A Thin Crust of Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 14)

by Patti Benning

  “Can I get you anything?” Joanna asked after a moment.

  The other woman shook her head. Ellie and Joanna exchanged another glance, and Ellie shrugged. Whatever Gina wanted to talk to Steve about, she didn’t look happy about it. Ellie hoped that the woman hadn’t decided to sell the coffee shop, and not just because she knew she’d never find such a good cup of coffee anywhere else.

  With nothing to be done for the despondent woman, Ellie and Joanna returned to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. She could tell that the hotdog shop owner was both nervous and excited about the next day. Hopefully she gets plenty of business tomorrow, she thought. I just know this place is going to be a hit.

  They had barely finished cleaning everything for the evening when the kitchen door creaked open. Ellie looked over to see Gina standing there. She opened her mouth to ask if everything was all right, but the words froze in her mouth when she saw that the other woman was holding. She had a gun in her hand.

  “Did you change your mind?” Joanna asked as cheerfully as ever, oblivious to the weapon that Gina was holding. “I just finished cleaning out the fryers, but I could toss a hotdog on the grill if you want. Or the shake machine is still running, if you wanted something sweet.”

  “Joanna, come over here,” Ellie said quietly. Her new friend gave her a puzzled look, then turned back towards Gina. Ellie saw her entire body tense. She had finally noticed the gun.

  “I’m really sorry about this, Ellie,” Gina said. “I was hoping to find Steve here alone. He’s trying to blackmail me, and there’s no other way out. The coffee shop is only thing I have going for me and I’m not going to sell it, no matter what he decides to do. I really wish the two of you weren’t here.”

  “What are you—” Gina raised the gun, her hand shaking, and pointed it towards them, cutting Joanna off mid-sentence.

  Ellie put hand on Joanna’s shoulder and slowly tugged her back. “Gina, I don’t understand. If you don’t want to sell, then don’t. No one is going to force your hand. There’s no reason to do something you’ll regret later.”

  She was shocked more than frightened. It was hard to imagine Gina, a woman that she saw multiple times each week, as a threat.

  “I don’t understand,” Joanna said. “You came here to shoot my husband?”

  “I’m not going to jail, and I’m not selling the coffee shop. He’s not leaving me with any other options.”

  “Why would you go to jail?” Ellie asked. Gina’s gaze was focused on Joanna, and while she was distracted, Ellie was trying to take her cellphone out of her pants pocket. If only she could put a call through to Russell to let him know they were in trouble.

  “He knew. Somehow, he knew.” Ellie was shocked to see tears in the woman’s eyes. “He knew that I killed that man. He threatened to tell the sheriff if I didn’t agree to sell the coffee shop for his original offer. I was going to do it, I was so close to signing the papers, but I couldn’t bear to go through with it. I really didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I’m so sorry, Ellie, but I have to protect myself.”

  “You killed my electrician?” Joanna asked, shocked.

  “I thought he was your husband. He looked just like Steve from behind—tall, dark haired, muscular. Steve had told me to come by at that time, and I had come to tell him that I was refusing his offer, and when I saw him there I just lost my temper. He had come to see me three times already, and I knew that he wouldn’t give up. I hate what he wants to do to this town. I thought it would be so much easier if he just… went away. I grabbed one of the pipes that was sitting out and hit him almost before I knew what I was doing. When I realized what I’d done, I dragged his body into the freezer and ran. Steve must have guessed it was me, since he knew I was supposed to meet him there that morning, and I’m sure my reaction when he brought it up told him I was right.”

  “You tried to kill my husband?” Joanna asked. This time instead of backing up, she took a step forward. Gina’s hand twitched and Ellie could see her fingers tighten on the gun.

  “Don’t come any closer,” she said. “I really don’t want to do this, but I don’t see any other way. I’ll wait here for Steve, and I’ll kill him too. I might get away with it—I have no reason to want to hurt Ellie, after all. Maybe that will throw the sheriff off my scent.”

  Ellie was still struggling to get her phone out of her jeans pocket, but the pants were too tight for her to do it without moving. She looked around, realizing that they probably didn’t have time to wait for Russell anyway, and her eyes landed on the light switch. It was right by her elbow. Gina probably wasn’t as familiar with the kitchen as Joanna was, and Ellie had spent the last couple of hours in the room. If she plunged them all into darkness, maybe she and Joanna would have enough of an advantage to be able to escape.

  She glanced over at her new friend, wishing she could communicate her plan with her somehow, but her eyes were glued to Gina.

  “Both of you, step over here,” she said, gesturing towards the freezer. “Go inside. Go on, hurry up.”

  “If you think that—”

  A shot went off. Ellie jumped. One of the floor tiles had exploded where the bullet hit. Gina wasn’t playing around.

  “Get. Into. The. Freezer. Now.”

  Joanna moved jerkily towards the freezer, her hands shaking as she reached for the handle. She pulled it open slowly, and Ellie felt the blast of frigid air even from where she was standing.

  “You too, Ellie.”

  Ellie took a deep breath and made her move. In one quick motion, she flicked the light switch down and then jumped out of the way in case Gina fired at where she had been standing. They were plunged into darkness and sure enough, the gun went off with a deafening bang. Someone shouted, and she heard the repulsive thump of flesh hitting flesh. She could hear a low hiss—had the bullet struck something important?—and a clattering sound as something fell to the floor. There was a loud clang, and then silence.

  “Ellie?” Joanna’s voice came from the dark. “Are you all right? Did she shoot you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Turn on the lights. I think… I think I locked her in the freezer.”

  Ellie felt around for the switch and soon the room was flooded with light again. Sure enough, Gina was nowhere to be seen. The freezer door was shut and Joanna was leaning against it, her eyes wide. The gun was on the floor halfway between them. She heard a dull banging sound from inside the freezer as Gina pounded on the door from the other side.

  Her eyes met Joanna’s frightened gaze. Ellie felt as though her heart was about to explode from her chest. “What happened?” she asked.

  “She lunged at me when you turned off the lights. It’s all a blur. We struggled, but I managed to knee her pretty hard. She dropped the gun and I just shoved her as hard as I could. I heard her fall and I reached out for balance and felt the freezer door. I shut it without thinking. I hope she’s not too hurt.”

  “She was trying to kill us,” Ellie said, feeling weak. Either of them could have been killed so easily. “I wouldn’t worry about her in the slightest.”

  “I’m so glad Steve wasn’t here. She might have killed him. She’s insane.”

  “Maybe, or maybe she was just frightened,” Ellie said sadly. She had really liked Gina. How could she have been so wrong about someone?

  Her phone rang, startling them both. She tugged it out of her pocket and pressed it to her ear.

  “Ellie?” Russell’s concerned voice came through. “We got a report of gunshots down the block. My first thought was you. Are you okay?”

  “Yes. You’ll need to get down here as soon as possible,” she said. “It’s a long story, but we’re both fine. We found the killer and she’s locked in Joanna’s freezer.”

  He was silent for a moment as he processed the information. “I’ll be right there.”

  EPILOGUE

  * * *

  It had been a long week. The grand opening of Hot Diggity Dog had been delayed until the dama
ge caused by the bullets that Gina had fired could be repaired. Thankfully, neither Ellie nor Joanna had been struck, but the fridge had been. Ellie thought that even if the repairs hadn’t been needed, Joanna might have delayed the opening anyway. She was extremely shaken up by what had happened, and Ellie didn’t blame her.

  With her Saturday morning unexpectedly free, Ellie went over to Shannon’s house. James and Russell—once he was done with all of the paperwork that Gina’s arrest had left him—would join them later, and if the pleasant weather held, the four of them would go out on the Eleanora for some much-needed time away from shore.

  “You got so lucky,” Shannon said. “Who would’ve thought Gina, of all people, had done it?”

  “I can still hardly believe it,” Ellie said. “She always seemed so nice and so friendly. I know that the coffee shop is important to her, but to kill someone over it? Not only that, but she killed the wrong person, and she’s going to end up losing the coffee shop anyway.”

  “It’s terrible,” Shannon said. “You can’t trust anyone these days. Well, I trust you of course, and James and Russell.” Her friend fell silent, then sat up and looked over at Ellie. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. I was going to tell you earlier, but then you Russell announced your engagement, and I didn’t want to step on your toes.”

  “What is it?” Ellie asked. “You can tell me anything, you know that.”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  The pizzeria owner stared at her friend. For a moment, the words didn’t seem to register. Shannon and Ellie were over forty, and Ellie thought that her friend and her husband had simply given up on having children.

  “Are you sure?” she asked at last, feeling stupid as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

  “Yes, I am,” Shannon said. Her hand covered her stomach protectively. “I was terrified when I first found out. I know that women are having children later and later these days, but it’s still not very common for someone our age. There are all sorts of issues that could come up. I’m excited too, though. I can’t help it. We’ve always wanted children. There’s one other thing… I’m not sure if we’re going to stay in Kittiport. I don’t know if I want my child to grow up here.”

  “I hope you stay,” Ellie said. “I’ll help you with anything, you know that.”

  “I know, and that’s one of the reasons we’re hesitant to leave. We both have family and friends here. It’s just such a small town. I want my child to see the world, and not be stuck in some tiny town on the coast of Maine.”

  “Well, you don’t have to decide right away,” Ellie said. “I’ll miss you if you go, but I know you have to do what you think is best for your family.”

  “Either way, we’re certainly going to stay to watch you and Russell get married. Nothing would keep me away from that.”

  Ellie smiled and reached out to hug her friend. Despite everything that had happened, she was thankful. Thankful for having such a wonderful friend in Shannon, and thankful to have Russell; her fiancé, and the man she loved. Her future was looking brighter by the second, and she couldn’t wait to see where it led.