Pizza, Paradise, and Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 24)

by Patti Benning

  “My refund. I came in Monday and you told me to come back later. Then you were closed for two days. I want my money back. This is unacceptable.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I have no idea what to tell you. I don’t usually work at this location. May I have your name, please?”

  “Orson Montgomery,” he said. “Go on and get someone who knows what they’re doing. I’m happy to wait all day if I have to, as long as I can speak to someone competent who can get me my refund.”

  Ellie tried to control her temper while she returned to the kitchen to find Lanie and ask her about the customer’s complaint. She told herself that she didn’t know what it was about, and she shouldn’t judge until she did, but the fact that he would speak to her that way made her angry – not for herself, but for the people she employed. He had no idea that she was the owner; he thought she was just a regular employee, which made it worse.

  “Orson?” Lanie said. “He’s back again?”

  “He’s standing out there saying that we owe him twenty dollars. What’s this all about?”

  “It’s a long story,” the young woman said, sighing. “I’d just give him the money if I were you. That’s what Linda always did. He’ll make a scene if you don’t.”

  Frowning, Ellie returned to the register and took a twenty-dollar bill out, making a note as she did so, to prevent herself from puzzling over the discrepancy later when they were closing the register for the evening. “Here you go,” she said.

  “You don’t have to sound so resentful,” he said sullenly, taking the cash from her and stalking out of the building before she could say anything more.

  What’s going on here? she wondered. From the sound of things, Orson had troubled them before. Why hadn’t Linda mentioned him to her in her emails? Come to think of it, why hadn’t she mentioned the bad reviews and the trouble with Pizza Perfect either?

  It wasn’t until after they had turned off the open sign and locked the doors that evening that Ellie got a chance to ask the questions that had been puzzling her. Lanie looked just as surprised as she felt.

  “I don’t know why she wouldn’t tell you. We’ve only had one or two issues with Pizza Perfect trying to steal business, but Orson’s been coming by for a while. Usually twice a week or so he’ll show up and order something. He always finds something wrong with his order and insists on a full or partial refund. Last time, he ordered two large pizzas, then came back an hour later and complained that he had ordered vegan pizzas and had to throw them away. He wanted a refund, but we were in the middle of closing and Linda told him to come back the next day.”

  “I don’t understand. He’s just getting free food out of you guys. Why would you tell me just to give him the money? I’m happy to refund my customers if we actually messed up, but I won’t do it if they’ve already eaten the entire pizza, or just like to cause trouble like this guy does.”

  “Like I said, he’ll make a big scene and make the other customers uncomfortable. Linda told us just to give him what he wanted, because it saves more money in the long run than letting him drive customers away.”

  Ellie didn’t agree with that approach in the slightest. This man was walking all over the staff at the Florida pizzeria, and now that he knew he could get away with it, she doubted he would stop on his own. She would rather deal with one bad scene and a couple of customers walking out, than let the man take advantage of them month after month.

  She was frustrated when she returned to the hotel that evening. Russell had been on his own for most of the day. He had food waiting at the hotel room for the two of them to eat together. She felt bad that she was just playing with her noodles, but she had a lot on her mind.

  “Is everything all right?” he asked her after a few minutes. The TV was on in the background, but neither of them were paying any attention.

  “I’m just thinking,” she said. “It seems like Linda was having a lot of trouble that she wasn’t telling me about. I just don’t understand why she wouldn’t mention it. I always try to be helpful and supportive of her. I would have been happy to help her with this as well.”

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  Ellie told him about the conversation she had had with the employees that evening. “They’ve been dealing with this for quite a while now. Orson, with his bullying, and the people from the other pizzeria stealing their business right outside the door. If either of these things happened at the Kittiport pizzeria, I would put a stop to it right away. I just don’t understand how Linda didn’t.”

  “She’s a different person,” he said. “Not everyone’s good with confrontation. I agree, though, she should have told you. I wonder if there’s anything else she hasn’t been telling you about.”

  She frowned. She hadn’t thought about that. Was there more that Linda was keeping from her? She didn’t think that any of the sales reports had been tampered with; the deposits into the bank account always matched them perfectly. She didn’t like the idea of not being able to trust the person she had chosen to manage the second pizzeria, but at the same time didn’t know how she could bring it up right now. Linda was already going through so much, how could Ellie add even more to her plate?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  What am I doing? Ellie thought when she opened her eyes the next morning. Here she was, four days into what was supposed to be her honeymoon, and she and Russell had hardly spent any alone time together at all. She had already committed to going back to the pizzeria today and was surprised to find that she was dreading it. Usually, she didn’t mind working, but right now it just felt like her time is being stolen from her.

  “Russell,” she whispered, nudging him. He woke up slowly, taking a moment to remember where they were.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Let’s go to the beach.”

  “The beach? Don’t you have to deal with the pizzeria?”

  “Yes, but not until later. They can open without me, I don’t have to be there until eleven, or even noon. Let’s do something together. This is supposed to be our honeymoon, and it’s not fair for me to steal it from you.”

  “All right,” he said, fighting back a yawn. “The beach it is.”

  Ellie took a shower first, taking her time to put on her makeup and do her hair in the bathroom, letting Russell nap for a little while longer. It was early in the morning, and they would have a few good hours at the beach before she had to leave for the pizzeria.

  I hope this gets resolved soon, she thought. The only problem was, she couldn’t see how it would. Even when Linda was ready to come back to work, they would still be an employee short. Nonna could help them, but only so much. She couldn’t make deliveries, and she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the fast-paced kitchen work. They would be stretched to the limit, and Ellie had the feeling that they already were before the car accident.

  Why didn’t you want to hire someone else, Linda? she thought. It was just one more mystery. With another employee or two, everyone would have had a lot more free time, and a lot less to worry about. She hadn’t realized just how much busier the Florida pizzeria was compared to the Kittiport one. Of course, she had seen the sales records, but seeing numbers on paper wasn’t quite the same as living the experience herself.

  She and Russell were walking toward the hotel’s elevator when her cell phone rang – Linda. Ellie answered the call with some trepidation, not sure whether the news would be good or bad.

  “I’m out,” Linda said. “They released me this morning.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Ellie replied. “You’re going to be okay?”

  “Well, I still have some healing to do, but the doctors say I’m out of any real danger. I’m not allowed to lift anything heavy – not that I can, with my arm broken – and I’m supposed to be careful not to stand up too quickly. My arm should be healed in a few weeks. They said it could take a lot longer for the concussion to go away, but they don’t think it will affect me permanently.”r />
  “I’m glad to hear that,” Ellie said.

  “There’s something else,” her friend said. “I’ve been remembering bits and pieces of what happened the day of the accident. Something stands out to me. There’s this one person – I think it was a man, but I’m not sure – who was talking to me about the building.”

  “The building?”

  “The pizzeria building. He seemed… threatening. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I think it was at the conference. The police mentioned that they’re still investigating the case, and they came back a couple of times to ask more questions. They seemed especially interested in some of the bad reviews we have been getting. Is something going on, Ellie? Was the accident not an accident after all?”

  Ellie hesitated. She hadn’t mentioned anything about Russell’s theory to her friend. She hadn’t wanted to worry Linda while she was in the hospital. Now that she was out of danger, Ellie knew that she couldn’t put off telling Linda their theory any longer. Linda lived in Miami, and in many ways, this was her enterprise just as much as it was Ellie’s.

  “I think we should talk in person,” Ellie said. She glanced at Russell, a question in her eyes. He nodded. “Can we meet later this morning?”

  A breeze blew Ellie’s hair into her face. She tucked it behind her ear, wishing that she had remembered to bring a hair tie with her from the hotel room. The clear sky and warm air promised that it would be a wonderful day. She just wished that she had more time to spend enjoying it.

  “I’ll do some digging about the other pizza place while you work,” her husband said as they made their way back to the car.

  “Okay. Feel free to stop by if you want. I can take a break, and we can go over anything you might have discovered.”

  “We’ll see what Linda says. If she can remember any specifics, it might be able to help me see what I should look into. Do you know if she’s told the police about this half-remembered conversation yet?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to ask her. Do you think they’ll share any information about the case with you?”

  “I doubt it. It’s a big department, and they probably wouldn’t be inclined to share information with a small town’s sheriff unless they had some sort of incentive. I’m sorry all of this is happening. I know you wanted a nice, calm vacation.”

  “You did too. I feel bad, because this is all stuff that relates to me. It’s my fault we’re not getting the honeymoon we wanted.”

  “Don’t say that,” Russell said. He paused as they got in the car. “You couldn’t possibly know what was going to happen with Linda and Sandra. No one could have guessed that. I completely understand why you need to be here.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “I promise, after all this is over, we’ll find a way to still have our time together.”

  They met Linda at her apartment, which wasn’t far from Papa Pacelli’s. She looked better than she had when they visited her on Wednesday. The bruise on her head was fading, and she had more of a natural color to her. Her arm was in a sling, with a cast on the wrist.

  “It feels good to be home,” she said as they came inside. “I was beginning to think I would never leave the hospital. The head injury was the main problem. They didn’t want to let me go until they were sure I would be all right.”

  “I’m glad you’re going to be okay,” Ellie said. She stepped forward to give the woman a careful hug. “I’m surprised they let you go so soon, to be honest.”

  “They probably got tired of me complaining about the food,” she said, smiling. The smile slipped from her face quickly. “It sounded like you wanted to talk about something serious on the phone. What’s going on, Ellie?”

  “I don’t know where to start,” the pizzeria owner admitted. “I guess I’ll start by saying that Russell and I have no idea what happened. There are a couple of things that make us think that the car accident might not have been an accident at all, but nothing that we can go to the police about, and nothing I want you worrying about… yet. Just be careful, okay?”

  The other woman nodded. “I’ve been jumpy all week. I wish I could remember what exactly happened when the car ran into us. No, it wasn’t a car – it was a big SUV or truck. I know that much. I remember looking up and seeing it coming… I saw the person inside… But I don’t remember who it was. I think it was someone I recognized, but I don’t know. I could just be imagining things, making up fake memories to fit in with everything the police were asking me. It wasn’t until the memory of the conversation I had with the person talking about the pizzeria building that I made the connection. I might be grasping at straws.”

  “What else do you remember about the conversation?”

  “Not much. All I know is that I felt threatened, and they wanted to know something about the pizzeria building. The man had been planning to do something to the building. I just don’t remember what. I’m sorry. I’m being useless, aren’t I?”

  “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it for now.” Ellie hesitated. “I do have some questions about another topic, if that’s okay.”

  “Of course. What is it?”

  “Well, I helped at the pizzeria yesterday, and there were a couple of things I noticed. The place has gotten a lot of bad reviews in the past couple of weeks. Plus, the employees mentioned that you’ve been having some issues with people from Pizza Perfect coming over and trying to steal business from you. Why didn’t you mention anything about that to me? Or anything about Orson, the man who comes in and finds a reason to get refunds for everything? Your employees are also stretched quite thin, and you must have noticed that even before Sandra… before the accident. Why didn’t you talk to me about hiring someone else?”

  “I thought I could handle it all,” Linda said. “You trusted me with so much, and I didn’t want to come running to you with every little problem. You run your pizzeria with only a few employees, and I was worried that you would think that I just couldn’t keep up with mine.”

  “I wouldn’t think that. I know you’re a lot busier here than we are up in Maine. A couple of weeks ago I suggested you hire a girl my grandmother knew. Did you ever do that?

  “Yes. That’s Lila, but she can only work part-time.”

  “Well, I’ll see about hiring some new people. I think you should have at least two more people, maybe three. Not counting yourself, of course. Do you… do you think you’ll be going back?”

  “Yes,” Linda replied firmly. “I’m not going to let this stop me from making my dream a reality. I’m not going to let an accident, or even an attack, prevent me from keeping my husband’s restaurant running. The doctor said I’m cleared to go back to work. I’ll be back tomorrow. Will that be okay?”

  “Of course. Don’t push yourself too hard.” Ellie hesitated. “I’m going to put out an ad saying we have a couple of openings. Will you be okay training new people once I leave?”

  “I’ll be able to manage it. Thank you for all of your help, Ellie. I’m sorry that I made you come all the way down here. The last thing I wanted was to cause you more problems, but it looks like I did anyway.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Ellie said. “You should get some rest now, and I’ve got to get to the pizzeria. I’ll see tomorrow, okay?”

  Linda nodded, and Ellie and Russell left. The other woman seemed willing to get back on track, but Ellie was left with the nagging doubt – what if she couldn’t do it?

  CHAPTER NINE

  * * *

  Ellie and Russell waited until they got into the car to discuss what they had learned. “So, she thinks that she remembers someone saying something threatening about Papa Pacelli’s, but she doesn’t remember what they said, or who it was?”

  “That’s what it sounds like. I know it’s not her fault, but I wish she could remember what happened that day better. If we knew exactly what happened the day of the convention, it would help us out a lot.”

  “I hate not being able to help more,” Russell said. “If we were in Kit
tiport, I would have full access to all of the police files, and we would know a lot more about what’s going on. What do you want to do?”

  “Well, I should probably get to work. I’ll see if Linda wants to meet at the pizzeria tomorrow morning, and then I’ll let her handle running the business that day. You and I can spend the day together. We haven’t had nearly enough time together.”

  “Do you think she’ll be in danger?” Russell asked. “If someone really was after her and Sandra, and they realize she’s back at the pizzeria again, they may try to hurt her.”

  “That’s a good point,” Ellie said. “What do you think we should do?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll mull over it today while you’re working. You be careful too, okay? If someone does want to see the pizzeria shut down, and they find out that you are the owner, you might be a target as well.”