it might be. “If he’s not here, then where is he?”

“I’m not sure. When I closed at two, I sent him away.” I glanced at my watch and saw that I had one minute before we were due to open again. “If you hang around for a few minutes, I’m sure he’ll be here.”

Maddy hurried toward us, and when she got to the door, she asked, “Am I late? I couldn’t be. After yesterday, I made sure I had plenty of time to get back.”

“No, you’ve still got a good thirty seconds on the clock,” I said.

“Sweet,” Maddy said as she looked at Kevin. “Good afternoon, Chief.” She looked at me and asked, “Eleanor, is anything wrong?”

“No, everything’s fine,” I said.

My sister nodded. “Then I’ll get started on the dinner prep.”

She walked past me, and as she went inside, Maddy raised an eyebrow in my direction. I shook my head slightly, and she nodded. A great many words were spoken without either one of us saying a thing.

“Sorry, but I need to get to work myself,” I said.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll wait out here for Josh.”

“Come on inside. I’ll buy you a Coke.”

He shook his head. “Thanks, but I don’t mind waiting for him outside.”

I touched his shoulder, and he turned toward me as I said, “No offense, but I doubt you’ll do much for my business loitering around in front of the pizzeria in your uniform. It makes it look too much like a crime scene. Come on in. You can speak with your son the second he gets here. I promise.”

To my surprise, Kevin nodded his agreement. “Fine, I’ll take a soda, but I’m going to pay for it. You know how I feel about cops taking freebies from the people they’re being paid to protect.”

“Suit yourself,” I said as we went inside.

“You’re not going to fight me on it?” he asked as he took a seat by the window.

“I never argue with a customer who wants to pay me,” I said. “I’ll even charge you double if it will make you feel any better.”

“No, thanks. I appreciate the offer, though.”

I grabbed his drink, and then returned with it to his table. “If you’d like something to eat, we happen to cater to that kind of customer, too.”

I was being flip, but he didn’t respond in kind. “The drink’s fine.” Something was clearly on his mind, but he obviously didn’t feel like sharing, and I didn’t have any desire to drag it out of him.

He was still staring at the front door when I walked back into the kitchen with Maddy.

She looked up from cutting onions. “What was that all about? Did he find the guy who robbed you last night?”

“No, he pretty much admitted that wasn’t going to happen. He’s looking for Josh, and without realizing it, I happened to tell him that his son skipped school today.”

Maddy laughed. “He shouldn’t get too high-and-mighty about it. I remember Kevin missing a day or two himself.”

“I reminded him myself, but he seems to have forgotten all about that,” I said.

“Parenthood probably does that to you,” she said. After a moment’s pause, she asked, “Do you ever regret not having kids with Joe?”

It was a serious question from out of the blue, and for a second, I froze.

Maddy must have seen something in my face. “I’m so sorry,” she said as she put down the knife in her hand. She started toward me, no doubt to wrap me in one of the embraces she reserved just for me.

I took a step back, and she immediately understood.

After a moment, Maddy said, “Sometimes that gear in my head between thinking something and saying it breaks down.”

“You know, it’s not like we never talked about it,” I said, suddenly feeling like talking about it, much to my own surprise. “But we were remodeling the house right after we got married, and then we were opening the Slice. It was just never a good time, and then he died so suddenly.”

“I’m so sorry,” Maddy said.

I hadn’t even realized I’d been crying until I felt tears tracking down my cheeks. I wiped them with my hand, then asked, “How about you?”

“That’s a funny thing,” she said. “I loved every last one of my ex-husbands, but never enough to have children with any of them. I’m sure that has to say something about me, doesn’t it?”

“Or your ex-husbands,” I suggested.

“Good, I like that. Let’s blame it on them.”

Maddy picked up the knife again and started chopping. I composed myself, and started cleaning up the prep area around her. I knew it drove her crazy, but I couldn’t help myself.

When the kitchen door opened, I expected to see Josh, but I was surprised when Greg Hatcher came in. He wasn’t working the early shift, but he was scheduled to come in later that night.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, and then I noticed his bloody nose.

“What happened to you?” I added as I wet a washcloth and handed it to him.

“That’s what the chief wanted to know,” Greg said as he took the damp cloth from me and held it to his nose. “There’s a little good news. I don’t think it’s broken.” He took the washcloth away, looked at the blood on it, and then reapplied it to the tender spot.

“Eleanor asked you a question,” Maddy said.

“I don’t guess either one of you would believe I ran into a door, would you?”

My sister and I shook our heads in perfect unison.

Greg laughed wryly. “Yeah, I don’t think Chief Hurley believed me, either. Fortunately, Josh showed up the second after I walked in, and he had something more immediate to deal with than my nose.”

“We don’t,” I said. “I’m just going to ask you one more time. Who hit you?”

“This is nothing,” he said. “I’m fine.”

“Who punched you in the nose?” I repeated.

“Hey, you said you were going to stop asking.” When he saw that neither one of us was amused by his reply, he admitted, “Wade did it, okay?”

“Your own brother hit you?” I asked.

“Are you kidding me? He’s been beating me up since we were kids. This is nothing new.”

There was an odd expression on his face, and if I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn he was smiling.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“This is the first time I ever hit him back,” Greg said.

“Violence never solves anything,” Maddy said.

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” Greg said. “You should have seen the look on his face when I stood up to him. I just discovered that it’s the best feeling in the world bullying a bully. He looked stunned when I popped him right back, straight on the nose, on the same spot he’d just clobbered me. I don’t care if it hurts to laugh, you should have seen him scurrying away. I doubt he’ll be taking any more swings at me.”

“So you’re all right,” I said as I filled a plastic freezer bag with ice and handed it to him.

“Never better, if you want to know the truth.” He traded the bag for the washcloth—which I directed him to drop into the hamper for soiled garments—and gingerly applied the ice to the bridge of his nose.

“What’s this going to do to your settlement negotiations?” Maddy asked.

“Who cares? I don’t need the money any worse than he does, and I’ll be dipped in asphalt if I’m going to be the first one to cave in. I’ve done it in the past, but that doesn’t mean I ever have to do it again.”

“What started the fight?” I asked.

“Guess. My dear brother demanded yet again that I give him three-quarters of the estate and quit stalling, or he said he’d whip my tail. When I said no, he hit me. That’s when I hit him back. It was a two-punch fight, but at least this time I had one of the swings. That feels better,” he said as he shifted the ice on the bridge of his nose.

I studied him carefully and then said, “Don’t be surprised if you get a pair of black eyes out of it.”

“Totally worth it,” he said. “Do you mind if I use your office? I’d like to sit down so I can get a better grip on this ice bag.”

“Sure, just try not to bleed on anything. I’d hate to get a health code violation for it.”

“Got it,” he said, his words a little softened by the effect of the blow to his nose. “I’ll be fine to work this evening. I just want to rest a little.”

“The rest is a good idea,” I said, “but you need to take tonight off. We’ve got it covered, now that Josh is back at work.”

“I’m not so sure he’ll be staying,” Greg said.

“What do you mean?”

“His dad wasn’t all that pleased with him when I saw him,” Greg said. “I’ll be fine. Just give me a little time to rest up.”

I peeked through the door and saw that Kevin was gone, while his son was busy cleaning all of the tables, though they’d been spotless when we’d left them an hour ago.

“Where’s your dad?” I asked as I walked out to join Josh.

“He had to go,” Josh said. “Sorry I was late,” he added. “I lost track of time.”

“No problem. Is everything okay?”

He shrugged. “As good as they’re ever going to be. I don’t want to talk about it, if that’s okay with you.”

“Trust me, it’s fine,” I said.

I started back toward the kitchen when Josh asked me, “Is Greg all right?”

“You know what? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this happy.”

Josh stared hard at me. “He got socked in the nose—you know that, don’t you?”

“I don’t think that’s why he’s so happy,” I said. “But if you want to know what’s going on with him, you’re going to have to ask him yourself.”

Josh dropped his rag on the table he’d been cleaning and headed back to the kitchen. I hadn’t meant for him to ask immediately, but everything was set out front, so we were ready to reopen for our dinner customers.

I grabbed the rag and then flipped the sign to
OPEN
just as Greg walked out of the kitchen area.

“If you don’t need me, I think I’ll take off,” he said. The ice pack was gone, and his nose had stopped bleeding.

“That’s not a bad idea. You might want to take some Excedrin when you get back to your place.”

“I’m way ahead of you,” he said. “Maddy already fixed me up with some.”

“Would you like one of us to drive you home?”

He shook his head, and I saw him wince from the motion. Clearly, the elation he’d felt at fighting back had been replaced by the reality of a hard punch in the snout. “I’m good,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”

“If you’re up to it,” I said.

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss a shift for the world.”

After he was gone, Josh came back out front. “Maddy said I should relieve you out here so you can go back to the kitchen.”

“You’ve got the dining room,” I said as I walked back to join my sister.

“What’s up?” I asked as I put my apron on.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Can you believe Greg? I didn’t know he had it in him.”

“You know I don’t approve of fighting,” I said.

“Pushing a bully back is important. It took a lot of guts for him to finally stand up for himself.”

“Just what we need around here, more drama,” I said.

I started working up a few crusts so we’d be ready when we needed them, knuckling the dough into their pans. I admired the fancy tossing I saw some pizza makers do on television, but it wasn’t a skill I ever planned to learn. Even if I could throw crusts with the best of them, there was no one in the kitchen to see me do it. I’d tried it a time or two, but all I’d ever managed was pizza dough on the floor and an imprint on the ceiling, where an errant crust had struck when I’d tossed it too hard.

Ten minutes later, we had our first customer, and the evening hours flew past in a steady blur of pizzas and sandwiches. Maddy and Josh kept busy out front, and I was hopping all night in the kitchen.

It was the kind of evening I lived for these days, but the joy didn’t last for the rest of the night. We had a visitor who upset our happy moods the second she walked through the door.

Katy Johnson—Greg’s on-again, off-again girlfriend—burst into the kitchen like she was running away from a fire. Tall and curvy, Katy had flaming-red hair and an attitude that matched, most of the time.

“Where is he?” she snapped at me as she looked wildly around the place.

I knew who she was looking for, but that didn’t mean I had to answer the question. “Sorry, Katy, but customers aren’t allowed back here.”

“I’m not buying anything. I have to find Greg.”

“He’s off tonight,” I said. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

She stared hard at me, and then to my complete and utter surprise, Katy started crying. It was the strongest display of vulnerability I’d ever seen in her.

“Eleanor, I’ve got to find him. I did something stupid, and I can’t fix it,” she said through her tears.