Killer Crust (2 page)
Authors: Chris Cavender
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #Women Sleuths, #General
“Are you sure I shouldn’t ask him myself?”
“No, I’ll handle it,” she said as she pulled out her phone and stepped into the back. I pulled our lunch from the conveyor oven, plated it, and then sliced it. As I waited for Maddy to rejoin me, I looked around the pizzeria’s kitchen. It was hard not to plan my improvements, but I knew that I was getting ahead of myself.
I had to win the contest first, and if I knew Luigi, the competition was going to be pretty fierce.
“Well, this doesn’t look too bad,” Bob Lemon said half an hour later as he finished examining the contract Luigi had supplied for the competition. Maddy and I had eaten our pizza while we’d waited for him, and I’d offered to make him something to eat for his trouble, but he’d declined. I hadn’t expected such quick results, but my sister had asked him nicely, and he’d promptly responded. Bob tapped the document with his index finger, and then said, “There is one thing, though.”
I frowned. I’d been hoping that there wouldn’t be any glitches to the contract, but knowing Luigi even as little as I really did, I wasn’t all that surprised. “How bad is it?”
“That’s entirely up to you. If you win the competition, Luigi has the right to use your likeness, the name of your pizzeria, and just about anything else he wants for PR purposes for up to three years after the contest is completed.”
“What can he do if I lose?” I asked.
Bob grinned. “He can’t even mention your name under his breath.”
“Sold,” I said as I reached for the contract.
“Not so fast,” Bob said. “There are a few other lesser things you need to keep in mind. You’ll also be responsible for all taxes on the winnings. I’m guessing, just off the top of my head, that will be somewhere between a third to half of your winnings, when all is said and done.”
I grinned at him. “So, you’re telling me that the only downside of winning is having my pizzeria advertised for free all over the South, and to top it off, I get somewhere between twelve and seventeen grand out of the deal if I win.”
“That about sums it up.”
I laughed out loud. “I’ll take that deal any day that ends in
y
. Let me sign this thing so I can get it into Luigi’s hands before he changes his mind.”
y
. Let me sign this thing so I can get it into Luigi’s hands before he changes his mind.”
Maddy stepped between us before I could take it, though. “Bob, are you certain this won’t bite my sister down the road?”
He considered her question, and then answered, “Let me put it this way. If any problems I haven’t mentioned arise down the road from her executing this agreement on my advice and counsel, I will represent her free of charge.”
Maddy kissed him, and then she said, “You weren’t going to charge her anyway, though, were you?”
“Most likely not,” he said with a laugh. “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have a case to prepare for tomorrow.”
“Thanks for everything,” I said as I reached up and kissed his cheek.
Bob smiled after the kiss. “Wow, I can’t help but wonder how many men besides your father could say that both of you had kissed him within minutes of each other.”
Maddy and I said in perfect unison, “Just one. Jimmy Hickman.”
Bob replied, “From the dual expressions of distaste I’m witnessing, I’m guessing things didn’t fare quite so well for young Mr. Hickman.”
“Believe me,” I said, “There are details about that you don’t want to know.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” As he started to leave the pizzeria, he turned to Maddy and asked, “Are we still on for tonight?”
“We are. Thanks again, Bob.”
“My pleasure,” he said as he left the pizzeria.
“You finally got yourself a good one there, Sis,” I said.
“You don’t have to tell me.” She rubbed her hands together, and then said, “We have thirty minutes left on our late lunch break. What do you want to do with the time we’ve got left?”
“You can do whatever you want to, but I’m going straight to Tree-Line to deliver this contract to Laughing Luigi before he can change his mind.”
Chapter 2
M
addy and I walked into Tree-Line, the brand-new hotel complex on the edge of town, and headed toward the front desk. One step inside the lobby explained the name of the luxurious new complex. Huge posts fashioned from giant trees stood out in the expansive space, highlighting the timber frame structure that was the loveliest shade of tan I’d ever seen. The walls were covered with pine stained butterscotch that highlighted the beams, and the floors featured a warm slate of grays and greens that radiated high-end comfort. Light wafted gently down from several skylights, and I felt as though I were in Montana instead of my corner of North Carolina. The complex hadn’t even officially opened yet, and we’d all been waiting eagerly to tour the facility during their grand opening. I wondered how Luigi had managed to snag a room while they were still working out the last-minute glitches that any operation that big must be experiencing, and then I realized that the presence of his pizza competition would bring the hotel and restaurant a great deal of free publicity. No doubt it would carry a lot of weight with the eccentric owner. As I looked around more, I could see that a fire was going in the massive two-sided see-through fireplace across from the reception area, and large, comfortable couches and chairs were arranged all around it. Large windows showed views of the surrounding mountains, and even though the leaves had left the trees in colorful bursts of explosion a few months before, it was still a majestic sight.
addy and I walked into Tree-Line, the brand-new hotel complex on the edge of town, and headed toward the front desk. One step inside the lobby explained the name of the luxurious new complex. Huge posts fashioned from giant trees stood out in the expansive space, highlighting the timber frame structure that was the loveliest shade of tan I’d ever seen. The walls were covered with pine stained butterscotch that highlighted the beams, and the floors featured a warm slate of grays and greens that radiated high-end comfort. Light wafted gently down from several skylights, and I felt as though I were in Montana instead of my corner of North Carolina. The complex hadn’t even officially opened yet, and we’d all been waiting eagerly to tour the facility during their grand opening. I wondered how Luigi had managed to snag a room while they were still working out the last-minute glitches that any operation that big must be experiencing, and then I realized that the presence of his pizza competition would bring the hotel and restaurant a great deal of free publicity. No doubt it would carry a lot of weight with the eccentric owner. As I looked around more, I could see that a fire was going in the massive two-sided see-through fireplace across from the reception area, and large, comfortable couches and chairs were arranged all around it. Large windows showed views of the surrounding mountains, and even though the leaves had left the trees in colorful bursts of explosion a few months before, it was still a majestic sight.
All in all, it was quite a place given its proximity to Timber Ridge, but I knew that the owner, a man named Nathan Pane, had more money than the annual budgets of seven counties, so if anyone could afford to build a complex this spectacular, it was him. His niece, Gina Sizemore, was a striking brunette in her mid-twenties, and though we’d had a rocky start when we’d first met, we were now friends. If I looked closely enough, I could still see the evidence of some of her scars from the fire that had nearly killed us both. Though Gina claimed that I’d been the one to rescue her from the fire, I knew in my heart that she’d saved me by confronting a killer, and I also realized that there was no way I’d ever be able to make it up to her.
“Hey, Gina,” I said as Maddy and I approached the reception area. “How are things going? The place looks unbelievably beautiful. You’ve done a magnificent job with the property.”
The hotel manager came out from behind the desk and hugged me fiercely. “I was wondering if you were ever going to come out here and take me up on my lunch invitation.” She glanced at my sister and said, “Hey, Maddy.”
“Hello. Eleanor is right, by the way. This place is truly magnificent.”
She nodded her thanks as she looked around with great pride. “It truly is lovely. I told Uncle Nathan that he didn’t have to go to these extremes, but he wanted to give Timber Ridge something back for all of the years he’s lived here, and I couldn’t stop him.” She smiled as she added, “Not that I tried too hard to rein him in. We both win, after all. I get my dream job running this place, and by building Tree-Line, he gets to keep me close.”
“How’s he doing, by the way?” I asked. “I haven’t seen him since he finished the house restoration.” Nathan owned a great deal of the land around us and had more wealth than most folks realized, but one of his favorite things was a Craftsman-style cottage that echoed my own. My late husband, Joe, and I had done the rehabbing ourselves on ours as we’d tried to get the pizzeria going, but Nathan had hired a crew of experts. I wouldn’t have traded places with him even if he’d thrown in a million extra into the deal, though. The home where I lived alone now was one of the best reminders I had of my late husband, and though I’d moved on and was dating a fine man named David Quinton, there was one corner of my heart that would always belong to Joe. One of the things that I admired most about David was his open acknowledgment and acceptance of that fact.
Gina smiled at the mention of her uncle. “The last I heard, he was thinking about buying an entire lake somewhere near Cashiers so he’d have a place to go fishing.”
“What’s he going to do with his own lake?” I asked. “That’s a lot of trouble to go to just to not have to share a spot for your line. Surely there’s got to be another way to go about it. Was he serious, or was he just pulling your leg?”
“Who knows? I’m never exactly sure, but with that man, you never know.” She rubbed her hands together and smiled. “Now, let’s go see about lunch.”
“Can we take a rain check?” I asked. “Maddy and I just split a pizza, and I’m here to deliver something to one of your early guests.”
“Don’t worry about that. We can have lunch anytime,” Gina agreed. “Could I help you find the guest you’re looking for? We’re doing a dry run before we open, so we invited some family and a few of my uncle’s business partners to the event.”
“Actually, I need to find Laughing Luigi.” I turned to Maddy and asked, “Did we even know his last name?”
“You’re kidding, right? I thought Laughing was his first name,” Maddy said with a smile.
Gina’s good nature faltered for a split second, though she quickly masked it. “He’s in the auditorium at the moment,” she said. That must have been when she realized the real reason that we were there. “You’re entering the competition, aren’t you?”
“We are,” I admitted. “The bait he dangled in front of us was just too much to turn down. The possibility of twenty-five-thousand dollars going to a small-town pizzeria is something that I just couldn’t say no to.”
“Believe me, I understand,” she said. “Before I knew about Uncle Nathan, I pretty much stayed broke with my expensive tastes. You know what’s funny, though? Once I had real money, I lost a great deal of interest in spending much of it. What I’m doing here,” she said as she gestured all around us, “is what matters to me now these days.”
“Do you mind if I ask you something?”
She nodded. “Anything.”
“You don’t care much for Luigi, do you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Honestly? No. But then again, it’s not up to me to approve of him. He’s bringing us a great deal of business and attention. I’ve just got a bad feeling about him, though,” she added in a whisper. “I’m not sure why, but something’s not right about all of this.”
Maddy stepped in. “So it’s not just me. You caught it, too, right?”
I had to laugh. “If you ask me, you’re both imagining things. I’m not a big fan of the man, but Bob Lemon himself looked over this contract,” I said as I waved it in the air. “With his approval, I signed it. After all, what could go wrong?”
“I just hope you don’t find all of the answers to that question somewhere down the road,” Maddy said.
“Seconded,” Gina said.
Maddy asked, “I hate to ask, but is there a restroom nearby? I drank one too many sodas at lunch.”
“There’s one just around the corner, but you can use the one in my office. I really pampered myself designing it, and I’ve been dying to show it off.” She pointed toward the fireplace and added, “Eleanor, Luigi’s just down that hallway, through the first set of doors on the right.”
“I’ll catch up with you later, Sis,” Maddy said.
As they left together toward Gina’s office off to one side behind the front desk, I started down the hallway to find Luigi and make A Slice of Delight’s entry in the competition official.
All of that left my thoughts, though, the second I opened the door and walked inside.
From the sound of the loud voices coming from the stage, apparently Maddy and Gina weren’t the only ones who had a problem with Luigi.
“You are a liar and a thief,” a woman said as she waved a finger ominously at Luigi, “and you’re not going to get away with this.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luigi said. I doubted that was true. There was a smug grin on his face that testified otherwise.
“We were supposed to be invited to this mockery of a contest,” the woman snapped. “I even signed your insane contract. You can’t just capriciously pull our entry at the last second.”
“As a matter of fact, I can, and I have. You signed the document in question, but did you actually read it?”
She was clearly agitated by his question. “How could I? It was full of confusing lawyer language and boilerplate clauses. I’d be amazed if anyone actually bothered to read the thing before they signed it. It was massive.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. If you were foolish enough to sign a legally binding contract without understanding all of it, you have no one but yourself to blame. Section seven, paragraph eleven states that at the sole discretion of the contest host, the invitation to the competition can be withdrawn up to one hour before it is set to begin. Since we are now three weeks away from the actual contest, I’m well within my legal rights to terminate your participation, and you have no recourse in the matter. Your invitation has officially been withdrawn, and your reservations have been cancelled. I suggest you deal with it, Mrs. Ford.”
“This is not over, not by a long shot. Don’t think you’re going to get away with this, Luigi,” she said, clearly distraught over being dropped from the competition without explanation. I had to wonder if it had anything to do with my earlier, and sudden, invitation.
“There’s nothing left to discuss. It’s over,” Luigi said, and then I heard a slight laugh. It was a dark, ominous sound, without joy or hope, and I felt a chill run through me when I heard it. I doubted that I’d ever be able to forget the way that sound hit me, like a punch straight to the heart.
Mrs. Ford stormed off the stage and nearly knocked me over on her way out the door. “Get out of my way,” she snapped just before exiting the auditorium.
“Is she a friend of yours?” I asked Luigi as the door swung silently shut behind her.
He was clearly not pleased when he realized that I’d witnessed the confrontation. “How long have you been eavesdropping, Eleanor?”
“I wasn’t,” I said curtly. “I’m sure that I missed most of it, but she wasn’t very happy when she left, was she?”
“I can’t be responsible for her state of mind,” he said.
I doubted that was true, but I’d had enough battles with Luigi to know that I wasn’t eager to get involved in one that in no way concerned me. “I came to give you this,” I said as I walked up on stage and handed him the signed contract.
“Good,” he said absently. “I’d hoped you would agree.”
“I didn’t understand everything, but my attorney made sure there weren’t any bear traps in it. Aren’t you going to tell me who that was who just threatened you?” I asked.
“She is of no consequence—a pizza maker whose ambitions clearly outreached her ability.” He dismissed her without another thought and turned his back to the seats and faced the stage. “This is going to be incredible. Each set of two contestants will have their own mini kitchen. I’m bringing in small electric ovens for the baking, and every station will have a duplicate set of tools and supplies for the contest,” he said as he painted the picture with words and gestures. “It will be the fairest contest that my company and I could design.”
I turned and looked out into a sea of seats. “Is there really going to be an audience?”
“Of course there is,” he said. “What did you expect? This is a big deal.”
“I don’t know. I just figured the competitors would make their pizzas, they’d be judged, and then the winner would get a check.”
He shook his head. “Where’s the flair, the drama, the showmanship in that? This is going to be a grand event!”
The man was clearly caught up in his own delusions, but who was I to set him straight? After all, he was the one putting up the prize money.
“It’s going to be magnificent,” he said.
“I can’t wait.”
“Well, you’ll have to,” Luigi said. “From here on, everything will be wrapped in secrecy until the evening before the competition begins. You’ll all be staying at the Tree-Line as my guests, so you’ll have to make yourself available for interviews before we begin, at the end of each stage’s judging, and of course after the grand finale.”
“We have to stay here?” I asked. “You know that Maddy and I have our own places in town,” I protested. I wasn’t all that thrilled with leaving my cottage, even with these luxurious accommodations that would be available to me free of charge.
“I’m sorry, but it’s a part of the rules.”
“Bob didn’t say anything about that when he read the contract,” I countered.
“That’s because that particular document dealt with the competition itself, not the details that will be surrounding it. Besides, what are you complaining about? You will love staying here, and as an added bonus, I’ll be picking up the check for your accommodations, and you’ll get a daily stipend for food, no matter the outcome of the contest.” He paused, and then smiled slightly. “Eleanor, don’t tell me you don’t relish the idea of gouging me, even if it’s just a little?”
“We’ll agree to those conditions. I’m sure this place will be fine,” I said.
As I responded, his cell phone rang, and after glancing at the number, Luigi said, “It’s my office, I need to take this. My VP of Marketing and Sales, a man named Jack Acre, will contact you soon with all of the details. I’ll see you and your sister in three weeks.”
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