by Zoey Kane
“She shouldn’t have left with… with—” Thomas’s face twisted in disgust. Tears streamed down his dirt-streaked face. His stale, wrinkled clothes were just as dirty.
“Your wife wasn’t having an affair with Tony,” she said quietly.
“I said shut up! Know this, woman: when someone takes something of yours—” He stepped forward. “You take something of theirs.” He took another menacing step.
Gia jerked back. Maybe she could scream. Alert someone. She suspected it would be too late if anyone finally noticed. She choked on a sob, thinking her family would be devastated; and Petey, an orphan. Maybe Tony would take care of him. But if she were dead, how would he know to hide Petey’s vitamins in his wet food and not the dry food?
Behind her, the door burst open and Tony’s large body filled the doorway. His eyes were wild. He glanced to see that Gia was unharmed, and then his vision turned red as he looked at Thomas holding a gun.
Thomas rushed to Gia and roughly grabbed her arm, pressing the gun’s cold metal painfully into her left temple. “Now I take what’s yours,” he shouted, but stupidly pointed the gun at Tony, and Gia saw her opportunity.
The hard, blocky camera was still in her hands, and she swung back, hitting Thomas's nose. The camera's flash went off just as a gunshot pierced the air. Gia hit the floor. Tony lunged at Thomas, the gun skidding across the floor to her couch. The two men slammed to the ground.
Gia quickly scrambled after the gun and, on wobbly legs, pointed it at Thomas. Tony had the upper advantage and punched Thomas a few times, knocking him unconscious. Only Gia and Tony’s rapid breathing could be heard in the apartment.
Tony stood and turned to her. “It’s all right now. You can put the gun down,” he said.
Gia merely nodded, her whole body shaking and eyes wide.
Tony gently took the gun from her and set it aside. He encircled his arms around her, willing his heart rate return to normal. A thin line of blood slid down his arm. “Tony! You’re bleeding.”
“He must have nicked me when he hit him.” Tony lifted his sleeve. “It’s just a graze.”
Detective Evans and a herd of officers poured into the small apartment, guns drawn. Evans eyed the unconscious Thomas, then Tony. “I was expecting a lot worse,” he shook his head. “You should let a medic take a look at that arm.”
Officers heaved Thomas to his feet and dragged him away. Gia picked up her camera, thankful it hadn’t been damaged. A picture had been taken. Onscreen appeared a partial shot of Thomas’s red-rimmed eyes. She winced. Tony held her close again.
“I’m going to stick to taking pictures of food,” she said, deleting the photo. She wished she could delete it from her brain.
A quiet evening cuddling with Petey. A grilled hot dog loaded with macaroni, bacon, and chives in a toasted bun with a glass of wine as big as her head was all that Gia wanted—no, needed. It didn’t happen. Instead, Aunt Kendra and her duck-watching group showed up with several pans of lemon-chicken- and-pasta bake. Which wasn’t so bad. Until Gia ’s parents and brothers, including the twins, showed up.
"My baby! Are you all right? I know you told me you were okay over the phone, but I just had to see for myself! David! Get your head out the fridge, come kiss your daughter, and show her that you care!"
“I do care!”
“Could’ve fooled me! You’ve got chicken on your chin! Oh, Gia, now you just have to move back. I’ve dusted your room and put fresh sheets on your bed. I’ve even got a roast in the crockpot that’ll be ready by dinner.”
It went on like this for many hours, with Gia continuing to ignore her mother’s constant insistence on returning. At one point, her mother and Aunt Kendra joined forces. Thankfully, Jennie came by to help defuse the crazy women.
Gia’s attention soon focused on preventing the twins from installing security devices. “It wouldn’t hurt to be prepared,” Russell said. “Here, look. These babies can detect anybody that walks through the door and scan their blood type and DNA—”
“DNA?”
“Yep. And if it doesn’t match anyone on record, it’ll notify the cops. Cool, huh?”
Gia walked away from that and found her father asleep in her bed, clutching an empty chicken-bake pan. Adding to the mix, soon all of Jennie’s four older brothers arrived, and all the men began an arm-wrestling tournament that turned into a giant dogpile. Petey stood on the coffee table—Gia hadn’t clue as to how he got there—barking his head off, egging them on.
Detective Evans stopped by to inform Gia about Thomas’s status, not caring that twenty people and an instigating dog were all crowded in the small apartment. “Thomas confessed to killing his wife, but he is convinced he didn’t actually commit the crime.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Gia said.
“We have evidence that he strangled Amanda. That’s clean, clear, and done. But in his mind, he believes he didn’t actually do it. He’ll be under psychiatric watch.”
Gia grabbed a large spoonful of chicken pasta and collapsed onto the couch to watch her giant family wrestle, argue, laugh, smile, and eat. She sighed, thinking she wouldn’t have them any other way.
10
Gia and Tony were sitting on a bench at Greenville Lake, both feasting on thickly layered pastrami sandwiches with provolone on rye. They shared a bag of potato chips and a cup of pickle spears, silently watching geese and ducks fly and float by. People walked and rode their bikes around the lake’s path.
Food, good friends, and a fun job was what the future held for Gia. She was excited to continue her life in Greenville and planned on working harder to expand Good Eatin' for the Curvy Soul and be noticed by the executives of Forks and Knives. She liked having Tony around and would take one day at a time with him.
Tony, letting go of others’ harsh opinions of him, planned to put all his energy into making In The Box the best bistro it could be, like his Uncle Sal had envisioned. Plus, it felt good to rekindle the friendship with a woman who never doubted him.
He set his sandwich down, grabbed Gia’s digital camera, and took her picture. “Wait, what? Seriously, Tony?” She threw a chip at him.
“I’m thinking of starting my own blog,” he smirked.
“Oh, really? I’ve got the perfect name: Tony Santino Being a Creep dot com,” she chuckled, then reached for her camera. “Let me see.”
The picture showed her mid-blink, cheeks stuffed with pastrami like a hamster, her eyes sparkling like the lake, and face glowing in the sunlight. Gia felt her face warm.
“Call it whatever you want. It’s going to be a hit,” Tony said.
Yards away, disguised, Mike Santino watched his son and a woman he recognized from long ago. David’s daughter. Gia, was it? His son looked healthy and strong. Mike didn’t regret calling the police (with the anonymous tip) when that wrinkled old man trespassed onto his son’s property. He knew it put him at risk, but he didn’t regret it, seeing that it led his son and the cops to whoever the hell they were after.
Mike readjusted his dark sunglasses and hat and turned away. Stuff to do. I’ll be back, he thought. Soon.
The end.
Read on for a special note from the authors and a link to the next in the Curvy Soul Mysteries series.
Special Note From The Authors
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this mystery, we’d be delighted if you’d review it. Positive reviews help us gain advertising and exposure, thus allowing us to continue our mystery series.
Warmest regards,
Zoey and Claire Kane
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Order Next In Series
Don’t forget to order the next books in the series:
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If you’re in the mood for more mysteries, you can find more by Zoey and Claire Kane on Am
azon: Z & C Mysteries, A Siamese Sleuth Mystery, The Dead Ex Files.