Murder at the Mistletoe Ball

by J. D. Griffo

  “Why don’t I fix us all something to eat?” Alberta suggested. “And then you can fill us in on all the details so we can find Sergio.”

  “That sounds great,” Tommy said. “I’m starving.”

  “Good,” Alberta said. “I’ll put a lasagna in the oven.”

  “You don’t still put those stupid hard-boiled eggs in there like Grandma used to, do you?” Lisa Marie asked.

  Alberta swallowed hard and fought the urge to respond to her daughter the way she had responded to her countless times before. She knew if she did, however, she might lose the chance to help bring her grandson back home safely. It was partly because of situations like this that Alberta always maintained a well-stocked fridge.

  “Make that my chicken parm,” Alberta said.

  Lisa Marie had won this round, but it was clear that the war was definitely not over.

  CHAPTER 6

  Per quanto le famiglie cambino, rimangono le stesse.

  When the dishes were tucked away in the dishwasher and the only thing left on the table were two pitchers of Red Herrings, Jinx’s creation, which was a mix of vodka, prosecco, cranberry juice, some orange juice, and a splash of tomato juice, it was time for Lisa Marie to tell the story of how she came to return to her mother’s home. Everyone around the table appeared much more eager to hear the story than Lisa Marie appeared to want to tell it. But when Tommy gently placed his hand on his wife’s back and nodded his encouragement, she found the strength.

  “About six months ago we noticed Sergio had changed,” Lisa Marie began. “He was far from perfect—I mean, who is, right? But he was a good kid. He followed the house rules, he respected both of us, he had never been in trouble with the police or even at school, but all of a sudden it was like we were living with a stranger.

  “He started staying out overnight without telling us, he didn’t call or text us during the day like he used to, he wouldn’t go fishing with all the boys any longer, but the kicker was when he stopped working with Tommy,” Lisa Marie said. “That’s when I knew we had a problem.”

  “What line of work do you do, Tommy?” Sloan asked.

  “I’m an electrician,” he replied. “I have my own business.”

  “It’s a good one too,” Lisa Marie added. “Small, just Tommy, his friend Hector, and Sergio, until he up and quit.”

  “I was fine with Serge wanting to work somewhere else,” Tommy said. “But I wasn’t happy when he just didn’t show up at a scheduled job one day. A family business is still a business.”

  “And it wasn’t even because he didn’t like being an electrician or working for his father,” Lisa Marie said. “It was all because of a girl.”

  “Do not tell me Tricia is back in the picture,” Jinx said.

  “Dude, who’s Tricia?” Freddy asked.

  “Sergio’s high school girlfriend who dumped him when she went to some fancy college out West,” Lisa Marie said. “It took him forever to get over that one.”

  “Unfortunately, the new girl in his life is even worse,” Tommy said.

  “Does this girl have a name?” Alberta asked.

  “Natalie Vespa,” Lisa Marie seethed.

  “Oh my God, she sounds like a snake,” Jinx said.

  “She is, but Sergio’s head over heels in love with her,” Tommy said.

  “Lord knows why!” Lisa Marie exclaimed. “She’s bossy, opinionated, disrespectful, and she dresses like a pole dancer, and not in a classy way like the one from Flashdance. Plus, she’s got very expensive taste and makes Sergio pay for everything.”

  “My son is in love with a beautiful girl who’s just using him,” Tommy said. “Natalie’s manipulative and condescending to Sergio, but when I tried to get him to see her for what she really is . . . he turned on me.”

  “Daddy, Sergio worships you!” Jinx cried.

  “It didn’t stop him from throwing a punch at me,” Tommy said.

  “He hit you?” Jinx asked.

  “He tried,” Tommy said. “Your old man is still pretty fast on his feet and I swerved out of the way.”

  “Sergio has a bit of a temper,” Lisa Marie said. “Before Natalie came into the picture it was usually under control, but she brings out the worst in him.”

  “Let me guess,” Sloan started. “The more you tried to tell Sergio that Natalie wasn’t good enough for him, the further he pushed you both away.”

  Lisa Marie adjusted her glasses. Her right eyebrow raised in a perfect arch and she turned to face her mother. “Your boyfriend thinks he’s a smarty-pants too?”

  “He is,” Alberta replied. “And he’s right, isn’t he?”

  “That’s exactly what happened,” Tommy said. “I tried a different tactic and told Sergio that if Natalie’s the one, then she’s the one. The only thing that mattered to us was that he be happy.”

  “That sounds very reasonable,” Alberta said.

  “You sound surprised by that,” Lisa Marie remarked. “You don’t think Tommy can be reasonable?”

  “Are you going to pounce on every word your mother says?” Helen asked. “Or are you going to show some respect while you’re sitting at her table?”

  Somewhere outside a bird was chirping amid the snowfall and its resilient melody, faintly reminiscent of “The First Noel,” could be heard in the otherwise silent room. Lisa Marie looked around the table, and while she was surrounded mainly by family, she was outnumbered. This was Alberta’s turf and if she wanted her mother to help her find her son, she was going to have to play by these new rules.

  “As you can imagine, I’m under a lot of stress,” Lisa Marie said. “I’m sorry.”

  Before another Ferrara could make a comment that would sidetrack the conversation, Vinny reminded everyone that they had gathered for a very important reason. A person was missing and they needed to find out why. “What did Sergio do when you told him that?”

  “He moved out,” Tommy said.

  “He never told me that he moved out,” Jinx said.

  “Why in the world would he move out?” Alberta asked. “He had a clean house, three meals a day, and he didn’t have to pay rent.”

  “He went with Natalie to New York,” Lisa Marie explained. “She got some new job and Sergio said he couldn’t stand to be without her.”

  “Next thing we know, he’s throwing some things in a bag, and out the door he goes,” Tommy added.

  “What does Natalie do for a living?” Joyce asked.

  “I have no idea!” Lisa Marie yelled. “You could never get a straight answer out of that piece of trash! She always talked in circles, she contradicted herself, and then, when I pointed that out, Sergio would yell at me and tell me that I wasn’t listening.”

  “He said he would call us when he got settled in New York, but he never did,” Tommy said. “That was a little over a month ago.”

  “We thought eventually he’d come to his senses and move back home, but he won’t even respond to our calls or texts,” Lisa Marie said. “We don’t even know if he made it to New York.”

  For the first time Lisa Marie choked up, but instead of allowing herself to cry in front of her family, she forced her emotions to retreat. Alberta fought every instinct in her body because all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around her daughter to comfort her, but she knew her daughter wasn’t ready to accept her embrace. There was a question mark in Alberta’s brain as well, and she wasn’t sure how such a gesture would truly make her feel, which made it easier for her to remain seated and watch her daughter struggle.

  Just as Tommy reached out his hand to place it over his wife’s fist, she slammed it down on the table, startling everyone, especially Lola, who was trying to take a nap on the other side of Lisa Marie.

  “No, I’m not going to let that Natalie Slimeball win,” Lisa Marie spat. “I’m not going to let her make me lose control. I need all my strength to find my son.”

  “Let’s take the first step,” Vinny said. “Come down to the station with me to fill out mi
ssing person reports on Sergio and Natalie that we can give to the New York authorities.”

  They all started to get up and disperse, but before they could put on their coats Lisa Marie stopped them.

  “I need to say something first,” she began. “I know I screwed up. I should’ve called you, Ma, instead of sending that cryptic card, and I should’ve told you we were in town instead of hiding out at that hotel under fake names. I also should’ve answered your calls and texts. The truth is that I need my family, but . . . it’s been a really long time and, honestly, I wasn’t sure if you all still consider me a member of this family any longer.”

  Alberta spoke for the group in the family’s native tongue. “Per quanto le famiglie cambino, rimangono le stesse,” she said. “As much as families change, they still remain the same. And you, Lisa Marie, will always be a part of this family.”

  Alberta stared at her daughter, and it was almost as if the rest of the people in the room faded away and only the two of them remained. She saw Lisa Marie as a toddler, a teenager, the woman she was just before she left town, and as the woman standing before her now. All the women were different and yet all of them were the same.

  Just as Alberta was going to reach out to grab Lisa Marie’s hand as a way to assure her that her words weren’t empty, but were born of truth, Vinny came between them.

  “Follow me to the police station,” Vinny said, standing up and passing a business card to Lisa Marie. “The address is on there if you get lost.”

  “Ma, why don’t you come with us?” Lisa Marie suggested. “I’m sure you could get us there blindfolded.”

  “That I could,” she replied. “Let’s go.”

  It wasn’t until Alberta was sitting in the back seat of Tommy’s Subaru that she realized that driving with her estranged daughter and son-in-law might not be the best idea. She figured that was why Helen, Joyce, Sloan, and Jinx each asked her if she preferred to drive with them and they would drop her off at the police station. She thought everyone was being considerate and didn’t realize they were trying to prevent Alberta from entering the wolf’s den.

  Just before she got into the car, Jinx whispered in her ear, “In bocca al lupo.” In conversation, the Italian expression meant good luck. The literal translation was something far less heartwarming: Into the mouth of the wolf. It was one of the first phrases Alberta had taught Jinx when she was a little girl, which had not pleased Lisa Marie. She hated the phrase because she felt it gave Jinx a false sense of security, that no matter how difficult and insurmountable the obstacles, all she needed to do was say In bocca al lupo and she’d somehow become impervious to disappointment and heartache. As they pulled away from the house, Alberta thought maybe Lisa Marie had been right all along and silently prayed that the phrase really did come equipped with supernatural powers.

  The first five minutes of the drive were spent in silence, which gave Alberta a chance to daydream about when she was in the same position in Tommy’s car as they drove to Atlantic City over twenty-seven years ago. Lisa Marie had been tired of being stuck in the house and she wanted to get out before she was stuck in the house permanently with a crying infant. After a few hours of playing the slots, Lisa Marie went into premature labor, their car wouldn’t start, and they got caught in a torrential downpour, which was why Jinx was born on the floor of Harrah’s casino a few minutes after midnight on the morning of Friday the 13th. They lost their money that day but came home with a treasure. Tommy always said Jinx was their good luck charm with the bad luck name.

  It was only when they stopped at a red light that the silence became oppressive, which led to small talk. And small talk in a car among relatives who were the primary players in a family feud was like walking through a minefield blind and wearing clown shoes.

  “What started all this amateur detective stuff anyway?” Lisa Marie asked. “I mean, you weren’t very clever when Rocco and I were growing up. I bet you never knew he smoked cigarettes on the fire escape.”

  “He did what?!”

  “Almost every night for over a year,” Lisa Marie added.

  “Ah Madon!” Alberta cried. “I thought he had that lingering cough from bronchitis.”

  “It was from smoking too many Camels unfiltered,” Tommy explained.

  “I hope he stopped,” Alberta said.

  “He did after Daddy found his stash,” Lisa Marie admitted.

  “Your father knew?” Alberta asked. “He never told me.”

  “Rocco begged him not to say anything,” Lisa Marie said. “He knew you’d be disappointed.”

  A surge of pride raced through Alberta’s body. She was upset that her son had been a closet smoker but delighted that he loved her enough that he didn’t want to disappoint her. I guess it’s never too late to learn something new about your children, Alberta thought. The same could be said about a parent.

  “But seriously, Ma, when did you become so logical that you could search for clues and follow leads and finagle your way into places that the police don’t even have access to?” Lisa Marie asked.

  For a moment Alberta was stumped. No one had asked her this very obvious question before. She had no formal training as a detective, she had been curious about the world as a younger woman but hadn’t acted upon her curiosity for decades, and she was hardly fearless. How did she become an amateur sleuth? The answer didn’t surprise Lisa Marie nearly as much as it surprised Alberta.

  “I’ve changed.”

  “You’re telling me. You’re more sure of yourself and not as, I don’t know, frantic maybe,” Lisa Marie stated. “You were always running around, fixing things, trying to run a perfect household, trying to cater to Daddy’s every whim.”

  “I think what my wife is trying to say is that you’re all grown-up,” Tommy said as the light turned green.

  “Stop joking, I’m serious,” Lisa Marie said. “You’re liberated, is that the right word? Independent.”

  “I think that’s part of it,” Alberta said. “Without your father to take care of or my children, I’m really only responsible for myself. And Lola, of course. Dio mio! Don’t let her know I forgot about her; she’ll never forgive me.”

  “I’m sure it helps being independent with all of Aunt Carmela’s millions and her lake house,” Lisa Marie said. “I still can’t believe she left everything to you.”

  “Nobody was more shocked than I was,” Alberta stated. “I’m still not sure why she singled me out and didn’t spread it out among the entire family.”

  “Lord knows three million can spread pretty far,” Lisa Marie said.

  “You know I’ve been forbidden by the terms of the will to give any of that money away,” Alberta said. “And the house can only be left to another family member after I die.”

  “I don’t want your money, Ma,” Lisa Marie said. “Well, not all of it.”

  Alberta started to laugh. Maybe her daughter had finally decided to stop lying and be more honest.

  * * *

  In Vinny’s office, Alberta leaned against the console on the back wall because Lisa Marie and Tommy were sitting in the only two chairs in the room, giving Vinny the information needed to file a missing person report. They told him Sergio was five foot ten, one hundred and ninety-five pounds, had hair that was Tommy’s sandy brown color but naturally wavy like Lisa Marie’s, brown eyes, and had a tattoo of a Chinese symbol on his left shoulder blade—something Alberta had never known about—that allegedly meant eternity, but because none of them, Sergio included, could read Chinese, it was anyone’s guess what it truly meant.

  When they had answered all Vinny’s questions about Sergio, he turned the focus from information gathering to suspect investigation. He wanted to know everything they could tell him about Natalie Vespa.

  “She’s a bitch,” Lisa Marie stated.

  “Yes, Leese, you’ve made it very clear how you feel about her,” Vinny said. “I’m looking for more quantifiable data about the woman. Facts.”

  “I just g
ave you one,” Lisa Marie replied.

  “I need factual facts,” Vinny said.

  “Like what?” Tommy asked.

  “Like, was Natalie married before?” Alberta asked.

  Lisa Marie tried to swivel in her chair but was unsuccessful because she wasn’t sitting in a swivel chair. Instead, she twisted her body to the left, so she could face her mother. “Why do you care if she was married?”

  “To find out if she has a maiden name,” Alberta explained. “It’s necessary for when Vinny searches her name in the police database.”

  Lisa Marie looked at her mother suspiciously. She then looked at Vinny with the same expression. “Is that right?”

  “As a matter of fact it is,” Vinny said. “Was Natalie married?”

  “We have no idea,” Tommy replied.

  “Is she originally from Florida or did she go to college there?” Alberta asked. “Or maybe her family moved there when she was a kid?”

  “The girl hardly spoke to me the few times I was in her company,” Lisa Marie said. “There’s really very little I know about her.”

  “Same goes for me,” Tommy said. “I tried to get details from Sergio, but whenever I asked a question, he clammed up.”

  “She doesn’t have a social media presence either, which is odd for a girl her age,” Alberta said as she scrolled through several different applications on her cell phone. “I checked the Facebook, Instagram, she doesn’t Tweet or Snap, she’s not even on LinkedIn, which is where most young people find employment these days.”

  Lisa Marie looked stunned, and Alberta couldn’t help but relish that fact. The last time her daughter saw her, she was a housewife who barely knew how to flip her phone, and the only skills she had mastered were those that were appreciated in the kitchen. Alberta knew that the woman Lisa Marie was looking at was unrecognizable to her.

  “Who are you?” Lisa Marie asked.

  “Just a lady who’s learned to use her brain to do more than recall her grandmother’s recipes,” Alberta said. “Do you have a photo of Natalie?”

  “No,” Tommy said. “But she’s got a light complexion, stands about five foot five, she’s thin, definitely someone who works out but not too much, probably more aerobics and not weight training, she has green eyes—no, they’re more like hazel—dark blond hair—well, naturally blond with those dark highlights—and her hair is long and wavy; feathery, I guess you’d say, almost like the way Farrah Fawcett used to wear her hair on Charlie’s Angels, remember?”