Christmas Family Style in Savannah: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Book 15)

by Hope Callaghan

  “What about Luigi and Ricco?” Elvira asked. “They’re suspects too.”

  “Right,” Carlita said. “Ricco spent the night with Luigi.”

  Brittney pressed a light hand to her forehead. “All of this is freaking me out. I think the baby and I should go lie down.”

  “That’s an excellent idea,” Carlita agreed. The less Brittney knew and could report to her father, the better. She waited for mother and child to leave the room and close the door behind them before addressing her son. “How bad is Mariani?”

  “Bad,” Vinnie said.

  “I mean, is he going to start shooting and ask questions later?”

  “Not quite, although he’s been known to use some unconventional and mostly painful methods to try to extract information.”

  “Seriously?” Elvira pressed a hand to her chest. “We’re dead.”

  “Stop saying that!” Carlita stepped into the kitchen to gather her thoughts and call Pete. She took a deep breath, reassuring herself everything was going to be all right before dialing his cell phone. Thankfully, he answered right away, and she got right to the point by briefly explaining what she had learned.

  Pete promised he was on his way before ending the call.

  Vinnie woke Mercedes to tell her there was an emergency family meeting before heading to Luigi’s apartment. He returned with Ricco and Luigi in tow.

  Tony was the last to arrive. “Tell me you got some good news.”

  “Unfortunately, we have the exact opposite,” Vinnie said.

  “Roxy’s dead,” Elvira blurted out.

  Tony calmly nodded. “I figured as much. I got up early and checked the news. I saw the picture the cops released.”

  “What else do we know?” Mercedes asked.

  “I would like to hold off discussing a plan until Pete gets here. He’s on his way,” Carlita made another pot of coffee while they waited. After he arrived, she carried the cups into the crowded living room, mentally noting who was on hand. “The only one missing is Dernice.”

  “She had an early morning security gig,” Elvira explained.

  “Now that everyone is here, I’ll let Vinnie fill you in on what has happened.”

  “Where do I start?” Vinnie asked.

  “At the beginning. Tell them everything, from the moment we locked Roxy up until now with what Elvira and Tony heard.”

  While Vinnie filled them in, Carlita made her rounds passing out cups of black coffee.

  “If I go back to the beginning, Roxy was gettin’ on everyone’s nerves as soon as she boarded the ship and started nosing around.”

  “Then, she started hitting on Sam and ticked me off,” Mercedes said. “It’s all my fault. I shoulda let it go instead of taking a swing at her.”

  “She coulda let it go too,” Luigi said. “You can’t take all of the blame.”

  “And I checked her pockets to make sure she was weapon-free before locking her in the bathroom,” Pete said.

  “So,” Carlita picked up, “the last time anyone saw Roxy was when Pete placed her in the bathroom. She had no weapons on her and no way to open the door.”

  “The bar that secured the door could not have been removed by Roxy. Someone let her out,” Pete said. “The best guesstimate is whoever let her out was also her attacker and possibly responsible for her going overboard.”

  “We need to know how she died,” Mercedes said. “Did she die from injuries before going over? Did she go overboard and then get run over by another boat?”

  All eyes turned to Elvira.

  “You have an inside track on this stuff,” Carlita said. “Can you find out the cause of death from one of your sources?”

  “I’ll try. I left my cell phone at home.” Elvira exited the apartment.

  Carlita watched her leave and then tapped Pete’s arm. “There’s one more thing.”

  “More good news?” Pete joked.

  “It depends on what you consider to be good news.”

  “My father-in-law is sending someone down,” Vinnie said. “Jersey Joe Mariani, to be exact.”

  “And Jersey Joe won’t be coming here to offer us his assistance,” Pete guessed.

  “He’ll be here for damage control and to get to the bottom of what happened to Roxy by whatever means necessary,” Vinnie said quietly.

  “So, not only do we have a potential killer on the loose, we’ll have a potential hitman breathing down our necks.”

  “In a nutshell. Mariani is working on booking a flight now. At best, we have until mid-afternoon to get a jump start,” Vinnie said. “In the meantime, I’m gonna go talk to the cops. Roxy didn’t have any identification on her, and they’re asking for anyone who knows her to come forward.”

  “Which means we need to,” Mercedes said. “If not, the authorities are going to wonder what took us so long.”

  “Bingo,” Carlita said.

  “I think that me, as the owner of the ship,” Pete pointed to Vinnie, “and you, as her employer, should be the ones to go.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.”

  Elvira burst into the apartment, waving her cell phone in the air. “I talked to my contact. Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse.”

  Chapter 8

  All eyes were on Elvira.

  “Well?” Tony finally asked. “How did Roxy die?”

  “The cause of death has not been officially determined. It may have been drowning, or it might have had something to do with the stab wound in her neck.”

  “Stab wound?” Mercedes’ hand flew to her mouth. “Someone stabbed Roxy? Wouldn’t she have screamed and someone have heard her?”

  “With all the noise of the fireworks and the band playing,” Carlita wrinkled her nose, “maybe not.”

  “So, here’s where we’re at,” Elvira summarized. “Luigi, me, Dernice, Mercedes, Pete…we’re all suspects. We were all seen arguing with Roxy before Pete locked her in the bathroom.”

  “And there are a lot of witnesses to the incidents,” Tony pointed out. “Cool Bones and his band, the restaurant employees, the ship’s crewmembers, the guests.”

  “What’s the plan?” Paulie asked. “You go down and tell the cops we have a name for the victim, and then we sit back and wait for Jersey Joe to show up and start knocking some heads together in an attempt to get to the truth?”

  “I think that while Pete and Vinnie head to the police station, a few of us should search the ship for clues,” Carlita said.

  “Before the cops hop on it and are crawling all over the place,” Elvira consulted her watch. “Good plan. We’ll need a head start.”

  “Wait a minute. Are you sure you want to tamper with potential evidence?” Mercedes asked.

  “It won’t be tampering if they don’t touch anything, especially near the scene of the incident,” Vinnie said. “I got some sets of gloves.”

  “I dunno…” Carlita was having second thoughts. On the one hand, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a quick look around before the investigators tore the place apart. After all, they knew more about what had happened leading up to the incident than the police did.

  On the other hand, Mercedes was right. They could potentially be tampering with crime scene evidence.

  “It’s either you go in with gloves, or we wait for Jersey Joe to start his investigation,” Vinnie warned. “There is one other thing I haven’t mentioned yet.”

  “Great, more good news,” Carlita muttered.

  “Vito treated Roxy like a daughter.” Vinnie told them that a few years back, Roxy’s father was ambushed while assisting Vito during a “job.” He was wounded. Vito raced to the hospital, and right before the mob man died, he made Vito promise to look after Roxy. “Vito takes his vows very seriously and has always been protective of her.”

  “Which means he’ll be determined to figure out who did Roxy in,” Paulie shook his head.

  “One hundred percent.”

  “Well,” Luigi clapped his hands. “It’s time
to hustle.”

  The plan was for Tony, Carlita, Luigi, Ricco and Mercedes to search the ship with a goal to be in and out within an hour. By then, Vinnie and Pete would be at the police station, explaining what had happened and identifying Roxy.

  “I don’t know how much you or the authorities will find. My crew cleaned the entire ship except for the area where Roxy was being detained.” Pete dangled a set of keys. “I told them to steer clear of that.”

  “I’ll take those.” Elvira snatched the keys from Pete’s hand.

  “You’re not goin’ with us,” Tony said.

  “And why not?” Elvira indignantly asked. “I have as much skin in the game as the rest of you, if not more. Besides, investigating is my background. You need me.”

  The woman had a point. She had the experience and a certain level of expertise. Plus, Elvira could be ruthless.

  “She can go with us,” Carlita said. “What’s it gonna hurt? If nothing else, the more eyes looking around, the better.”

  *****

  Before leaving, Pete had given them detailed instructions about how to gain access to the pirate ship via the main gangway. Thankfully, because it was still early, there was no crew onboard The Flying Gunner.

  It was a short drive from the apartment to the ship. Elvira parked her company van in a nearby parking lot, and they walked the rest of the way.

  The group gathered in front of the dock, and Tony held out his hand. “Keys, please.”

  “You don’t trust me to open the door?” Elvira asked.

  “No, I don’t. Keys,” he repeated as he snapped his fingers.

  “I can’t believe this.” Elvira reluctantly handed them to him.

  He strode across the dock and unlocked a gray box attached to a cemented pole. A big black button marked “G” was inside the box.

  Tony pressed the button, and the gangway silently lowered.

  “That’s cool,” Mercedes said. “An electronic gangway.”

  Luigi led the way inside the dark main deck. He flicked his lighter, illuminating the interior. “I see a light switch.” He flipped it on. “Now what?”

  Tony pointed to himself. “Me, Ricco and Mercedes will search the below-deck area. You three search this main deck, and then we’ll all head to the top deck together.”

  Carlita passed out the gloves Vinnie had given her. After they left, she slipped hers on and began poking around the Christmas tree while Luigi headed to the bar off to the side.

  “I was gonna start there,” Elvira whined.

  “Don’t start on me, Elvira,” Luigi warned. “Find somewhere else to search, or better yet, entertain yourself by playing with the gangway button.”

  “Jerk,” Elvira muttered as she stomped off. She found the check-in counter near the gangway and began rummaging around.

  Pop. Carlita stumbled back. “What was that?”

  “Creaky beams.” Luigi jabbed his finger at the wooden beams overhead.

  “This place is snap, crackle and popping worse than a low-level thug cracking his knuckles on the street corner,” Luigi joked. “There’s no way you could get me to sleep on this thing at night. I’d be jumpin’ up every five minutes with my gun drawn, thinkin’ someone was bustin’ in.”

  “Me, either, but for different reasons.” Although Carlita wouldn’t, she knew Pete regularly slept in his office hammock. She finished her search and then told Elvira and Luigi she would do a quick check of Pete’s office.

  Since he’d told them before they left that he’d spent the night on board the ship, Carlita was certain there wouldn’t be any sort of clue inside, although she remembered Roxy being extremely interested in Pete’s private quarters to the point he had threatened to remove her from them physically.

  Gunner’s covered birdcage hung in the corner. She could hear the tap of his claws on the bar and took a quick peek under the blanket. Two beady black eyes peered back.

  “Gunner is awake,” he told her.

  Carlita carefully removed the blanket. “Good morning, Gunner.”

  “Gunner is handsome. Don’t let the pirates steal your booty.”

  “We need to work on expanding your vocabulary.” Carlita adjusted her rubber gloves and completed a slow perimeter inspection. She stuck her head inside Pete’s bathroom and could smell the lingering scent of his cologne.

  She did a quick inspection of the kitchenette in the corner, including the cabinets and small fridge. Carlita steered clear of his desk area. Although Pete had given them the green light to search his ship, it still felt like an invasion of privacy, so she hurriedly finished.

  “Pete’s a pirate,” Gunner strutted along his perch, watching her.

  “Yes, he is.” Carlita wandered over to the cage. “And so is Gunner.”

  “You’ll keep your trap shut if you know what’s good for you.”

  Carlita chuckled. “No one has ever told me that before.”

  “Gunner wants a snack.”

  “Let me see what I can find.” She returned to the refrigerator, where she found a bag of seedless grapes. Carlita grabbed a couple before returning to the birdcage and hand-feeding them to him. “Is that better?”

  “Gunner is handsome.”

  “Hey,” Luigi appeared in the doorway. “We’re done down here. We gotta pick up the pace if we wanna be out of here before the cops show up.”

  “Right.” Carlita cast Gunner one final glance and then joined Luigi and Elvira. The trio made their way up the stairs to the deck where most of the previous evening’s festivities had taken place.

  Carlita slowly circled the area where Roxy and Mercedes had it out, and it reminded her of something. She turned to Luigi. “Do you still have Roxy’s gun?”

  “Yeah. It’s in my apartment. I planned to give it back to her after the party ended, but we left before Pete went to release her.”

  Carlita surveyed their surroundings, unsure where they should start.

  “We better start in the back where Roxy was locked up in case we have to cut our search short,” Ricco said.

  “Ack.” Elvira made a loud noise as she shot him a thumbs down. “This is my field of expertise. I say we do a visual, starting in the bow of the ship and working our way back, front, center and sides. Be on the lookout for damage to the ship, any sort of discarded weapon. Leave no stone unturned, no storage bin unchecked.”

  “Right,” Carlita rolled her eyes. She turned to go when she heard heavy steps on the stairs.

  Tony, Mercedes and Ricco joined them.

  “Did you find anything of interest?” Elvira asked.

  “Nope. The below deck is clean…spotless. Pete runs a tight ship,” Mercedes reported. “What about you?”

  “Nothing,” Luigi said. “We were discussing starting the search in the bow of the ship and working our way to the back where Roxy was last seen.”

  The search group spread out, scouring every square inch of the front of the ship. They finished and then crossed to the other end, walking single file as they passed through the narrow walkway leading to the back. Each of them headed in a different direction as they inspected the quarterdeck.

  Carlita dug through a trio of corner boxes, which were filled with cleaning supplies.

  Tony studied the mast before noticing a small door leading to the very rear of the ship. “There’s a door back here.”

  The group gathered around as he cautiously eased it open, revealing a small balcony.

  “This is cool.” Mercedes slipped past her brother and leaned over the railing. “There’s another balcony, right below this one.”

  Ricco tapped the wall with a gloved hand. “The bathroom is on the other side.”

  “Right,” Luigi took a step back. “But they’re not connected. You can’t access the balcony from the bathroom.”

  Ricco retraced his steps, carefully closing the door behind him. They moved to the corner room, the small bathroom. The door was propped open, and Carlita peered inside. There was a porthole roughly three feet a
bove the toilet.

  “There’s no way Roxy could have gotten through that small porthole.” Tony grabbed the metal bar propped against the wall. He slid it into the locked position before testing it to make sure it was secure. “Roxy couldn’t have removed the bar, either. Someone removed it for her.” He set the bar back against the wall and studied the deck.

  The red splotches were still visible. Carlita pulled her cell phone from her pocket and snapped several pictures. She took a picture of the door, the red splotches, the upper rear deck and then the balcony.

  “Let’s say someone came up here during the party. Maybe they were lookin’ for a bathroom,” Ricco said.

  “Or Roxy,” Luigi added.

  “Right. Or Roxy. They removed the bar and let her out. They got into a fight. The person or persons stabbed Roxy and then tossed her over the side of the ship.”

  “Which means whoever it was brought a weapon on board,” Elvira said.

  “Luigi was carrying, Roxy was carrying, I was carrying,” Ricco said.

  “I was carrying,” Elvira patted her pocket. “I’m pretty sure Dernice was too.”

  “But not a knife,” Mercedes said. “Were any of you carrying a knife?”

  Carlita wasn’t surprised when they all shook their head no. Who would admit to carrying a knife which may or may not have been a murder weapon? “If you think about it, firing a gun would be loud, even if the fireworks were going off. If the intent was to harm Roxy, her attacker would need to do it quietly.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t premeditated,” Tony suggested.

  “But who would kill Roxy?” Carlita asked. “Sure, she ticked a few people off, but is that reason enough to stab her and toss her over the side of the ship?”

  “Don’t forget, I took her gun,” Luigi said. “Which means I knew she was no longer armed. Something tells me I’m going to be the number one suspect.”

  It was true. Once witnesses were interviewed, they would mention the fight that took place between Ricco, Luigi and Roxy, not to mention Mercedes, right before Pete whisked her away.

  Which meant they would start digging around in all three of their pasts, which meant it would lead right back to Vito Castellini. No wonder he was sending down one of his big guns. The last thing Vito wanted was cops on his doorstep.