The Missing Dough (8 page)

Josh was clearly puzzled by this reaction. “I’d like to help you out, Sir, but I’ve got to work my shift. Sorry.”

The man wasn’t about to accept that, though. He looked at me and said, “I’ll pay you for an hour of his time. Please don’t say no. If you want me to, I’ll wait tables and wash dishes while they’re gone. I’m begging you. I’m desperate.”

I just couldn’t bring myself to say no. I nodded, and Josh walked over to the young woman. “How would you like a driving lesson?”

“With you? Absolutely,” she said. “Thanks, Daddy,” she said quickly as she and Josh left.

Maddy had been listening to the whole exchange. “Well done, Eleanor. You just blew a sale for us.”

“I’ll cover it gladly,” the man said as he pulled out his wallet. He gave me two twenties and then put a hundred on top of them. “That will cover the lesson, the bill, and his wages. Are we square?”

“We are,” I said as I collected the money. “Can one of us at least give you a ride home?”

“Are you kidding? I’m walking. Ha ha ha ha. Walking. How wonderful.”

Once he was gone, I started having second thoughts about the arrangement. “Do you think Josh is going to be okay?”

“From the way that girl was looking at him, I think he’ll be fine. What an odd dad he was.”

“Remember Dad teaching us how to drive?” I reminded my sister.

“He thought we were trying to give him a heart attack,” Maddy said.

“Then you’ve heard his song before, too.”

 

I kept watching the door of the pizzeria as the hour nearly ended, and once, when I heard an ambulance in the distance, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Ten minutes after the hour lapsed, I was about to call Kevin Hurley and admit what I’d done, but just then Josh walked into the pizzeria with a grin on his face. “That was the easiest hundred I’ve ever made. He said you were holding it for me.”

I slipped him the hundred and then added a twenty, as well.

He looked at the money and asked, “Hey, what’s the bonus for?”

“Hazard pay,” I said with a smile. “How bad was she?”

“I don’t know what he was talking about. She’s really very good. I even let her drive to her house, and I caught a ride back here with her dad. He was falling all over himself, he was so happy.”

“Do you have any more lessons planned?” Maddy asked.

“First thing Saturday morning, we’re going out for three hours. Wow, I never dreamed that making money could be this easy.”

“You’re not gouging him, are you?” I asked.

“I tried to tell him he was paying me too much, but the man wouldn’t listen. He’s really an odd bird.” Josh spotted a table that needed to be cleaned. “Well, I’d better get to work. Thanks for the job, Eleanor.”

“You’re welcome, I think,” I said.

I didn’t know why I was always surprised when unusual things happened at my pizza place, but I was.

At least this one had ended well for Josh, the man, and his daughter.

It wasn’t always that things worked out so nicely for everyone.

W
e were nearing the end of our afternoon lunch shift and approaching our own break for a meal, and I was up front, discussing with Maddy what we were going to do with our time off, when I looked up to see a familiar couple walk into the Slice, though it was the first time they’d ever been in my pizza place to my knowledge. They were in their civilian clothes now, and the woman’s makeup was toned down quite a bit, but I had no trouble recognizing the Stouts, two of the performers we’d seen onstage the night before at the Founders Day Festival.

The woman approached me first. “Are you Eleanor Swift?”

“I am,” I said. “I’ve got to say, you made yourself a fan last night. You all were really good onstage.”

Samantha grinned a little at the compliment. “Thanks. We’re still working on it, but I think we’re finally getting there. Listen, Kenny and I were wondering if you had time to have a little chat.”

Maddy wanted to stay, but a man at one of her tables was making writing signs in the air and looking frantic about it. “Would you mind taking care of that?” I asked her.

My sister wasn’t all that pleased about it, but she still managed to smile. “Of course.”

After she was gone, I said, “We’ve still got ten minutes before we close up shop for the afternoon, so if you’re willing to hang around, we can talk as soon as we lock up.”

“We’ll make it easy on you. How about if we order a medium pie with the works and a couple of beers, and we can talk while we eat?”

“Sorry, but we don’t sell beer,” I said. “We have underage employees working here.”

“Fine,” she said, clearly trying to keep her smile. “Bring us some sodas, then. I’ve heard wonderful things about your food, and I’m dying to try some of your pizza.”

“Are you kidding me? What’s pizza without beer? This is a joke,” Kenny said.

The woman turned to her ex-husband and said, “They don’t have to talk to us at all. We’re asking them for a favor, remember? Try to be civilized for once in your life and stop insulting them, would you?”

“Sam, give me a break.”

Her expression iced over. “I told you that my name is now Samantha to you, and I expect you to use it. You’re not entitled to give me pet names anymore.”

She held his stare, and I wondered which one would back down. To no great surprise, Kenny dropped his gaze first.

“Okay, I got it. I’m sorry,” he said.

“Good,” she said. “Now, why don’t you find us a table so I can talk to Eleanor alone for a second?”

He didn’t like it, that much was clear, but he did as he was told.

Once he was out of hearing range, Samantha told me, “I could never train him like that when we were married. Maybe if I had, it would have lasted longer than it did. Are you married, Eleanor?”

“I was,” I answered simply.

“Got rid of him too, did you? That’s the only smart thing to do when one won’t obey you.”

I wasn’t about to let her talk about Joe like that. “Actually, he died. I would give anything I possess to have him back.” It was the complete truth, too. Sure, David was becoming more and more important to me every day, but no matter how close we got, it would be nearly impossible for me to love him as much as I had cared for Joe. That might not be fair to David, but I’d pretty much told him the same thing when we first got together, and he’d been willing to accept it. I knew that David hoped that I’d change my mind someday, and I was certainly willing to try, but it was hard to give up the past and focus on the future instead.

“I’m so sorry,” Samantha said, the glibness now gone. “I get so full of myself sometimes that I forget that other people have had their share of woes, too. Can you forgive me?”

Wow, when this woman turned on the charm, it was palpable. “You’re forgiven. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go make that pizza.”

“We truly appreciate it,” Samantha said and then joined her ex-husband.

I went back into the kitchen to make her pizza, and Maddy followed me in. “What was that all about? I can’t believe that chucklehead couldn’t just leave a ten on the table and be done with it.”

“You didn’t miss much. The Stouts want to chat, so we’ll chat,” I said as I knuckled the dough into the pan for their pizza.

“I heard that much. I’m just wondering what happened after they ordered.”

“Nothing much,” I said as I applied the sauce. “Why? Did they say something to you?”

“That’s just it. She’s sitting there in silence, and he looks like he’s afraid to take a breath without permission. On second thought, that’s how I’d like all my exes to be.” Maddy realized what she was saying, and she quickly added, “I didn’t mean it that way. I wasn’t Grant’s fan, but I’m still sorry that he’s dead. You know that, don’t you, Eleanor?”

“Of course I do,” I said as I came from behind the counter and hugged her. “You don’t have anything to explain to me. No matter what, I’ve always got your back, Maddy.”

“I know that. As a matter of fact, I count on it,” she replied as she hugged me back briefly and then let go. “What do you suppose they want to talk about?”

“Is there any doubt in your mind? It has to be about what happened to Grant last night.”

“But why should they want to talk to us?” Maddy asked as I loaded on the toppings and then sent the pizza through the conveyor oven.

“I’m guessing they’re in hot water with the police. Who knows? Maybe they saw us talking with Kevin Hurley and think we can help them, or maybe they’ve even heard about our crime-busting ways. I, for one, am glad that they showed up, whatever their reasoning is. It saves us the trouble of tracking them down ourselves.”

“How hard should we push them?” Maddy asked as she picked up a sub that was waiting to be delivered.

“Let’s take it easy at first. If things start to stall, we can always up the ante a little. Agreed?”

“As always, I defer to your judgment,” Maddy said with no expression at all.

She held that look for barely one second before she burst out laughing, and I was not far behind her.

Josh came through the kitchen door just then and asked, “What’s going on?”

“More complications,” I said.

“I was hoping to get something to eat before you break for lunch,” he admitted. “That sub looks pretty good.”

“Sorry. It’s for a customer,” I said, “but if you deliver it, I’ll make one for you, too. How does that sound?”

“Wonderful. By the way, what were you two laughing about when I came in? If you know something I don’t, I’d love to share in the joke myself.”

“We were just being silly,” Maddy said. “Don’t mind us.”

“Hey, as long as I’m not the target, I’m a happy camper.” He reached for the sub. “Let me take that. You two can hang out some more.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it,” Maddy said as she evaded his grasp. Maddy paused at the door and winked at me. “Thanks, Sis.”

“You’re most welcome.”

Josh looked at me as he said, “You know, you two are the main reason I wish I had a sibling myself.”

“You and Greg are close, aren’t you?” I asked as I started cleaning up.

“Sure we are, but there’s nothing like blood, is there?”

“No, sir, there’s not. How many tables are full out there?” I knew he’d notice. Once you were used to monitoring a dining room, it was a tough habit to break.

“There are still three sets of customers, but I’m guessing that everyone left will be finished in less than five minutes, except for the pizza you just made.”

It was time to make an executive decision. “Do me a favor, would you? Flip the sign and lock the door. With any luck at all, Maddy and I will be getting out early for lunch.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Josh said as he hurried back out into the dining room.

I had a feeling that we were going to need all of the time that we could muster for this particular lunch hour. Not only did we need to speak with Samantha and Kenny Stout, but I also wanted to have a few words with Bernie Maine, if we could find him, that is. I had a hunch the man might be a bit elusive after what had happened to one of his business partners the night before, but if he was still in our part of North Carolina, Maddy and I would find him.

 

I plated and cut the pizza for Samantha and Kenny and grabbed some plates. I’d sent Josh on his way, with his sub and a soda, so the four of us had the place to ourselves.

Maddy was out front wiping down the tables and cleaning up in general, and she cut me off before I got too close to the exes.

“Have you been talking to them yet?” I asked her quietly.

“No. I decided to wait for you.”

“That’s a remarkable show of restraint on your part,” I told her.

“Well, one of the reasons I waited was because they wouldn’t answer any questions until the four of us were all together,” she replied with a grin.

“So, not so much on the restraint part.”

“Not so much,” she agreed. “That pizza looks great. Did they order an extra-large? I thought they asked for a medium.”

“No, but I went ahead and made one big enough for all of us. It might be easier to get them to open up if we all share a meal together.”

“Did you ask them about it first?” Maddy asked me, probably a little louder than she’d intended.

“Ask us what?” Samantha asked. “Is that for us? If it is, it’s way too big.”

I walked to the table and put the pizza down in the middle. “This is the only lunch break we get, so we were kind of hoping that we could all eat together. It’s on the house if you’re willing to share it with us.”

“Sold,” Kenny said.

“Is that okay with you, too, Samantha?”

“Of course it is,” she said.

Maddy grabbed us a couple of drinks and refilled theirs, and we sat down to have a bite to eat and to talk a little about murder.

“This is delicious even without the beer,” Kenny said after he took his first bite.

“Because it’s free, or you really think it’s good?” Samantha asked him.

“Can’t it be a little bit of both?” he asked, and then he took another bite.

I tried some, too, and he was right. My garbage pizzas were tasty, and it didn’t hurt that I was starving. Most days I was fine making food for everyone else, but today was one of the times where I was tempted to nibble on everything I made, a strict no-no for a pizza chef.

As we ate, I decided to dive in and start the conversation. “So, what did you want to see us about?”

“We understand you two are nosing around into Grant’s murder,” Kenny said.

“Can you possibly be a little more tactful than that?” Samantha asked.

“We prefer to think of ourselves as amateur sleuths,” Maddy said, “but yes, we’re investigating his murder. As a matter of fact, if you hadn’t walked into the Slice this afternoon, we were going to come looking for you.”

“Why would you want to see us?” Samantha asked, watching us both closely. “We knew Grant, but neither one of us had anything to do with his murder. We were all friends.”

“You were more than that,” I said.

Kenny looked at Samantha with disdain. “I told you they knew you were sleeping with the guy. So much for beating around the bush.”

It was all I could do not to show my surprise about a physical relationship between Samantha and Maddy’s ex-husband. My sister didn’t even flinch, and she had a lot more reason to react to the news than I did.

“Who told you about us?” Samantha asked, not bothering to try to deny it.

“It wasn’t all that hard to figure out,” I said quickly before Maddy could comment. “We saw the way you were looking at Grant last night during your performance, and if there was any doubt in our minds, Kenny’s reaction onstage sealed it for us.”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Samantha said. “Grant and I did have a fling, but our marriage was already over by the time it started. Isn’t that right, Kenny?”

“So you say,” her ex answered. It was clear that Kenny wasn’t all that convinced, and neither was I.

“I won’t keep defending my behavior, to you or anyone else,” Samantha said. “It was a short, stupid thing between us, and when it ended, Grant and I both walked away without any hurt feelings or regrets.”

“I’m willing to bet you were pretty upset about losing your investment, though,” Maddy said to Samantha.

“You know about that, too?” she asked, clearly surprised by our knowledge. “You two really are as good as we heard you were.”

“How much did you lose?” I asked her.

“It wasn’t all that bad. In the end, it totaled less than ten thousand dollars,” she admitted.

I whistled. That had to be a good chunk of her savings if her prime source of income was playing at street fairs. “How much less?”

“Not much,” Kenny said. “It was all from the divorce settlement Samantha got from me, so in a way, he ripped both of us off when he talked her into making that deal.”

“But everyone lost money with Orion, didn’t they?” Maddy said.

“Your sources aren’t as good as you might think. Sure, we all lost out on paper, but I just found out that Grant discovered a way to pull most of the money out of the investment before Bernie found out and everything collapsed. He had no choice but to shut it all down. Grant had cash, and I wanted my share back. It’s the reason we wanted to talk to him last night after our show,” Samantha said.

“And did you?” I asked as I took another bite of pizza. The conversation was so intense that it was taking something out of the joy I normally found when eating one of my pizzas, but it couldn’t be helped. These questions had to be asked.

“Sure, we finally managed to corner him, for all the good it did us. Grant claimed that
Bernie
was the double-crosser, not him, and what’s more, he said that he had proof of it.”

“What kind of proof?” Maddy asked.

“He wouldn’t say, but he was pretty smug about the whole thing.”