by J R Pearson
"Wow." Josie was thrilled her blog was reaching people far and wide. "I credit my mom," she said. "Itwas her recipe—"
"Do you know what this means?" Brad practically shouted. "Scarlett could tell some popular magazine or reporter about how awesome your blog is. You could be famous!"
Josie grimaced. Fame wasn’t what she was after.
Tony appeared and began wiping tables. With a flick of his tan, muscular wrist, he put chairs up onto tables. His movements were fluid and swift. In seconds more, chairs went up without a struggle, like feathers in the air. Josie noticed she was a part of three pairs of eyes watching him.
"Beautiful," Brad whispered.
"Specimen," Mark said. Tony furrowed his brow and glanced up at them. Brad quickly spun away. Mark began examining his nails. Josie was caught. Tony winked at her, then swung the soiled rag over his shoulder before sauntering into the kitchen.
"He's got it bad," Brad said, giving Josie a knowing look. She rolled her eyes and untied her apron.
"I'll see you later," she said as she opened the front door, its silver bell chiming.
"She's got it bad," she heard Brad say.
***
After a shower, Josie braided her wet hair into a French twist. She’d take it out before meeting Tony for dinner. Having it dry in a twisted braid made her mid-length hair wavy and bouncy.
For the service, she shimmed into a sleeveless black shift dress that stopped mid-thigh, and slipped on pair of black ballet flats.
"I’ll be back to change for dinner tonight with Tony and Jade," she told Petey. Hearing his best friend's name, Petey's ears perked up. Josie filled his water and food bowl, then put on the Animal Channel. She checked to make sure there weren’t any lion documentaries coming on while she'd be gone. Not that Petey was frightened by the big cats. It was just, after an hour of watching the feline beasts, Petey started to act like them, pretending Josie's fluffy striped slippers were zebras. Stalking her feet the whole night before pouncing on them.
It was cute.
Kinda scary.
***
Stonevich and Son was packed. Josie had to park across the street at Watch ‘Em Now movie rentals. She merged into the large crowd walking into the two-story building. Inside, it smelled of too many bodies (live ones) and perfumed flowers. She stood in a corner in the carpeted foyer, hoping to catch someone she knew.
Brad and Mark caught her attention, waving at her. They were in the large double doorway leading to the service. Then she saw Jennie standing with her mom, Aunt Kendra, dad, and older brothers. Aunt Kendra was yapping away to Jennie, who looked distressed. Jennie noticed Josie and pulled out her cell phone.
S. O. S
Josie thought it would be the right thing to save her cousin from her mother. There were times in Josie's life when she needed someone to shield her from her own mom.
In this case...
Josie texted back:
Should have voted for my cod sandwich
The back of Josie's neck burned from the lasers her cousin shot as she headed towards Brad.
Mean? Sure. Wrong? No doubt.
Would it come back to bite her in the butt? Oh, absolutely. But her cousin's vote would have won her the competition.
Brad and Mark managed to snag a spot to sit towards the back. Along the walls of the large viewing room, long covered tables held dozens of trays of sandwiches. Friends of Gordy had made their own deli-styled sandwiches and brought platters to pay tribute to him.
"Hey," said a deep voice. Josie smiled up at Tony and managed to scoot over enough to give him a seat. His trouser-clad thigh and jacket-sleeved arm pressed against Josie's bare skin. She willed the frantic butterflies in her stomach to stop freaking out, and grabbed Brad's service pamphlet, fanning her heating face. Tony shifted and tightened his jaw. He was well aware of the reaction of his close proximity that caused Josie.
Does she realize I feel the same? He thought.
"Full house," he stated, scanning the room. Josie nodded and craned her neck to see the front. People were packed into pews; others stood in the sides. The middle aisle remained clear.
Brad tapped her hand. “Olivia Duncan just walked in."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Josie—and, it seemed,everyone—pivoted their heads and watched a mousy, pale woman with long brown hair take a spot beside a sandwich table. She wore a black ankle skirt and a thick black knitted poncho. She faced the front of the room, eyes partially curtained by straggly uneven bangs, not making contact with anyone.
"Creeeeepy," Brad said out of the corner of his mouth.
***
Reverend Billings gave a brief, heartwarming eulogy, and Gordy's old high school friends shared good times. They got everyone laughing and wiping away tears of sadness, replacing them with joy. Gordy lived a simple but full filled life. He graced the town with fresh, grade-A quality meat—carving each hunk of pork, beef, chicken, or turkey like a sculptor. Behind the counter each day of the week, he served deliciously layered sandwiches, premium cut cheeses, and damn good diced ham- macaroni salad.
“Gordy was a superb employee. He never slacked off. He wasn't lazy when it came time to replacing spoiled supplies with new ones. He never mouthed off to authority or customers. He was a small-town boy, born and raised, who was polite and treated everyone with respect.” This came from the deli owner himself, Danny Mendoza. Stating that the deli would live on, and in memory of Gordy, Danny named the famously colossal four-and-a-half pound skyscraper-high roast beef, turkey, salami, and lettuce sandwich after Gordy.
The Gord-zilla
The deli had lost a valuable solider.
And so had the town's backgammon club.Apparently Gordy was a phenomenal player.
Brian Fitzgerald walked to the podium.
"Um... I-I'd like to thank everybody f-for coming out this evening to honor mm-my brother." He paused to clear his throat and run a shaky hand through his thinning blond hair. Though Josie sat several rows back, Brian's red-rimmed eyes and disheveled appearance weren't hard to miss.
The death of his younger brother had rocked him to the core. Josie let out a shaky breath, thinking she wouldn't—no, couldn’t do what Brian was doing. If she lost a family member, she'd take residence in her closet and be in a fetal position around Petey's furry body. The sun would never shine the same for her. Tony reached over and entwined his fingers through hers, lightly rubbing his thumb along her skin.
He always knew what she was thinking. She was grateful to have him in her life. She squeezed his hand, thinking his last funeral was that of his mother, Rose.
"I... Guh-Gordy—" Brian gazed at a large close-up photo of his younger brother encircled by flowers. He choked on a sob.
"This is brutal," Brad whispered. Reverend Billings placed a hand on Brian's shoulder and said something in his ear. Brian shook his head.
"I-I can't. I'm sorry." He stepped away from the podium and walked through a side door leading out to the parking lot. Stonevich senior followed him. Low murmurs clouded the room. Josie glanced at Olivia. At one point during the service, Olivia had pushed aside her bangs. Her revealed eyes openly glared at a red-haired woman, wearing a maroon wrap-around scarf, sitting a few feet away who silently wept into a handkerchief.
What was that about?
Stonevich senior returned without Brian. Everyone grew silent as Stonevich waited behind the podium.
"Mr. Fitzgerald would like us to continue the service while he mourns in private. In honor of his wishes, please help yourselves to food and drinks provided."
Tony, Josie, Brad, and Mark filed out of their row, as did everyone else. In no time, lines formed at the tables. Heads bent close to each other. Low mumbles and shifting of eyes commenced. Brad, with Mark in tow, left to go show off his boyfriend. Tony placed a hand on the small of Josie’s back and asked if she would like anything to drink.
"Yes, thank you." She saw Danny Mendoza looking grim, talking to Detective Evans in a secluded corner.<
br />
"The missing knife is one of his," Molly Anderson said, coming up to stand beside Josie, swaying a little. Polly and Dolly joined, frowning at their sister. Molly's face was flushed and she kept squinting as if to regain focus.
"Mrs. Robinson slipped something fierce into several punch bowls." Polly scrunched her nose. The goofy grin on Molly's face proved she had dipped into her fair share. Molly was the rebel of the Anderson trio. While Polly acted as mother hen, Dolly liked to stay out of the spotlight.
"Good evening, Josie." Polly pulled her attention away from her tipsy sister and smiled.
"Good evening, Ms. Anderson." Josie went back to Molly's comment. "How does Danny know one of his knives was used?" A knife is a knife, she thought. Were they labeled with little stickers with his name on it?
"Danny had his name specially engraved into each handle." Polly explained.
Oh.
"Mr. Mendoza also has them numbered and documented into a system," Dolly nodded. "Checks them every night before he locks up."
"Could one of the deli's employees be the killer?" Josie asked. Dolly pursed her lips in thought.
"I don’t think so. Everyone knows Mr. Mendoza treats those knives like they’re the wings of an angel," she said. "Stealing one of them would cause him to cry out to the heavens, and if an employee did kill Gordy and take the knife—this puts heat on the deli and, eventually, on the killer himself."
"Certainly, the killer doesn’t want that type of attention," Josie mused.
Molly hiccupped loudly and stumbled away, nearly taking down a young couple and an elderly woman. Polly and Dolly quickly scurried after her. Tony came back, plastic cups in hand.
"Is she..?" He arched a brow and handed Josie a cup with bright red liquid.
"Yep," she chuckled.
"Nice," Tony grinned. Josie cautiously sniffed her potentially tampered drink, only smelling fruitiness. She took a sip.
Olivia stormed past, heading towards the door. Discreetly, Josie took out her phone and texted Brad.
I think Olivia is leaving. I want to talk to her. She’s headed your way.
Brad responded: No problem. I'm in pursuit.
Josie watched Brad follow Olivia out the double doors and into the funeral home's foyer.
"I'll be right back." She handed Tony her cup.
"Wait, Jo—"
She managed to intercept Brad before he caught up with Olivia.
"Hold on, I don’t want to ambush and scare her," she said. "I just want to simply ask her a few questions regarding Gordy.”
“Me, too. You’re not the only one that can pretend to be an incompetent sleuth.”
Incompetent?
“I thought I was doing well,” Josie huffed. Brad lifted a shoulder.
“Meh.”
“Well, then. What are you going to ask her?”
“If she killed Gordy." His eyes searched for Olivia. "In fact, I’m pretty sure she did it."
"What makes you think that? There’s no tangible evidence indicating Olivia did do it." Josie explained. "Just because she left a creepy note and a knife at Gordy's house doesn’t mean she killed him—"
"Exactly!" Brad pointed a finger at Josie's nose, making her eyes go cross. "What if Olivia's actions were just that—an act? I was talking to Mark about it and he agrees. He's got enough experience to know what's real and what's fake."
"He's a coffee runner!"
"For actors. My point—"
"Oh, so you do have one," Josie crossed her arms.
"—is, now people will just write her off as an attention-seeker and will never question her again. In truth, Olivia really did kill Gordy. Meanwhile, months have passed and the cops are still scratchin' their heads while Olivia is sittin' pretty in a seaside bungalow in JewelCove drinking pig’s blood in a coconut."
WHAT?!
Josie glanced back into the viewing room. She did a double take when she spotted the red-haired woman whom Olivia was glaring at earlier, talking with Tony in a corner, her hand on Tony's arm. Seconds ticked by, and she still hadn’t removed it. Facing Josie, Red was an attractive woman with strikingly bright blue eyes and full, painted lips. Josie felt her scalp itch. She continued to watch—her gut clenching—when Tony bowed his head closer to the attractive woman.
"Come on, before she gets away!" Brad grabbed Josie's arm, tearing her away from the scene and out into the parking lot where Olivia was getting into a dark vehicle.
"Excuse us. Hi! Olivia, right?" Brad flashed a charming smile. Any woman who didn’t know Brad's romantic preference would have swooned. Instead Olivia looked suspicious, glancing back and forth between Brad and Josie.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
Without missing a beat, Brad answered, "No, we just wanted to give our condolences."
"Okaaay." Olivia still looked unsure.
"We heard you and Gordy were an item," Brad clarified. Josie bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. Where was Brad going with this? Olivia swallowed, looking down at her feet. She was quiet for a long moment. Josie thought the small woman was going to start crying but was mistaken when Olivia whipped her head back up, eyes blazing.
"Gordy and I weren’t an item," she snapped. "He never had eyes for me." Olivia's bottom lip trembled. “Gordy may have been the humble and nice man everyone claims he was, but deep down he was just a pig." Josie heard Brad snort and elbowed him in his side.
"How so?" Josie's curiosity meter blew through the roof. This was the first time anyone had spoken ill of Gordy.
"He was a superficial and selfish jerk! Just like every other man walking on the planet. I mean, look at me!" Olivia gestured to herself. "He never wanted a woman like me."
Brad frowned, clearly confused. "What type of woman did Gordy want?"
Olivia banged her hand on the car door, causing Josie and Brad to jump.
"A supermodel. A full-figured woman." Her face twisted in disgust. "A woman like Honey Tucker," Olivia spat out.
“Who?”
“Gordy’s girlfriend.” Olivia got into her car and zoomed out of the parking lot, nearly clipping several vehicles on the way out. Brad rocked on his heels.
"I told you there was going to be drama." Josie rolled her eyes. She could safely assume Honey Tucker was the woman Olivia had been shooting daggers at during the service.
And who was now with Tony.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Mark jogged over to Josie and Brad. "Hey, I was looking all over for you," he grinned, making Brad blush. "Oh, Josie, Tony told me to tell you that he'll see you later for dinner tonight."
"He left already?" she asked, puzzled.
"Yeah with some lady named ‘Syrup’? Or was it ‘Molasses’?"
"Honey," Josie supplied, gritting her teeth.
Mark snapped his fingers. "That’s it! I knew it was something sticky.” Josie exhaled through her nose, letting her shoulders drop. What Tony did with his time, accompanied by whomever, shouldn't concern her.
Her mood suddenly plummeted to the ground, taking a mouth full of gravel. An uneasy feeling coursed through her. Was this jealousy?
Of course not.
Now she was being ridiculous.
You catch more flies with honey...
Hopefully they'd lay eggs in Tucker's brain.
The sound of a throat clearing got Brad, Mark, and Josie to turn around. A shriek escaped Brad, who quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. Still as a statue, the scruffy man from the other night at Healthy Beginnings stood, arms hanging loose at his sides. Josie politely tried to not stare at the eye that didn’t move. It was hard, since the man had it trained on her.
"The name’s Leroy,” he said, low and drawn out. “I just wanna apologize for frightening you and your little friend here the other night." He remained fixed in his spot. Josie found her voice and hesitantly introduced herself, Mark, and Brad. Leroy grunted (which sounded like a laugh) and pointed a dirt-encrusted finger at Brad.
"Got a set of lungs on that one," he gr
unt-laughed again. Mark frowned.
"Set of lungs? What's he talking about?" he asked. Leroy coughed up something foul.
"Caught these two trespassing on private land," he said, hiking up his dirty jeans.
"Where was this?" Mark asked Brad, who rolled his eyes.
"Healthy Beginnings. It’s a senior living home, which, by the way, needs a makeover." He turned to Leroy. "And what’s a hobo doing, going around scaring the living crap out of people?" he demanded.
"I ain’t no hobo!" Leroy bellowed. "I’m the groundskeeper. Just tryin' to do my job when I caught y'all snoopin'.”
"We weren't snooping," Josie clarified. Between being frozen in her car seat, wondering what the hell was she doing, and hoping her pizza wouldn’t make an abrupt and unpleasant exit, snooping had been the furthest thing on her mind.
"Could have fooled me," Leroy grunted.
"Fooled you?" Brad narrowed his eyes. "Could have fooled us. What's there to be done as a groundskeeper at night?"
"Watering daisies." Leroy deadpanned. "I also serve as night watchman." Josie felt her brows come together. Healthy Beginnings was miles and miles out of town. What was Leroy doing here? As if reading her thoughts or most likely reading her questioning face, Leroy explained.
"I knew Gordy. He used to come by the home and visit his mama before she passed." Leroy swallowed. "Figured I'd stop by and pay my respects."
"So you knew Gordy on a personal level?" Josie asked. Leroy nodded.
"Yeah. No one ever stops to notice the strange man pulling weeds."
"Got that right," Brad mumbled, earning him another elbow to the side.
"Gordy always took the time to say good morning and eat lunch with me on my breaks. He made a mean spicy-mustard corned beef sandwich."
"Gordy never came back after his mother's death?" Josie said. Leroy nodded once.
"Correct. ‘Scuse me." He walked around them and headed towards the funeral home's front door.
"Leroy?" Josie stopped him. He turned just his head.
"What?"
"Does it bother you?"
"Does what bother me?"
"That you work at a place that's accused of murdering its residents?" Josie praised herself for keeping her voice even. Leroy didn’t blink.