Death of an Italian Chef

by Lee Hollis

  Hayley had trouble picturing the sexy and charming part in Connie’s current disheveled state, but chose not to question her confident assessment.

  “I finally wore him down and he took me back, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Luca, and one day a few months ago I was reading a food blog online and I came across a post that mentioned a new Italian restaurant opening in Bar Harbor, and some of the specialty items on the menu. From the moment I read it, I knew in my gut I had found him, that this Chef Romeo was really my Luca, so I got in my car and drove all night to get here so we could be reunited.”

  “Luca must have been very surprised to see you,” Hayley remarked.

  Connie chortled. “To say the least. He yelled at me, said he was a dead man walking with me hanging around, which I guess was true, but he also needed my financial help. The bank had just rejected his loan and his restaurant was on the verge of collapsing before it even opened, so he allowed me to become a silent investor. I wrote him a big fat check, and then I decided to rent this place for the summer so we could be together, and hopefully pick up where we left off back in Brooklyn.”

  “But what about your husband?”

  Connie scoffed. “He thinks I’m in Florida looking after my ailing mother, who Rocco can’t stomach being around, so there was zero chance he would ever go down south to check on me himself. Besides, I paid my sister Gloria five grand to fly down there in my place and pretend to be me for the summer. She’s a dead ringer from a distance. No one would ever be able to tell it wasn’t me wheeling my mother around that condo complex, in case Rocco sent one of his gorillas to snoop around and make sure I was telling the truth.”

  “It sounds like you’re playing a very dangerous game. What if your husband found out that he not only paid for Luca’s restaurant back in Brooklyn, but thanks to you, he paid for his new place up here too,” Hayley said.

  “Yeah, his head would basically explode, which is why he can never find out. He thinks I used that money to buy my mother a new condo and full-time nurse for when I eventually come home to Brooklyn after Labor Day.”

  “But what if he’s onto you?”

  “He’s not!” Connie snapped.

  “But what if he is? What if the man Randy saw murdering Romeo was working for your husband?”

  Connie hesitated, contemplating the possibility. “Did your brother say what this man looked like?”

  “Just that he was large and muscular.”

  “Did he have a flat nose and a scar on his left cheek?”

  “He was wearing a medical mask, so most of his face was covered up,” Hayley said.

  Connie shivered. “It could be Big Hugo.”

  “Who?”

  “He works for Rocco, very loyal, very dangerous.”

  Connie scurried from the bay window over to her purse. She rummaged for her phone and scrolled through some photos. “Give me your number so I can text you a photo.”

  Hayley obliged and within seconds saw a picture of an oversized Mack truck of a man with coal-black eyes, enormous, wide nose, and the aforementioned scar, definitely the kind of nasty character you would want to avoid in a dark alley.

  “If Big Hugo is here in Bar Harbor, then there’s no doubt I’m next on the list,” Connie said, shuddering.

  Chapter 23

  Hayley found Randy fully dressed and sitting on the edge of his hospital bed, hands clasped on his lap in front of him, an anxious look on his face.

  Hayley chuckled. “You look just like you did when Mom arrived to pick us up at summer camp when you were twelve years old.”

  “Worst two weeks of my life,” Randy moaned.

  “Didn’t some mean boys in your cabin hang your doll from the ceiling?”

  “First of all, it was not a doll, it was a G.I. Joe action figure, and yes they did. Kids can be stunningly cruel. I hated every minute of summer camp.”

  “I remember having a great time.”

  “Well, you liked to be outdoors canoeing on the lake and cooking marshmallows in front of a campfire. I wanted to be home in front of the TV watching The Price is Right and reading comic books. I wrote letters every day to Mom, begging her to come get me, threatening to hurt myself if she didn’t, but that still wasn’t enough! She didn’t show up until the two weeks were over!”

  “She knew you were bluffing. You wouldn’t kill yourself before the fall TV season with all the new shows.”

  “Well, this agonizing hospital stay has brought back all those bitter, traumatic childhood memories, and I can’t get out of here fast enough. I’m just waiting for Dr. Cormack to sign the release papers. I’ve been ready to leave since five this morning.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be here soon. In the meantime, take a look at this,” Hayley said, unlocking her phone and showing her the photo of Big Hugo that Connie had sent her.

  Randy studied the man in the picture. “Who am I looking at?”

  “His name is Big Hugo. Recognize him?”

  “No, should I?”

  “So that is not the man you saw in here murdering Chef Romeo that night?”

  Randy grabbed the phone from Hayley and brought the screen up closer to his face, eyes intently fixed on Big Hugo. After a few moments, he shrugged. “Could be. He has the same build. But like I said, I was pretty heavily sedated and he was wearing a medical mask.” He stared at the photo some more, then sighed, frustrated. “Maybe it’s him. I really can’t be sure.”

  Hayley took the phone back from him. “Okay, wait here, I’m going to go show this around to see if it rings any bells with anyone who was here working that night.”

  “If you see Dr. Cormack, tell him to get his butt in here and spring me from this Alcatraz hellhole!”

  “Relax, Randy, you’re getting out today, I promise,” Hayley said, heading out of the room.

  “You also promised not to tease me in front of your friends for acting out episodes of Melrose Place in my room when we were kids, and you didn’t keep that promise!” Randy called out after her.

  Hayley snickered as she approached the nurses’ station and showed the photo of Big Hugo around to several on-duty nurses and orderlies, none of whom appeared to recognize him.

  She glanced around the floor. “Is Nurse Tilly on duty?”

  “Yes,” a heavyset orderly in his mid-twenties with a shaved head and red goatee answered. “I saw her getting on the elevator with Dr. Cormack. She’s probably downstairs somewhere.”

  “Thank you,” Hayley said, smiling, walking briskly toward the bank of elevators.

  Down in the lobby, Hayley stepped off the elevator and looked around, but didn’t spot Nurse Tilly or Dr. Cormack anywhere. She shuffled down the hall to the cafeteria to see a cluster of people eating breakfast and sipping coffee, but no Tilly. The gift shop next to it was empty, except for a girl at the register absentmindedly flipping through a People magazine from the rack in front of the counter. Hayley then sauntered outside to the parking lot, and that’s where she finally spotted them, Tilly and Dr. Cormack huddled together in front of Tilly’s banged-up Nissan Sentra, engaged in a deep, heavy conversation.

  Hayley sauntered over toward them. They didn’t notice her at first and continued intently whispering to each other until finally Hayley cleared her throat, surprising both of them. They practically jumped away from each other, deliberately putting a lot of space between them.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Hayley said.

  “N-no, no, not at all,” Dr. Cormack sputtered, nervously straightening his white doctor’s coat with his hands, collecting himself.

  Hayley noticed Cormack and Tilly exchanging flustered glances, like they had just been caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Ignoring their odd behavior, Hayley thrust out her phone for them to look at. “Do either of you know this man?”

  Both of them barely looked at the photo before Dr. Cormack brushed past Hayley. “No, sorry, I have to get back inside. I have patients to check on.”

&nbs
p; Hayley cranked her head around. “My brother’s waiting in his room for you to sign him out!”

  “Tell Randy I will get to him just as soon as I can!” he shouted back, slightly irritated. She watched him rush toward the swinging glass doors into the hospital, furtively glancing back a few times before disappearing inside.

  When Hayley turned back around, she caught Tilly staring at the photo on Hayley’s phone, a hint of recognition on her face. “You’ve seen him before, haven’t you?”

  Tilly reared back, defensively, a pained expression on her face. “No, I have not. I have never seen that man in my life.”

  “Tilly, why are you acting so secretive?”

  “What are you talking about? I’m not being secretive. I can’t help it if I don’t know the man in that photo. So I would appreciate it if you would stop browbeating me!”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

  Suddenly, the roar of an engine drowned them out, and Hayley whipped around to see a pickup truck barreling toward them in the parking lot. Hayley and Tilly instinctively stepped closer to Tilly’s car, giving the truck more space, but the truck veered to the right, aiming directly toward them, as if intending to mow them down.

  Hayley grabbed Tilly by the shoulders and pushed her out of the way just as the truck sped past them. Hayley watched as the driver slammed on the brakes and the truck screeched to a halt, gray smoke pouring out of the tailpipe as it idled. That’s when she noticed the license plate had been covered with black masking tape. Suddenly, the truck began backing up, faster and faster, the rear bumper closing in on them.

  “Tilly, jump!” Hayley screamed, grabbing Tilly by the arm and leaping up on top of the hood of the nurse’s parked Nissan. The truck turned sharply toward them, smashing one of the headlights on Tilly’s car and denting the front grille before speeding away, tires squealing, burning rubber, as it careened sharply onto Hancock Street and vanished from view.

  Hayley rolled off Tilly, whose whole body was shaking from fright, and called 911. “I’d like to report a hit-and-run!”

  Fifteen minutes later, Sergeant Herrold and Officer Earl arrived on the scene. Although a little less lovesick than Donnie, Earl too followed Herrold around like a loyal puppy dog, totally enamored with her strong, no-nonsense demeanor, and in Hayley’s opinion, undeterred by her utter lack of charm.

  After peppering Hayley and Tilly with a few standard questions, including “Did you see the driver’s face?” and “Did you get a license plate number?” for the report, Sergeant Herrold seemed vexed by having been called out on a hit-and-run, only to be greeted by one broken headlight, a slight dent on the grille, and two apparent “victims” who appeared in perfectly fine health.

  Hayley was annoyed by the sergeant’s unmitigated lack of interest in what had just happened to them and decided to speak up. “Look, Officer—”

  “Sergeant,” Herrold corrected her.

  “Okay, Sergeant, I am sorry Tilly and I are not more banged up, but that truck tried to run us down, whether you want to take this seriously or not.”

  “You can bet I take every call seriously,” Herrold said, eyes narrowing, offended. “I am assuming you gave us all the information you have on the truck, so we can be on the lookout. That’s all we can do for now. But between you and your brother draining the limited resources of the Bar Harbor police department with your constant calls about midnight marauders and killer monster trucks, I just hope we don’t let down the other residents of this fine town, who may require the help of the police.”

  Hayley could feel her cheeks burning red with rage, and she clenched her fists at her sides, silently telling herself over and over not to engage with this infuriatingly obnoxious woman.

  “Come on, Earl,” Herrold said, marching back toward the police cruiser.

  “I know it’s only nine in the morning, but how about Pat’s Pizza for lunch? They have the thin crust, just the way you like it,” Earl offered eagerly, trailing behind her.

  Hayley returned her attention to Nurse Tilly, who was still rattled and upset. “Do you know of anyone who might want to run you down with a truck?”

  Tilly hugged herself, eyes downcast, and shook her head. “No, I don’t.” She glanced up at Hayley. “Do you?”

  Hayley shook her head, but couldn’t shake the feeling that Nurse Tilly was lying to her. Maybe it was true that she had never seen Big Hugo before, and maybe it was true that she had no idea who might want to harm her, but she was lying about something, and Hayley was determined to find out what it was and why she was so afraid.

  Chapter 24

  Hayley stood at the sink, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her face looked tired, haggard, and her eyes were puffy. She had not slowed down since taking over Chef Romeo’s restaurant, working a full eight hours at the Island Times, and looking after her brother while he was recuperating in the hospital. She had exhausted herself.

  Hayley picked up a wooden brush and ran it through her hair, slapped on some makeup, and brushed her teeth. Another quick glance. Maybe a slight improvement, but Gisele Bündchen certainly had nothing to worry about. She fluffed out her hair a bit when she noticed a small red stain on her blouse, tomato sauce from the cold slice of pizza she had hastily eaten for supper that had been left over from last night. Hayley ran the water faucet, soaked a washcloth, and tried rubbing it out. The stain disappeared, but she now had a large wet spot above her left breast. She would just leave the car window open to let the wind dry it out on her way to the restaurant.

  Hayley winced as she raised her arm and folded up the sleeve of her blouse to reveal a nasty bruise on her elbow from when she jumped up on top of the hood of Tilly’s car to avoid getting mowed down by the speeding pickup truck in the hospital parking lot. She knew Bruce would be calling her from New York when she got home later, and she decided on the spot not to share what had happened, lest he worry the rest of the time he was in New York.

  She could handle this on her own.

  At least she hoped she could.

  Besides, she tried telling herself, maybe it was just a drunk driver not paying attention to where he or she was going. Of course, that would explain the first near-miss, but not the truck backing up and trying again. No, despite what Sergeant Herrold was willing to believe, someone seemed to be gunning for her.

  Or Nurse Tilly.

  Or possibly both of them.

  Hayley heard the front door slam open and someone yell, “Where is everybody?”

  It was Mona.

  Hayley finished up and hustled out of the bathroom, heading for the stairs. She heard Randy calling to her from Gemma’s room. “Who’s here?”

  Hayley shouted from the top of the staircase, “Be right down!” Then she made a beeline for Gemma’s bedroom, where she had set Randy up nicely after checking him out of the hospital earlier in the day.

  He was sprawled out on top of Gemma’s baby-blue goose-down comforter, fully clothed, wiggling his toes in a pair of wooly socks, watching the local news on a small flat-screen TV mounted on the wall. When Dr. Cormack finally signed the release papers and Hayley had driven Randy home, she could tell he was still in a weakened state from the surgery as she helped him up the stairs to get him settled. But his mood had brightened considerably, knowing he was no longer trapped in a drab, sterile hospital room, feeling vulnerable and exposed, especially after witnessing what he claimed was a murder.

  There had been no toxicology or autopsy reports released as of yet. Hayley was certain that if Chief Sergio was not in Brazil and was here in charge of the investigation, they would already know the true cause of Chef Romeo’s death, if it had simply been a heart attack or deliberate foul play. But for whatever reason, Sergeant Herrold was remaining tight-lipped and keeping a firm lid on any pertinent information to the case from outsiders, Hayley specifically.

  Randy tore his eyes away from the TV and looked at Hayley, eyes blinking. “I heard someone downstairs.”

  “
Mona’s here. She’s going to look after you tonight while I’m at the restaurant.”

  “What?” Randy tried sitting up in bed, wincing in pain as he gently placed a hand over his abdomen. Hayley scooted over to adjust the pillows he was propped up against. “Why Mona?”

  “Because ever since I hired a new waitress, Christy, to wait tables, she’s proven herself to be a rock star. The customers love her, she’s fast and efficient and courteous, unlike Mona, who tends to scare people. So I decided to have Mona spend the evening here with you instead.”

  “Oh no,” Randy moaned.

  “What? You like Mona.”

  “Yes, sitting at my bar, pounding down her beers, cracking dirty jokes, but not as my nursemaid. She has the patience of a two-year-old.”

  “You don’t give her enough credit,” Hayley said. “She’s raised seven kids.”

  “And they’re all deathly afraid of her!”

  “You’re being ridiculous, Randy. Mona will take very good care of you, I promise.”

  Randy shot her a skeptical look and Hayley bolted out of the bedroom before he could open his mouth to protest some more. She shot down the stairs to find Mona popping the top off a beer with a bottle opener.

  “I got up extra early and made a lasagna this morning before I went to the hospital,” Hayley said. “All you need to do is preheat the oven to three-fifty and then pop it in for forty-five minutes. There is also a salad in the fridge—you just need to add some dressing—and I brought home a loaf of garlic bread from the restaurant you can heat up.”

  Mona nodded as she took a swig of her Bud Light and noticed Hayley absentmindedly stroking her injured elbow. “How bad is it?”