Please enjoy Chapter One of Cooks, Crooks and a Corpse, the first book in a new series by Maria Grazia Swan.
I parked my Fiat 500 inside the open gate and headed up the long driveway of the Dumont residence. My skirt swayed to the beat of my high heels pounding on newly laid pavers. I could see a group of guys huddled in front of the house, talking. Supremely aware that I was the only woman in sight, I pretended to check the place out, totally in control.
Sure.
Why was the front door wide open? Oh, of course, construction workers. The hard hats should have been my clue. I hated, hated constructions workers. My legs felt like polenta, the corn mush of my Italian childhood, but I kept on walking. After all the years in the United States, memories of Italian laborers, their whistling and catcalls, still made me uncomfortable and self-conscious around construction sites.
Not a single hard hat had looked at me. Until now. Having noticed me coming up the driveway with the large manila envelope tucked under my arm, two men turned away to talk to each other, one husky the other slightly slimmer, though I could only see their backs. When the slim one cocked his head to look at me, I caught a glimpse of rolled up papers. Blueprints?
I had no idea the house renovation wasn’t done yet. Escrow closed twenty days ago. I was there to deliver documents pertaining to the sale, and I hoped to get a peek at the finished product. I had first seen the home when Sunny Novak, my boss, listed it. A sprawling ranch-type residence on two acres of precious land, zoned for horses.
The house, built in the seventies, needed serious renovation, and the asking price had reflected that. The Dumonts paid the full price. Cash. Like the last name suggested, they were originally from Europe. Sunny had been a friend of the family forever, so she knew what they were looking for. All went quickly and smoothly.
I was dying to take a closer look, but the slim, young man, walking briskly, caught me before I made it to the front terrace, a brand new terrace.
“Can I help you, miss?” His tone of voice rather polite than friendly.
“Hi, I’m Monica Baker, Ms. Novak's assistant and–”
“Oh, yes, Sunny called.”
His unsettling eyes, a rare amber color, glanced at me without really looking at me. I could tell. He acted bored, distant. His out-stretched arm offered an open hand. I set the manila envelope on his palm.
He nodded. “Thanks.” Then he turned around and strode back toward the group of waiting hard hats.
His black ponytail bobbed against the collar of his jacket as he walked. I wondered what kind of crude remarks he elicited from his co-workers regarding that ponytail? Nah, those times were long gone. Nowadays no one cared about the length of your hair, unless it interfered with your job description. Ponytail or not, the guy was a bit peculiar. His hands didn’t look like the hands of a construction worker. Maybe he was a boss and only gave the orders, or he wore gloves.
I sighed. Everything in America was so different from back in Italy.
Damn. I'd forgotten to ask his name. Those were important legal papers I'd handed over. Ouch. Well, he obviously knew about the delivery; he'd said Sunny had called. Okay then, mission accomplished. Funny. I felt insulted by Italian men because they whistled and called out, so shouldn’t I be delighted at being ignored by this amber-eyed ponytail guy? I didn't feel delighted.
As I walked back down the driveway back to my car, I noticed the bright red bougainvilleas that marked the property’s boundaries, and how they contrasted sharply with the soft purple hue the fading November sun had brushed on the northern face of Piestewa Peak in the distance. Another typical, gorgeous Phoenix sunset. I could never tire of them.
Five o’clock. No need to go back to the office. Happy hour at Z’Tejas sounded like the perfect place to unwind. I was circling in front of the busy restaurant looking for a parking place, when my cellphone chimed. What now?
“Hey.”
Brenda. “What’s up? You sure pick the most annoying times to call. What do you need?” I asked, more sharply than I'd intended.
“Why are you assuming I need something? I’m your aunt–”
“No, you’re not. And now I’m sure you want me to do you a favor. You only pull the aunt crap when you need something from me.”
I could hear Brenda chuckling, that low, rough laugh of lifetime smokers. “Hey, little girl, show some respect. It was Tommy, not me, who divorced you. And besides, I’d take you over my irresponsible nephew any day, which is why you live with me and he doesn’t.”
Aw shucks.
“But you’re right. Can you pick up Dior?”
I knew it. “Pick him up? Where?”
“Doggie day care, usual place. I’m still at work and it’s on your way home from the office.”
“I’m not at the office.”
“Oh, and where are you then, Miss Monica?”
Brenda, always full of sass. “Nowhere, really. I was planning on stopping in Z’Tejas, but I was just driving around hoping to spot an empty parking space when you called.”
“Oh, stop whining. Dior needs to be picked up before six. If you can’t make it, I need to get cranking.”
“Never mind, I’ll go get your precious dog, but you’re feeding me when you get home.”
“I feed you five times a week anyway.” She coughed once. “See you. Drive carefully with that can of sardines you call a car.”
She hung up before I could think of a zinger of a comeback.
The Nice Day Spa, for pets, where Brenda dropped off her Great Dane, was close to home, so I headed in that direction. She only took Dior there a few days a month, days when we were both away working. They were days when Brenda was planning healthy gourmet meals for the Scottsdale retirement resort where she was a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist consultant, and I was doing an open house for one of Sunny’s listings or running errands for her.
Between my day job and evening real estate classes, Brenda and I didn’t see each other very often. But she always had extra food if I came home hungry. And Brenda’s food made it definitely worth coming home hungry.
Dior leaped into the back seat of my Fiat, plopping down his massive body, making my little car shake. The dark bluish gray of his short hair meshed well with the black leather interior of the car. He stretched to lick the side of my neck before I had a chance to shift gears.
As usual, I got all giggly. Thankfully Brenda wasn’t there to see it. She would have been upset, claiming I was ruining all of Dior’s expensive hours of training to teach him not to slobber on people. I didn’t care. I was sure Dior considered me his playmate and Brenda the disciplinarian.
Okay, she was a lot more than that. She had become the reluctant rescuer of the young Great Dane when the dog’s owner, a longtime resident of the luxurious retirement community, had died. Unbeknownst to Brenda, the dog’s owner had Brenda listed as one of her beneficiaries, slated to receive a bounty in addition to the dog. While the dead woman’s relatives, all from out of state, fought over the money, Brenda had brought the pup home. By then the poor thing had already been named Dior, something to do with the owner’s past and, according to her, glorious career in the French fashion industry.
All that was two years ago and taking care of Dior had turned out to be a very rewarding decision, in more ways than one. I’m sure the judge had taken into consideration Brenda's care of the animal when he decided who should inherit what.
We used to joke that the unexpected inheritance could be Brenda’s trousseau once prince charming came calling. With Brenda in her late forties and locked in a long, destructive relationship with a married man who wasn’t about to leave his family any day soon, the joke was sort of lame, but she was a good sport.
Besides, we avoided talking about that situation as much as possible. I’m sure it was painful for her and it was awkward for me, having grown up in Italy, daughter of staunch Catholics. My family was still in denial regarding my two-year-old divorce and the fact that my ex had been caught kissing
one of the high school girls he met while working as a substitute gym coach. Every time we spoke long distance, my relatives reminded me to relay to Tommy their undying affection and they prodded me to “see the light because boys will be boys” and all that nonsense.
I turned south on 36th Street, in the opposite direction of the Dumont house. Geographically, Brenda's home and the Dumont house were only a few miles apart, but value wise, well, the distance was a million dollars or so. That’s what being on the good side of a street can do. In this case the street was Shea Boulevard. And the good side was the south side.
The Dumont’s residence was south of Shea in the foothills of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, with access to miles and miles of trails. Brenda’s home was north of Shea, closer to the 51 Freeway. She lived in the main house, and I occupied the guest cottage in the back. A seven-foot deep body of water divided our places, the pool she'd built with part of the inheritance from Dior’s original owner.
Even before reaching our driveway I noticed the truck with the blue dolphins painted on the doors. No telling how long it had been parked in front of the house. What now? I bet Max saw me coming. My car was hard to miss. What it lacked in size, it made up in the flash factor. My Fiat was hot pink.
I held firmly onto Dior’s leash. The dog was hard to control. Max had that effect on him. Maybe because he was one of the few men hanging around regularly. The jumping and whining began even before I killed the engine and opened the car door.
“How’s my boy?” Max was by my car before I killed the engine.
He patted Dior’s head trying to calm him a little, then pulled the usual treat from his back pocket. The dog’s enthusiasm reached a new high. Max squatted next to the Dane and scratched behind his ears, talking calmly until Dior started to settle down, then rewarded him with the treat.
“Brenda isn’t here?” he asked.
“No, she’s working late. You need to talk to her?” I kept my fingers superstitiously crossed for luck while asking that, since I was not in an entertaining mood.
“Not really, just wanted to stop by and say hello.” As he talked he kept his blue eyes steady on me. Cerulei my mother would say of the color. And she would be right, although I had only seen eyes that color on dolls, never on humans. So intense was that blue, it looked fake.
“Oh.” The crossed fingers had not done the trick. He waited to be invited in.
I fiddled with my keys, avoiding the subject. Dior was done with his treat, so he pulled me toward Brenda’s house.
“I need to take care of Dior. The poor guy was at day care all day.”
“Sure.” Max moved in the same direction.
Damn, he knew Brenda wasn’t home, I had just told him. That’s what happens when you sleep with a guy, they think they own you. Now what?
“Want me to take his leash?” he offered.
I handed it to him without a word. I just couldn’t think of a nice way to tell Max to get lost. If there was one thing I was good at was playing the victim. Then again, he didn’t force me, didn’t coerce me. I can’t even say I'd had too much to drink. Nope. I missed sex, was in a funk, and Max had been there, pretending to service Brenda’s pool, staring at me with those cerulei eyes that I was sure were well trained in the art of cajoling women into dropping their bikinis, or whatever they were wearing, and throwing themselves into the arms of the eyes’ owner.
The funny part was that I'd found out that Max really didn’t know much about pools. It was just one of his creative ways to pick up women. The pool company was owned by his family. Max had his own career. He ran a successful karate studio for little kiddos, and the word on the street was that he was always available to teach a few moves, free of charge, to the young moms who signed up the little ones.
And believe me, moves he had a-plenty, and then some.
After the years of slam-bang-thank-you-ma'am with my ex, sex with Max was like a well-choreographed dance, worth getting your heart broken for. Mine never did, get broken that is. It was pure lust, at least from my end. But lately Max had been coming around too often for my tastes. The more often he showed up, the faster I wanted to hide.
He may have been perceived as a great catch by some women, but I wasn’t one of them. Max was a few years younger than me, and I’m sure he was promiscuous. I made it very clear this thing between us wasn’t anything to go pick out a china pattern for. He never spent the night because as I told him, I'd become used to sleeping alone, and I liked it.
Maybe he was a glutton for rude behavior, because he came around more and more often, and that made me quite nervous. What was it he was looking for? Whatever it was, he wouldn’t find it in my bedroom. I had to tell him. The sooner the better, for both of us.
I unlocked Brenda’s back door and of course Dior muscled his way in and headed for his water bowl. I moved swiftly, mainly because I didn’t want Max to get any ideas just because we were alone in the house. I really, really wished he’d go home.
“Here Dior, let me remove the leash and get you some fresh water. Your mommy will be home soon. Okay sweetie?” I petted his head right between his large floppy ears.
“The yearly award night is in two weeks.”
Max was right behind me. I hadn't even heard him move. That was another one of his annoying trademarks. He was like a smooth predator.
“Looks like our studio is up for a few awards.”
“That’s great,” I said. “Congratulations.” Now go home.
“Thanks. I was wondering… it’s — sort of formal — cocktails and dinner before the ceremony… and… I mean… would you like to go with me?”
“Go with you? Where?”
He looked confused for a second. “To the dinner and the awards. Weren’t you listening?”
“Huh — oh, yes…”
“Yes, you’ll go?”
Oh, the relief and joy in his voice. “No, I meant yes I was listening.” Che strega What a witch my mother would say, rightfully so.
“Then you’re not going?”
I couldn’t look at him. I had to stop the nonsense. “I don’t know. When is it? I may or may not be free.” Chicken.
“It’s the Saturday after next.”
I moved a few feet away from him, avoiding looking at his face and the cerulei peepers.
“Saturday — after next — I see. I’ve sort of promised Brenda I was going to the opera with her.” Fingers crossed behind my back there was even an opera on that weekend. “Can I get back to you on this?” Coward. “I’ll call you after I talk to Brenda.” Dior acted impatiently, pacing and pushing the empty water bowl with his nose. Good boy, Dior. “I really have to take care of Dior here and then I have to study for my real estate classes, okay?”
Max stood there in the middle of the room looking at me with such intensity I wanted to disappear and stop being a bad person. All I had to do was tell him how I really felt and stop the charade. Before I worked up the nerve Max nodded slightly.
“Okay.” He turned around and left.
I sighed in relief even though I had only postponed the unavoidable moment of truth. I couldn’t decide if I should run over to my place to change clothes and check my email. Oh, heck, it could wait. I kicked off my high heels and went to pour myself a glass of cold Pinot Grigio. Brenda bought it by the case, and always kept a bottle in the refrigerator. It would help to wash away the bad taste in my mouth left by my own cowardice.
Brenda’s home phone rang. Might as well answer it, very few people had her personal number and I knew most of them.
“Hello…” A recording. A collect call from the corrections department. “Push nine to accept the call.” I didn’t wait for the rest of the message. I didn’t need to. This wasn’t my first collect call from jail.
“Hello, Tommy.”
A pause. “Monica? I thought I called Aunt Brenda.”
“You did. She isn’t here. What did you do this time?”
Breathing, labored breathing. “Well, f**k, I need h
er to get down here and bail me out. Tell her I’m good for it. She knows. I can’t call back. Did you hear me?”
“Loud and clear. You still haven’t told me what you’ve been arrested for.”
“What the f**k.” He must have realized I was his only hope of Brenda getting his message. “Monica, come on, sweetie, it’s nothing. A DUI. Just tell Aunt Brenda, okay?” Sweetness coated his voice like caramel on apples.
“I will.”
He hung up before I'd even finished speaking the two short words.
* * * * *
More books by Maria Grazia Swan
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Lella York series
Gemini Moon #1
Venetian Moon #2
Desert Moon #3
Mina’s Adventure series:
LOVE THY SISTER #1
BOSOM BODIES #2
ITALIAN SUMMER #3
ASHES OF AUTUMN #4
A CAT TO DIE FOR #5
BEST IN SHOW #6
About the Author
Bestselling author Maria Grazia Swan was born in Italy, but this rolling stone has definitely gathered no moss. She lived in Belgium, France, Germany, in beautiful Orange County, California where she raised her family, and is currently at home in Phoenix, Arizona–but stay tuned for weekly updates of Where in the World is Maria Grazia Swan?
These days her time is devoted to her deepest passions: writing and helping people and pets find the perfect home.
Maria loves travel, opera, good books, hiking, and intelligent movies (if she can find one, that is). When asked about her idea of a perfect evening, she favors stimulating conversation, Northern Italian food and perfectly chilled Prosecco–but then, who doesn't?
Sniffing Out Murder (Mina's Adventures Book 7) Page 17