My stomach convulsed with dread as I watched him leave. I turned my head to see Mike standing in the parking lot next to his Camaro, arms folded across his chest. As soon as our eyes met, he climbed into his car and drove away. Great. I just can't do anything right today.
I got to my feet and walked over to where the minivan was parked. Gianna and Josie were leaning against the vehicle. "Let's get out of here."
Grandma Rosa approached us from the parking lot.
"Where were you?" I asked.
"I brought Nicoletta home. I borrowed the car keys from your papa. Instead of fitting your father for a casket, they should measure him for a straitjacket." My grandmother made the sign of the cross on her chest.
Josie grimaced. "Rosa, what's her problem? Why does she hate Sally so much?"
"It's all right." My voice faltered. "I don't need to know." The truth was I didn't want to know. I wasn't sure how much more bad news I could handle today.
My grandmother cradled my face between her hands. "She does not hate you, cara mia. She really cares for you a great deal."
I drew my eyebrows together. "I don't understand."
"Do you remember Johnny's mother? Nicoletta's daughter, Sophia?"
"A little." I waggled my hand back and forth.
"She died when you were a little girl." Grandma Rosa patted my cheek. "You look a lot like her."
"So what?" Gianna asked.
My grandmother went on. "Sophia was a crackhead. Young and stubborn. A little like you in that manner. But she ran with the wrong crowd and died of an overdose. I think in some ways, Nicoletta associates you with her daughter, and she is trying to protect you. She has never been the same since Sophia died."
I bit my bottom lip hard. "All the times she harassed me when I was a kid, and you never told me?"
Her large brown eyes were solemn. "I thought she would stop when you came back home. She simply cannot help herself, sweetheart. Nicoletta and me—well, we are old ladies. We have nothing left but our children and memories."
I flinched as I remembered unkind thoughts I'd aimed at the old woman whenever she'd yelled at me. "Well, this day keeps getting better and better."
Grandma Rosa shook her finger. "None of you are to ever breathe a word about this. It is our little secret." She gave all three of us a kiss on the cheek. "Okay, you girls go. I will take the crazies home." Without another word, she turned and walked toward the front door of the funeral home.
Josie watched her leave. "You guys are so lucky to have her. She's like an encyclopedia of wisdom and knowledge all rolled into one."
"I guess I should go join the crazies." Gianna leaned over to hug me.
"Don't you want to ride back to the shop with us?" I asked. "Have a coffee?"
"I think I'll go home and take a nap. See you for dinner." Gianna smiled at Josie. "Mom wants you to come too."
She shook her head. "I need to get home to the little monsters. Some other time, thanks."
As we drove back to the shop, I couldn't help thinking about how my life had become total chaos since Amanda's murder. My business was teetering on the edge, and our deliveryman was dead. Mike had admitted he still loved me while I, in turn, was confused about my feelings for him. Brian, whom I had grown fond of quickly, just informed me I was under suspicion for murder. No wonder my head ached. I reached into my purse for some Tylenol.
Josie interrupted my thoughts. "What did Brian say after we left?"
I swallowed the pills dry. "He wants us to stay out of the investigation. He said it's dangerous."
"Well, he has a point. If Vido was murdered, it's because he knew something. The killer might think you know it too."
"How can I back out of this? Now Brian says we have to close for about two weeks."
Josie's mouth fell open. "That long?"
"Don't worry, I'll figure out something for you."
She frowned. "I'm not taking charity from you. You'd keep paying my salary while living back home with your wacky parents. I know you."
I didn't want to scare Josie, but what would happen if they never found the person responsible for Amanda's death? My stomach revolted at the thought. There was no way I could back off the killer's trail now.
Josie pulled the van into the alley behind the shop.
"Do you have to rush off? We really need to come up with some kind of game plan." I glanced toward the back door, and a chill ran down my spine. "Did I forget to lock the door?"
Her face paled. "I saw you lock it."
We both jumped out of the vehicle and rushed toward the building. A huge chunk of the wooden door was missing, and it stood wide open, daring us to enter. We glanced around inside with trepidation, fearful someone might be lying in wait for us. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw the prep area. In the two hours since we'd been gone, the place had been completely trashed. Ingredients had been dumped from shelves and spilled onto the floor. Glass storage jars lay shattered.
We trudged through the mess and made our way through the storefront, uttering no words due to shock. I was totally unprepared for the sight before my eyes, and a strangled cry escaped from my throat.
Our intruder had taken the strawberry frosting from inside the fridge and smeared it all over the walls. One side of the display case had been shattered, perhaps by a hammer or someone's foot. Most of the cookies had been emptied from the case, and the floor was littered with a mass of crumbs and glass shards. Several of the crumbled pastries were ground fine, and I found myself wondering if the thug had been brushing up on his tap-dancing skills.
Josie grabbed my arm and pointed at the back wall above the cash register. In pink strawberry frosting, someone had crudely written, "Back off or die, bitches."
"Oh my God." Her voice trembled. "Call Brian."
I covered my face with my hands, not wanting to look anymore.
Josie shook me by the shoulders. "Call him!"
Trembling, I reached for my purse, knocking it onto the floor and into a pile of chocolate chip cookie pieces. I fumbled inside the bag until I located my cell. My hands shook as I searched for his number, pressed the button, and waited, breathing hard.
He answered on the second ring and must have recognized my number. "Sally, this isn't a good time right now."
"Brian." It was a faint whimper—all I could manage.
"What is it?" Brian's tone was alarmed. "What's wrong?"
I picked up the broken stand Rob had made for our wall. Tears fell from my eyes as I spotted one of the little porcelain figures with his head ripped off. Ignoring the mess, I sank onto the floor. "Please come to—to the shop. Some-somebody's trashed it."
"Are you all right?"
I nodded mutely.
"Sally, answer me!" Brian yelled into the phone.
"I'm okay," I sobbed.
"Try not to touch anything. I'll be right there." He clicked off.
Josie sank down onto the floor and wrapped her arms around me. We said nothing as we rocked back and forth, holding each other as if we were drowning.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Josie and I sat in silence at my kitchen table. I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of the drop leaf, flinching as thoughts of the break-in entered my mind. Instead, I tried to focus on how I'd purchased the table and its four matching chairs at a nearby yard sale, talking the owner down to a mere twenty dollars. I'd been very proud of my bargaining skills that day.
It was past six o'clock, and we were waiting for Brian and another policeman to finish their investigation downstairs. Pictures had been taken and my insurance company notified. I was thankful for the policy because even though I didn't own the building, my business needed the protection. The insurance representative informed me that the amount for a new display case would be covered, which was a huge relief. I didn't know about the ingredients or my Cuisinart mixer, which had also been destroyed. That was sure to cost a pretty penny to replace. No money would be coming in for a few weeks, and now I had repairs to make
, on top of a major cleanup.
I exhaled sharply and stared at my green speckled Formica countertop. An unopened bottle of Merlot sat there, just waiting for me to open it. Gianna had given me the wine as a housewarming gift. It would be easy to indulge and forget my troubles, but with my low tolerance for alcohol, not the smartest idea.
Josie sighed and reached for her coffee cup. "What are we going to do, Sal?"
I rested my weary head on my arms. "Someone's trying to warn us to mind our own business. They think we know something."
"I hate to admit it, but I'm getting scared." Josie's eyes glistened with fear.
My stomach was tied in knots. "I know. Me too."
There was a tap on my door, and Brian walked in. He gave us both a sympathetic smile. "We're all set. We've gone through the shop, made note of damages, and taken some pictures. You guys can start cleaning up, if you want. You said nothing was taken, right?"
I shook my head. "I didn't see anything missing. Definitely no money. The shop's closed on Sundays, so the drawer was emptied last night."
He made a note on his pad. "Well, at least you don't have to rush to clean anything up. You have more than a few days."
Josie snorted. "Gee, that's comforting to know."
"Jos." I shot her a warning glance. "It's not his fault."
Her face reddened, and she eased herself out of the chair. "I'm sorry, Brian. I know you're only trying to help. I'll go see if there's anything I can salvage from the ruins."
"I'll start on the walls." I got to my feet and started to walk past Brian.
"Hey." He touched my arm. "Are you angry with me?"
I shook my head, refusing to meet his gaze.
"No, I'll go tackle the walls." Josie glanced from me to Brian. "You come down whenever you're ready." Her high heels clicked on the wooden staircase.
Brian lifted my chin in his large hand. "You're upset I asked you to close the shop."
My eyes were moist as I stared back at him. "It's not you. Honest. I feel so violated right now. Not to mention angry."
Brian put his arms around me, and my heart thumped faster. "Do you know why I didn't want you snooping around? Because I was afraid something like this could happen. I mean, what if you guys had come back early from the wake and found the intruder? He could have—hurt you." His expression darkened.
I understood what he meant, but couldn't bring himself to say. Josie and I both might have been killed.
"I don't know what the insurance company will cover. My policy will probably skyrocket since I didn't have an alarm system installed." I was determined not to cry again and gulped back a sob. "This might be the end of my shop."
Brian tightened his grip around me. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise you I'm going to do whatever I can to find this creep."
He stroked my cheek gently, and from the look in his eyes, I thought he was going to kiss me. I waited, but nothing happened. Something seemed to be holding him back. He released his hold and then walked me toward the stairs, closing the apartment door behind us.
I clenched my fists while surveying the damage, furious at the monster who'd done this. I'd lived with loneliness and betrayal the last couple of years. There was no way I would add fear into the mix. The killer was determined to ruin my life as well as Josie's, and I wanted him stopped.
Josie had donned some plastic gloves and filled a bucket with baking soda and water. She was cleaning the frosting mess off the walls. She gave me an encouraging nod, and I thanked my lucky stars for her. I didn't think I could have handled this by myself.
I managed a smile for Brian. "Thanks for coming. You were a lifesaver."
"Hey, anytime your life needs saving, I'm happy to oblige. Or if you need anything else." He dropped his tone a notch. "Would you like me to stay and help clean up?"
I shook my head. "No, you're on duty. Thanks for the offer, though."
Brian reached for my hand and glanced over at Josie, absorbed in her work. "Let's have that dinner date. How about Tuesday night? I'd really like to get to know you better."
Although sorely tempted, I worried about starting something so soon. My track record with men wasn't very good. "I-I don't know, Brian. I think it's kind of soon for me after the divorce and everything."
"I understand. But you do have to eat, right?" His warm eyes teased me, and I melted under his gaze.
Maybe I was being silly. Plus, I really liked him. "Yes."
"We'll only talk. And eat, of course." He held up his right hand. "Scout's honor."
I laughed. He made it tough for me to say no, and there was something about him and his boyish charm that I found so appealing. Sweet, kind, uncomplicated, and easy on the eyes. The complete package. What can one dinner hurt? I gave in. "Okay."
Brian's face lit up. "Great. Now behave yourself, and another thing, lay off the gas pedal."
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
"Last week, I spotted you going fifty in a thirty-mile-an-hour zone." He shook his finger at me then reached over to take my hand again, massaging it between both of his. My breath caught in my throat. "I should have pulled you over and given you a ticket."
"Why didn't you?"
"I figured you'd start crying and didn't want to see those big, beautiful, brown eyes get all watered down." He hesitated for a second. "I've been watching you for a while."
"Oh, really?" I teased him. "Are you some kind of a stalker?"
His eyes locked on mine. "Only when I see something I like."
Oh, my. "I bet you let everyone off the hook."
He roared with laughter. "I issued over one hundred tickets last month. You're the only one I let off the hook. Like I said, I had my reasons." His tone grew serious. "I've got to get going. Please be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. Call me if you need me. Anytime, day or night."
"Okay." My knight in shining armor.
Brian released my hand. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, beautiful." He strode to the door, turned around, and smiled, giving me one last appraising look before he exited the shop. I waved my hand in front of my face. Dang, it was warm in here.
Josie faced me, hands on her hips. "Well, at least something good came out of this mess. You and Officer Hottie have a date."
"You were listening." I tried to conceal my grin but failed miserably.
"Hey, I never like to miss out on the good stuff. And he is hot. Maybe not as hot as Mike, but pretty damn close."
"Would you quit? We're only having dinner." I went into the back room for another bucket and dumped in some baking soda. "How's it coming off?"
"Slowly, but it doesn't seem to be hurting the paint. By the way, Gianna's on her way over. She said she'd be here within an hour to help."
"Did you tell her what happened?"
"Your father heard the alert over his scanner. They called my phone when you didn't answer. Must have been while you and Brian were upstairs making out." Josie flicked a drop of water at me as I walked by.
I wiped my cheek. "We weren't doing anything. He was here on business, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. He's strictly all business around you."
I grabbed a sponge and set to work on removing our personalized message. I didn't want to look at it anymore. "So if the murderer did this, they weren't at the wake after all."
"They could have been." Josie wrung out her sponge. "The viewing was until five o'clock. They might have come here, trashed the place, and gone over afterward."
"Did you see Zoe and Liza at the funeral home?" The B in bitches vanished before my eyes.
She shook her head. "Maybe they showed up after we left."
My sponge was quickly turning the same shade as Pepto-Bismol. "What do you think about Charlotte?"
Josie stopped to consider. "I guess anything's possible. She seemed to be fond of Amanda, though. Why else would she put up with her crap for years? You're forgetting she was at the wake too. The entire time."
"I know. That's what's so f
rustrating about all this."
"Okay, let's break this all down. I mean, who do we have as suspects? Liza, the crazy massage therapist. Maybe Zoe. There are other technicians at the shop we haven't met yet. They could be suspects as well. We know they all hated Amanda. Maybe Charlotte was involved. We even thought it might have been Vido, remember."
"What about Jeannie Peterson?" I asked.
Josie narrowed her eyes at me. "The Wicked Witch of the West? Why would you suspect her?"
"When Jeannie was in here the other day, she mentioned that Amanda got her just desserts. And she came back last night, after you'd gone home. She…" I stopped. There was no way I was going to tell my friend what Jeannie had said about her. "Um, she said she knew you didn't like her."
Josie snorted. "Gee, she sure knows how to hurt my feelings. The woman is a nutcase, but there's no way she did it. How could she have even gotten close enough to slip something into her smoothie? Amanda wouldn't let Jeannie anywhere near her. She hated her cackling guts."
She had a point. "I'm trying to consider all options here."
"Then you have to consider Mike, too."
"Why? Because he comes from an abusive family? The idea is ridiculous."
Josie smiled. "My, aren't you quick to defend him."
I ignored her teasing. "Look. Mike had no reason to kill her. He was installing a Jacuzzi at the spa. That's all."
"By the way." Josie scrubbed the wall around the front door. "Mikey was watching you and Officer Hottie talking at the wake. He didn't look too happy."
"What else is new? He seems to be everywhere these days." I found it amazing that I hadn't seen Mike during the first few weeks I was back in town. Then again, I'd barely stepped foot out of the shop. Now there was no escaping him.
She waved her sponge in the air. "Getting back to Charlotte. She'd have easy access to the money and bee venom they kept at the spa. Maybe she even had a key to Amanda's apartment. She fits the profile spot on."
I laughed. "The profile? What, are you Sherlock Holmes now?"
"Oh, you know what I mean. She's the perfect suspect." Josie picked up the bucket and carried it into the back room for another refill.
Tastes Like Murder (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 1) Page 15