by Libby Klein
I went up the flight of steps to my room. Figaro was curled up on my bed, a few telltale purple leaves stuck to his fur. I picked them out and scratched under his chin. He stretched like a corkscrew. Belly up, top paws in one direction and bottom paws in the other.
“Why are you so naughty?”
He curled back up, opened an eye, and yawned before going back to sleep.
I quickly changed into a black leather skirt and black boots. Then I obsessed over the message I would send Gia if I showed up for my date with Tim looking better than I did when I came in with the muffins. I changed into jeans. Then back into the skirt. Then back into the jeans. I put on a green sweater. Changed into a black T-shirt. Then back to the sweater. I ran out of time to do my hair so I ran a brush through it and put it up in a clip. Then I changed back into the T-shirt. Then I touched up my makeup, changed back into the sweater, and ran down the stairs. My date had just pulled up to the curb, so I yelled to Aunt Ginny that I was going to the coffee shop with Tim and I’d be back later.
Tim had dressed up for the occasion. I reached up and straightened the collar on his crisp blue linen dress shirt. “You look extra handsome tonight. This wouldn’t be a competition, would it?”
He gave a mischievous grin, then leaned down and kissed me. “Are you nervous?” he teased.
“Of course not,” I lied. I’m terrified. What if I blow it with both of them? That would serve me right. What if they make me choose? I barely know what I want today, let alone for my future. And who would I choose? I’ve barely spent any time with either one of them.
“Are you sure? Because you look like you’re going to be sick.”
I gave Tim my best smile, which may or may not have made me look like a mental patient. We walked the few blocks over to La Dolce Vita in uncomfortable silence.
Gia was wiping down the bar when we arrived. He too was dressed uncharacteristically swanky for work on a Saturday night. The crease in his slacks was so sharp it could slice tomatoes. He didn’t look at me when I came in. He was too busy locked in a stare-down with Tim. I could have set my hair on fire and neither one of them would have noticed me.
The main theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly whistled from somewhere behind the espresso machine.
Gia’s eyes held a vacant expression for just a flicker, then he shook his head and hollered over his shoulder. “Karla! Ciò che è sbagliato con te?”
The music went off and Karla’s laugh floated to the front of the bar on the tension in the air.
I cleared my throat. “Tim, this is Gia. Gia, Tim.”
I expected the men to shake hands, but instead they each gave a tense chin nod. Gia was the first to break out of the trance. “Welcome to my espresso bar.”
“It’s cute.” Tim gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I have a restaurant at the harbor. Maxine’s Bistro. It seats two hundred. I think your little coffee shop could fit right in my back room.”
Gia folded his arms across his chest, flexing his biceps, and leaned against the counter. “I prefer a smaller, more intimate affair.”
Tim shifted his weight and looked around again. “Well, you do have smaller, for certain. It’s a shame your business is so slow. Nowadays it’s hard to make these little shops successful.”
Oh good Lord. Just lock horns and get it over with already.
Gia gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Coffee is definitely much more popular in the morning, but that gives me more time to make love, at night, when a restaurant owner would be too busy.”
Whoa, nobody’s been making love.
Karla made a noise like “Mm-hmm!” and drew a one in the air with her finger.
Tim paled. “I’m glad Poppy has been helping you bring in some new customers.” Tim put an arm around my shoulders and yanked me against him. “I’d hate to see your business fail and for you to have to close up and leave town.”
Gia smiled at me and we locked eyes. “Poppy has been the best thing to happen to me in a long time.” Then he looked at Tim. “It must be hard for you, working in such a stressful environment without your own Poppy to assist you. No wonder you look so weak and tired.”
Tim’s arm stiffened.
I looked to Karla for help. She was leaning over the counter, enraptured. Her hands clasped together, her eyes moving back and forth like a referee at an underground cage match. She gave me a gleeful smile.
I cleared my throat again, and tried to get Tim to loosen his death grip on my shoulder. “Why don’t we order some coffee and sit down. Gia has this wonderful seating area. I’ve often thought about sitting in here on rainy days, to read.”
Karla pulled the pin on a comment, tossed it into the middle of the room, then stood back to watch the fallout. “You should bring a book with you, Poppy; you’re already here every day. If Giampaolo had his way, you’d belong to him permanently.”
Tim stumbled on the corner of the leather easy chair he was maneuvering past, and he fell into the seat.
Karla giggled at Gia’s glare. “What? I mean as a business partner, of course.”
Gia put his hand on his sister’s shoulder, gave her a dirty look, and teasingly spun her away from us. “What would you like, bella? I’ll give you anything.”
I know he was asking for my coffee order, but whew! Such intensity in his eyes. My stomach did a little flip-flop.
Karla wasn’t even a little deterred by her brother. She popped her head around the corner of the espresso machine again. “Why don’t you make them some of the coffee cocktails you’ve been wanting to introduce for after hours?”
“That’s a wonderful idea!” I raved. “That will bring a whole new customer base at night for dessert.”
Tim folded his arms across his chest. “You know you need a liquor license for that. They can be really hard to get.”
“I didn’t think of that,” I said.
Gia smiled that mysterious smile of his. “Already have one through Mia Famiglia. I just never thought about using it before.”
Tim frowned.
“I got the idea from you, bella. You said the other day your truffle brownies would be perfect with raspberry liqueur in them.”
Tim pulled my chair closer to his. “My girl has always had a gift when it comes to making up desserts. There was a time, back in the day, when she was going to be my pastry chef.”
“You mean we were going to have our own restaurant together. Right?”
“Sure.”
Karla poked her head over the counter. “Maybe it just wasn’t the right time.” Then she muttered under her breath, “Or the right partner.”
Gia grinned again. “Now you sit, I will make you a couple of coffee cocktails that I have in mind.” He left to make us the drinks, and I turned to Tim.
“Okay, you can relax your T. rex grip now. I think my shoulder is bruised.”
“Sorry. Gigi told me he was good-looking, but I didn’t realize …” He trailed off. “I should have worked out more today.”
“Relax. You’re perfect just the way you are. Are you sure you want to stay? We could …” A shadow fluttered across the front window. I normally wouldn’t think anything of it, since we were on the mall facing other shops and restaurants, and tourists were still milling about enjoying the crisp autumn night. But I swore I heard a fast-moving click click click move with the shadow.
“No, I want to stay. I haven’t seen you in a few days. Not since you took me to a strip club. Which was awesome.” He was teasing me. That was a good sign that he was relaxing. “I miss you, Mack.”
“You haven’t called me that in years.”
Tim reached up and twisted a strand of my auburn hair that had broken free of its clip. A plate of brownies jutted between us. Karla held them there for a beat to make a point before putting them on the table. “Some of Poppy’s Paleo truffle brownies to have with your cocktails.”
She turned to Tim. “They make a great team, don’t you think?” Then she scampered off.
Gia arrived with a tray and put a chilled rosy chocolate cocktail with a raspberry balanced on the edge of the glass in front of me. “For my beauty here, a Raspberry Truffle. There’s no dairy in it. Wait till you see how it pairs with your brownie.” Then he placed a creamy concoction with three espresso beans floating on top in front of Tim. “For you, a Wake-up Call.”
Tim begrudgingly took a sip. “A little obvious maybe.”
“Gia, this is amazing. The drink really brings out the raspberry puree in the brownies.”
Gia winked, and left us to our date. But he didn’t go far.
I gave Tim a bite of brownie with a sip of my cocktail. “What do you think?”
He sighed. “I hate it, it’s delicious. They do pair beautifully and I can’t believe this brownie is gluten-free.”
I smiled. “And your drink?”
He shook his head. “Except for the innuendo, it’s fantastic. I’d like the recipe, but I don’t dare ask him.”
“Want me to get it for you?”
“Yes, just not tonight. Let me leave with some dignity.”
Karla began fastidiously sweeping the floor. Not the whole floor, mind you, just the floor under our feet. She jabbed at Tim a couple of times, then gasped. We followed her gaze to the front of the shop. There was a crazy person with her face smashed up against the front picture window. Her head was wrapped in a scarf and she was wearing giant sunglasses, but I’d recognize that crackpot anywhere.
Her head jerked back. The psychopath realized she’d been made, and clickity-clacked into the unsuspecting tourist next to her, apologized, and dove into the bushes.
I sighed.
“What are you thinking about?” Tim asked me.
“Just thinking about that movie Psycho.”
“Speaking of psychos, did the police find anything out that will help Aunt Ginny?”
“No. I’m not sure they’re trying really hard. She had to go over to the station today to answer some follow-up questions. I’ve tried to offer Amber some alternative suspects, but she isn’t taking me seriously.”
Tim covered my hand with his, but got knocked in the back of his chair by Karla furiously mopping a four-foot square of floor behind him.
Gia said something to her in Italian that she didn’t like and she threw the mop behind the counter and stomped outside.
I filled Tim in about Emilio and Erika and the details of what I’d found out over the past couple of days, leaving out the bit about Gia helping me with the charity information. No need to light that match.
After the fourth time that I heard clickity-clackity sounds scurry by the front window, I knew I’d had enough. No blood was shed, no one ended up in the emergency room. It was a successful date.
I said goodbye to Gia, who gave me a very long, very intimate hug, and led Tim outside.
Tim pulled me into an embrace in front of the picture window. He leaned in and kissed me, but only for a moment, because Karla shot him in the face with a hose.
“Ach, sorry. I was watering the plants and it just got away from me.”
Tim wiped his face with his hand and looked in the flowerpots. “There’s only dirt in there!”
Karla gave him a beautiful smile. “The seeds are getting ready for next spring.”
I took Tim’s wet hand. “Why don’t we head back to Aunt Ginny’s.”
We walked hand in hand past the other Victorian manor houses and bed-and-breakfasts. The mood was very different than it had been at the beginning of the night.
“Well, that Karla is definitely not team Tim, is she?”
I laughed. “Don’t worry, she’s not team Poppy either. I think she just loves the drama.”
Tim spun me around to face him. “You know I’m crazy about you, don’t you, Mack?”
My heart went to him. “I know. I’m crazy about you too.”
He leaned in and kissed me and this time it was sincere and full of affection instead of marking his territory. When he broke contact he held me close and asked me, “What’s going on?”
“Well, you said we were dating other people, so that’s—”
“No. Not that. I mean over there at Aunt Ginny’s. What’s going on there?”
Down the block three police cruisers with lights flashing were pulling up in front of Aunt Ginny’s house. “Oh my God!”
Chapter 37
I ran down the block, pulling Tim with me. All the lights were on inside the house. Figaro was sitting on the front porch, his body erect, his whiskers stiff, his tail twitching. Smitty sat next to him, his hat lying on the porch, forgotten. Police officers were searching the yard, the garage, and the neighbors’ yards.
“Smitty! What’s going on?”
Smitty was clearly upset. He opened his mouth to tell me, but Amber busted out of the front door onto the porch before he had a chance.
“McAllister! Where is your aunt? I told her to be at the station before eight, when I was supposed to get off. Now it’s quarter past nine, and I had to come over here to collect her instead of going home and having a glass of wine.”
“What do you mean, where is she? Isn’t she inside?” I looked to Smitty.
He wrung his hands. “I haven’t seen her all day. The cat won’t even go in the house right now. I think he knows something is wrong.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean, she hasn’t been here all day? Wasn’t she here a couple of hours ago when I came home to get dressed?”
“No, she left this morning right after you did. She didn’t tell me where she was going, just said not to wait up. I thought she was kidding since it was ten a.m. But she still hasn’t returned.”
I was stunned. The whole time I was getting ready for my date I thought she was watching television. She could be lying in a ditch somewhere, and I was off flirting and eating brownies.
Amber stepped to me. “I told you I was holding you responsible. Give me one good reason not to take you in for aiding and abetting, McAllister?”
I tried to be strong and put up a brave front, but my lip started to tremble. “I … I thought she was inside. What if she’s been kidnapped? What if the killer got to her? What if she’s …”
Tim put his arm around me. “Don’t even go there.”
“Who’s been kidnapped?” Georgina appeared beside me, taking off the dark sunglasses and head scarf she’d used to disguise herself earlier. I was too distraught to point it out.
Smitty answered her. “Ginny is missing.”
Georgina’s hand shot up to her throat. “Oh God! Since when?”
“All day.” Smitty dropped his face to his hands.
Tim nudged me. “Did she take any more of those sleeping pills? Could she be sleepwalking again?”
“No. There’s no way. Even if she did, she wouldn’t sleepwalk for hours.”
Amber called in on her police radio that she had a missing suspect and requested a wider police search.
“Do we really need the manhunt?” I asked. “Can’t we just wait and see if she turns up on her own?”
“I would, but the situation has changed.”
“Changed how?”
“When I told her this morning to come down to the station, it was because we had a few new reports of breakins and missing items. The victims don’t live near you and the reports don’t come from credible sources. So, we figured they were coming from attention seekers and opportunists. I wanted to show Mrs. Frankowski some photos to see if she knew any of the alleged victims.”
“Okay, so what changed?”
“As of this evening, an eyewitness has come forward who identified Aunt Ginny leaving the victim’s house the night of the murder.”
My chest constricted, and my breath came ragged and shallow.
Georgina stepped in and asked the question that wouldn’t form on my lips. “When you say identified, do you mean they know Ginny, and they said they saw her specifically?”
“No, they described an elderly woman, slightly stooped, with bright
red hair in a beehive style, wearing a pink track suit and leaving the victim’s house carrying a rolling pin at two a.m. on the night in question. We showed them a lineup of photographs and they ID’d Mrs. Frankowski.”
Smitty blew out a pent-up breath. “I thought that had to be done in person. You do it by pictures now?”
“The photographs are preliminary. I was coming tonight to take her in for a lineup. That’s when I discovered that she was missing. This doesn’t look good, McAllister. Everything about this confirms that your aunt is guilty.”
Fear was being replaced with panic and a burst of adrenaline. I jumped to my feet. “I don’t care what it looks like. I know Aunt Ginny is innocent. Instead of calling the police force down on her, why don’t you call the hospitals and make sure she hasn’t been in an accident, or worse.” I grabbed my purse and headed for my car.
Amber’s face reddened with irritation. “Get back here, McAllister. You’re not leaving my sight.”
“I’m going to look for Aunt Ginny. I’m not just waiting here while she could be out there hurt and scared.”
Tim followed me. “Then I’m going with you. I’ll drive.”
I put my hand up. “You know what would make me feel better? If you went in your car and checked out the emergency room and urgent care. We could cover more ground and find her a lot faster if we split up.”
“Whatever you need, I’m here for you.” Tim gave me a quick peck.
Smitty jumped up. “Where do you want me to go?”
“Smitty, you go to the beach, boardwalk, grocery store—then call me.”
Smitty saluted. “You got it, boss.”
Tim and Smitty drove off in their vehicles and I started for mine again.
Amber spoke like she was scolding a disobedient child. “You aren’t in any condition to be operating a vehicle. For once in your life, leave it to those who know what they’re doing.”
“You can’t stop me, Amber.”
Amber reached for her handcuffs.
“I’ll go with her.” Georgina stepped between me and Officer Airhead. “I’ll keep her safe.”
Amber wrote something down in her flip book, then tore it out. She handed it to Georgina. “This is my cell. Call me hourly until you find her.”