“You betcha. I’m circling around to his pickup area in a couple more stops.”
“Let me text him now.”
Mercedes ran next door to return the applications to the cabinet. Meanwhile, Carlita texted Dominic to tell him she was having second thoughts and would consider hiring more people. In her last sentence, she told him she’d returned the applications to the restaurant filing cabinet.
A breathless Mercedes flew inside the apartment. “The applications are in place. Did you call Dominic?”
“I sent a text. I wasn’t sure I would sound believable.” Carlita’s phone beeped, and she gazed at the screen. “He said he would get right on it. We better be ready to move. I want to see where he goes once he grabs the files.”
“We can hide behind the dumpster,” Mercedes suggested.
“What if he uses the front door?”
“I doubt it. He’s gonna want to keep a low profile.” Mercedes paused. “No. You’re right. We need to cover all of our bases. You hide behind the dumpster. There’s an old fence in that vacant lot across the street. I’ll hide behind the fence.”
With a plan in place, the women hurried to get into position. Mercedes disappeared around the corner, and Carlita got comfortable behind the dumpster.
She crouched low, keeping one eye on her cell phone, waiting for Reese’s text and the other on the back door of the restaurant. She eased into a low stretch when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye.
It was Dominic, making a beeline for the back door. Carlita ducked down and peeked around the corner. She watched him unlock the back door and slip inside.
Finally, Reese’s text came through. “He’s here. I’m holding the trolley for a few. He said he’d be right back.”
“Thanks, Reese.”
Carlita forced herself to remain calm as she kept a close eye on the back door, waiting for Dominic to emerge.
He exited the building moments later. Tucked under his arm were several manila folders.
The restaurant manager glanced around, pausing briefly when his eyes fell on the dumpster. Carlita squeezed her eyes shut; certain he knew she was back there and watching him.
She didn’t let out the breath she was holding until he jogged around the corner and disappeared from sight.
Carlita stayed put until Mercedes appeared. “Did you see him?”
“Yep. He took the folders.”
“He got back on the trolley,” Mercedes said. “Reese waited for him.”
“Now all we have to do is wait for Reese to tell us where he was going.”
*****
Reese impatiently tapped the trolley steering wheel. “You better hurry up, dude. I can’t wait here all day.” It wasn’t necessarily against company policy to hold the trolley and wait for someone.
It also wasn’t necessarily an approved practice. She stared at the side of Ravello’s Ristorante and willed Dominic to emerge. Thankfully, he appeared a short time later, in a hurry and carrying file folders, just as Carlita suspected.
“Thanks for waiting, Reese. You’re a doll.” Dominic moved to the center of the bus.
“You’re welcome.” She pulled the trolley onto the street and drove to the next stop.
Two passengers exited while another got on. She greeted the woman by name and then waited until the new passenger found an empty seat before resuming her route.
At the next stop, another passenger got off. The only riders left on the trolley were a small group of tourists, Dominic and Reese.
Up next was the stop where Dominic typically exited the trolley. He hurried down the center aisle. In his haste, he knocked one of the file folders from his grasp.
The papers dumped onto the floor, and he scrambled to pick them up.
“Take your time,” Reese said. “I’m not in a hurry.”
“What a klutz.” Dominic shoved the papers back inside the folder and made his way to the front.
“We’ll see you later, Dominic.”
“See you later, Reese. Thanks again for waiting for me.” Dominic bounded down the steps and looked both ways before crossing the street.
Reese started to ease her foot off the brake when something told her to wait. She watched Carlita’s restaurant manager stroll down the sidewalk. He stopped in front of a local restaurant, smoothed his hair and then disappeared inside.
*****
Carlita and her daughter waited for several long, agonizing minutes. She glanced at her phone every few seconds, willing it to ring. “I think Reese forgot about us.”
“She didn’t forget,” Mercedes said. “We need to be patient.”
Finally, Carlita’s cell phone chimed. Her eyes widened as she read Reese’s text. “You’re never gonna believe where Dominic went.”
“To the police station,” Mercedes guessed.
“No. I wish. Reese said he appeared very nervous. He got off three stops up. She waited to see where he went. He went into Russo Brother’s Italian Eatery, and he was carrying our employee applications.”
“What does that mean?”
“I…don’t know. All this time, I figured Louie was behind the food poisoning. What if it wasn’t Louie?” Carlita asked. “What if it was a supposed friend…another restaurant owner in the neighborhood trying to sabotage my new restaurant?”
“Mike Russo? He seems like a nice man,” Mercedes said.
“Those are the ones you gotta watch out for. Dominic is there now.”
“It’s only a coupla blocks away,” Mercedes said. “I say we head over there and see if we can figure out what’s going on.”
“Are you saying we should confront him? What if he’s the one who poisoned Megan Burelli and murdered Monica Clay?”
“We’ll play it by ear.” Mercedes patted her pocket. “I’m packing heat, just in case. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better.”
It was a brisk dash to the other end of Walton Square. By the time they reached Russo’s restaurant, Carlita was out of breath. “We need to stay out of sight.”
She glanced down the sidewalk, to a narrow alley behind the building. “This must be where Reese dropped Dominic off.”
“We can watch from over there.” Mercedes motioned to a box truck, parked off to the side.
“I can’t believe this.” Carlita crept in next to her daughter. “Pete told me Russo was expanding his operations and adding catering. Who would stoop so low as to kill a competitor’s guest just to put them out of business?”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Mercedes warned. “It could be Dominic working on his own.”
“No. Something fishy is going on.” The restaurant’s screen door slowly opened. An employee emerged. The smell of cigarette smoke wafted in the air.
Carlita leaned against the box truck and closed her eyes, an image of Megan Burelli filling her mind. She should’ve known Louie’s MO wouldn’t be to sneak around trying to poison Vinnie and Brittney.
The “family’s” style was more like drive-by shooters. They wouldn’t bother to call a crime hotline to implicate Carlita as Monica Clay’s killer.
They also wouldn’t have a reason to kill her, unless of course, she’d been hired as a hit woman.
The fact Pete found her crying in the alley was suspect. Had she been in on the plot to poison wedding guests, realized the seriousness of the situation, had a sudden change of heart and refused to finish the job?
Mercedes nudged her mother’s arm and motioned toward the building.
Carlita dropped to her hands and knees and peered under the frame of the truck. She could see Dominic standing with his back to her and facing another unknown figure. He stood close to the other person, and she could hear them talking in low voices.
The brief conversation ended. Dominic turned on his heel and began walking at a fast clip.
With Dominic out of the picture, Carlita could clearly see Mike Russo. He watched Dominic for a moment before stepping back inside.
The screen door slam
med shut.
“Let’s go.” Mercedes took off after Dominic, leaving her mother behind.
Chapter 25
Carlita hurried after her daughter. By the time she reached the corner, she’d lost sight of Mercedes and Dominic.
She heard loud voices coming from nearby. One of the voices belonged to Mercedes.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dominic said. “Why are you following me?”
“Hello.”
Her manager’s jaw dropped when Carlita joined them. “What’s going on?”
“What did you do with the employee file folders?” Carlita pointed at Dominic’s empty hands. “Did you give them to Mike Russo?”
“You two are crazy. I think it’s time for you to look for another restaurant manager.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Carlita shot back. “In fact, I was thinking the police will be interested in the fact you gave my employee folders to my competitor, a man I thought was my friend, Mike Russo.”
“That’s absurd. I don’t know Russo.”
“You’re lying.” Mercedes waved her cell phone in the air. “I have proof you left the restaurant with our employee file folders, yet you didn’t have them when you were in the alley behind the restaurant talking to Russo.”
Dominic’s countenance changed in an instant and a menacing sneer marred his face. “So what if I took the file folders? Maybe I lost ‘em.”
“Inside Russo’s restaurant?” Mercedes shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think you ditched the employee applications for other reasons. You lied about knowing Monica Clay and Duane Sorensen, and now you’re lying about the applications.”
“Those two employees listed you as a reference, yet you claim you didn’t know them,” Carlita said. “Again, I’m sure the authorities will be interested in talking to you.”
“It’s your word against mine,” Dominic jeered. “Prove it.”
“We will when we give the authorities copies of the applications, the ones we made before we set the trap and waited for you to come after them. We have proof you knew the victims,” Carlita said. “You came highly recommended by Mike Russo, President of the Savannah Area Restaurant Association. You were a plant.”
Dominic’s expression turned from a sneer to a look of fear. “You’re messing with the wrong people.”
“Mike Russo?” Carlita switched tactics. “Maybe if you tell the authorities everything you know, they’ll go easy on you.”
Dominic lunged forward. Things moved fast as Mercedes yanked her gun out of her pocket and aimed it at him. “Back off!”
“Whoa.” The man lifted both hands. “You two are looney tunes. I think you killed your own wedding guest, you killed Monica Clay, and you also killed Duane Sorensen.”
“Sorensen is still alive,” Carlita said. “He’s also ready to talk.”
Dominic’s mouth dropped open. “He’s still alive?”
“Yes,” Carlita fibbed. “He’s ready to tell the authorities exactly what happened the day of the wedding, how you and he, along with Monica Clay, were hired by Mike Russo to poison my guests and ruin my business.”
“Everything was going as planned until Monica Clay freaked out,” Mercedes said. “You all thought she was going to talk. Duane knew they were in trouble and you were coming after them, so they bought bus tickets and planned to leave town.”
“Y-you.”
Carlita could see Dominic was at a loss for words. She had no proof Russo was involved. She did suspect Dominic. He was working in the kitchen around the time Megan was served what she now suspected was poisoned food.
“No wonder you came so highly recommended by Mike Russo. It was a setup. You and Mike planned to take out several of my guests,” Carlita guessed. “Megan’s tray was full of tainted food, but she panicked and only served it to one person.”
She continued. “You got to Monica and took her out, but somehow, Duane slipped through your fingers. I’m sure you have people out there trying to hunt him down right now. I also bet you’re the one who placed an anonymous call to the crime hotline, telling the authorities I was responsible for Megan Burelli and Monica Clay’s deaths.”
“The cops will never find me.” Dominic stumbled back and then took off running.
Mercedes started to pursue, but Carlita stopped her. “Let him go. We need to get to the police station as soon as possible. If Duane Sorensen is alive, the police need to find him, and fast.”
“What do you think Russo will do to Dominic?”
“I don’t know,” Carlita shuddered. “If all of our hunches are correct, he’s responsible. But why kill innocent people?”
“Because you were muscling in on Russo’s territory. My theory is he felt threatened and saw a perfect opportunity to poison your guests, hoping it would run you out of business before you ever opened your doors. Dominic was his man.”
“I guess for some people money trumps everything.” Carlita reached for her daughter’s arm. “C’mon. Let’s go home. We’ll grab our copies of the applications and then head to the police station.”
“We should turn in the leftover appetizers, too.”
“Good idea.” Carlita pointed at Mercedes’ gun. “But first, can you please put that thing away? You make me nervous.”
*****
Neither Officer Clousen nor Detective Polivich was at the precinct. After explaining to the desk clerk that they possessed potential evidence in the Monica Clay murder investigation, the clerk radioed the officer and the detective.
Half an hour later, Detective Polivich arrived and Clousen a short time later. They ushered mother and daughter into a back room where they took turns laying out their theory and handing off the evidence, including the leftover appetizers from the wedding reception.
“This is an interesting turn of events.” Detective Polivich perused Monica Clay’s application before placing it on top of the pile. “You’re saying your restaurant manager, Dominic Guzman, may also be the anonymous crime hotline tipster? He was working for the owner of Russo’s Italian Eatery, to murder one or more of your wedding guests.”
“Yes,” Carlita nodded. “I believe that’s the case. They killed Monica Clay after she panicked and tried to leave town with Duane Sorensen aka Blake Taylor. I’m sure you know by now which is his real name.”
“We believe Sorensen is still alive,” Mercedes said. “We fibbed and told Dominic Guzman that Duane contacted us, and he freaked out.”
“Let me put out a couple of APBs. I’ll see if we can’t step up the search for Sorensen aka Taylor and also try to track down Dominic Guzman before he skips town.” Officer Clousen stepped out of the office.
“What about Mike Russo?” Carlita turned to Polivich. “He’s definitely a suspect.”
“We need more evidence and a chance to talk to Guzman first,” Detective Polivich said. “Russo has connections in town. He sits on the restaurant board. We’ll have to proceed carefully.”
The detective stood - his signal the meeting had ended. “In the meantime, you may want to watch your backs, if what you’re telling us is true.” He escorted them to the lobby. “We’ll be in touch as soon as we follow up on your information.”
During the walk home, Carlita mulled over the turn of events. It all started when Duane Sorensen left the headless cake topper on their back steps. Little did he know Elvira’s camera was recording his every move.
Carlita suspected Sorensen might have also been the one who broke into the restaurant. Next was Megan’s poisoning. Monica realized she’d injured the woman, freaked out and abandoned the plan.
Duane, now identified as Blake, may have had second thoughts, as well, or maybe he was the one who murdered Monica, convinced she was going to talk.
Dominic must have suspected, or maybe he knew he was listed as a reference on the employee applications. Carlita had trusted him implicitly, given the glowing recommendation from Mike Russo. She only briefly glanced
at the applications. The fact he denied it and lied was the first clue.
“I was certain Vito’s nemesis, Louie, from the family was responsible for Megan’s death. All the while, it was a trusted employee. I am a terrible judge of character,” Carlita lamented.
“Maybe you should put me in charge of hiring the restaurant employees, too,” Mercedes teased.
“I suck at being a business owner.”
“No, you don’t, Ma. You’re a savvy entrepreneur, not to mention a great role model.”
“Thanks, Mercedes. Sometimes, I do wonder.” Carlita changed the subject. “When we get home, we need to get ready for dinner. I’m starving.”
“Wait ‘til we tell Tony and Paulie what happened,” Mercedes said. “They’re not going to believe it.”
“I’m having a hard time believing it myself.”
Chapter 26
Carlita nervously clasped her hands. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
“You’re as ready as you’re ever going to be.” Pirate Pete patted her shoulder. “This is the fun stuff, the real test of your willpower and grit.”
“Thanks for being here, for pitching in these last few days, not to mention loaning me one of your restaurant managers after Dominic’s arrest.”
Pirate Pete shook his head. “I was shocked when I found out the authorities arrested Mike Russo and charged him, along with Dominic, with the murders of Megan Burelli and Monica Clay. Did you hear back on the appetizers you turned in to the authorities…if they contained traces of poison?”
“They were clean. My guess is Monica tossed the tainted stuff in the dumpster after taking the tray away, which could be around the time you saw Blake and Monica in the alley. Why she picked Megan as her target…we may never know.”
Carlita continued. “Dominic and Russo might’ve gotten away with it if the police hadn’t finally caught up with Blake Taylor over on Tybee Island. He confessed to his part in Megan’s death, how Russo paid all three of them.”
She tapped the tip of her chin thoughtfully. “What do you think will happen to Russo’s restaurant?”
Matrimony & Mayhem: A Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Book 11) Page 15