Tastes Like Murder (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 1) (20 page)

It was past six, and my stomach growled from hunger. I hadn't eaten anything since that morning, when I had grabbed bagels for Josie and me from the little bistro down the street. I had a sudden, overwhelming urge for Grandma Rosa's comforting Italian cuisine.

I sat down at a table to call my parents' house. Grandma answered on the second ring.

"What's for dinner?" I asked.

"Eggplant parmesan and a nice green salad," my grandmother said. "We eat in half an hour. You are coming?"

Brian was due back any minute, and I didn't dare leave before his return. "Yes, but I might be a little late."

"Whenever you get here is fine." Grandma Rosa started talking to someone in the background. I heard my mother giggling, and my grandma sighed loudly into the phone.

"Tell Mom I'm not bringing a date."

Grandma Rosa snorted. "No, that is not what she wants. Your father would like you to bring him some fortune cookies. He is wondering if he should play the lottery tonight. If he wins, he said he is going to buy a gold casket and put it in the living room."

Good grief. This morbid fascination of my father's had to stop. "Okay, there's a few left in the back room. I'll bring him whatever we have."

"I am glad you are coming,
cara mia
. I need to talk to you." With that, my grandmother clicked off.

All of a sudden, everyone needed to talk to me. Perhaps my grandmother wanted to advise me about the opposite sex again. One never knew what she had in mind.

Josie appeared in the doorway of the back room, purse slung over her shoulder. She watched me inquisitively as I strode past her and grabbed the remaining fortune cookies out of a plastic container on the shelf, stuffing them into a paper bag. We'd only been able to salvage a handful of the treats after the break-in. There was no sense in making any more until we were ready to reopen.

"Has dear old dad got a hankering for a fortune? Oh, wait a second." Josie leaned over and grabbed a cookie from the bag. She waved it in front of my face while covering her eyes and chanted in a sinister voice. "Do not wear your best suit today because you may need to be buried in it tomorrow."

"Not bad. Maybe you should work for Hallmark or something. Start writing these sayings, and we won't have to buy them anymore."

"Yeah, like I'd have the time." She squeezed the cookie a little too hard, and it cracked in her hands.

"Nice going."

"Oops. Pops will have to make do with one less." Josie reached down to retrieve the slip of paper from inside. As she read it, she gave a loud bark of laughter.

"What now?"

She read aloud in a dramatic voice. "It says, 'Do not throw caution to the wind tonight.'" She chuckled and threw the strip and cookie into the garbage. "This cookie is nine years too late. I don't have to worry since Rob got his vasectomy."

I shook my head at her and grinned. "You're hopeless."

Josie observed me carefully. "I can stay for a little while if you need me to."

I stuffed the bag of fortune cookies into my purse and made my way back to the table. "No, thanks. I'll be fine."

"I don't know about that. He looked kind of ticked off at you."

"Believe me, I'm getting used to it. Listen, I think we need to go back to Snake Eyes tomorrow."

Josie wrinkled her nose. "Ew. But that place is so vile."

"Maybe we don't have to go inside. Just case the joint, so to speak. We've got to find out who Charlotte's partner is, and this is the only way I can think of."

"It might be days before they show up," Josie protested.

I stared at her pointedly. "Can you think of anything better?"

"Well, Kate's going to have her followed, right?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? Kate's dealing with quite a bit right now. We can't count on that."

Josie mulled this over for a second. "Fine. It's not like we have anything else to do around here anyway."

"Good. Let's plan to leave here about eleven in the morning. The new case should be installed by then, and we'll be free to go."

She knit her eyebrows together. "How are you going to pay for that? I mean, sorry, it's none of my business, but—"

I hated to alarm her, but with things getting dire after the break-in, she needed to be fully aware of the situation. "It's going to take the last of the money my aunt left me. I hope the insurance check comes through soon."

Josie clutched my hand in a death grip. "Sal, if something happens and we still can't open the shop by next week, what—" She stopped in the middle of the sentence, but I knew what she was trying to say.

"I don't know if I'll be able to make my rent next month. I'm good for September, but if we can't reopen for a while and the Health Department gets involved, we might be done for." I blinked hard, trying to prevent tears.

Josie squeezed my hand. "We'll get through. You'll see."

The front door opened and Brian walked in. He tossed his hat onto a chair and sat down next to me. "Kate should be fine. She called her doctor to come over, but my guess is she's suffering from stress and exhaustion."

"I'm glad she's all right." I got to my feet. "Would you like a cup of coffee? I've got a great dark roast—"

Brian caught me by the arm. "Sit down, please. I want to talk to you."

"Should I leave?" Josie asked.

Brian shook his head. "I'm going to read her the riot act, and you might as well stay and hear it too. It would save me from tracking you down later."

"Wonderful." Josie leaned against the wall.

My stomach twisted into a giant knot. "Okay, I know what you're going to say."

The lines around Brian's mouth hardened. "I came to tell you about Colin, and what do I find? You hitting Kate Gregorio up for information. Again, I'm asking you to stay out of this investigation."

I clapped one hand over my eyes. "Brian, please try to understand. She came here. We didn't go to her."

"That is true," Josie said.

Brian cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter. I told you to please let me do my job. Don't you think the police department is capable of finding the killer?"

I removed my hand and met his gaze. "Of course I do, but my entire business is at stake here. I have to
do
something."

"Has the autopsy been completed on Vido yet?" Josie asked.

Brian's smile appeared pained. "I told you ladies it's going to take several days for the toxicology reports to come back. Maybe longer."

I tapped my fingers on the table. "But you did say the cookies were laced with morphine?"

"Yes, the drip kind." Brian watched me curiously.

"Where would a person get that?" Josie wanted to know.

He shrugged. "It could be prescribed for someone. My mother used some last year when she broke her wrist. I imagine it might be difficult to figure out how much to give someone to kill them."

I was deep in thought. "But a doctor would know, right?"

Brian nodded. "I'm sure he would. Stop speculating though."

I clutched his hand. "Brian, I think Charlotte is involved. Maybe she didn't kill Amanda, but she could have killed Vido. She might have had a friend helping her."

"Don't you think we've thought of her? I know about the finances at the spa. It still doesn't make Charlotte a killer. A person of interest, yes, but not a murderer. She had an alibi."

"There's more. She's gay. Kate didn't know for sure, but she suspected. I think Charlotte's partner could have killed Amanda. Maybe they were acting as a team."

Brian was thunderstruck. "How did you find all this out?"

"Um, we—" I couldn't meet his eyes and glanced toward Josie for help.

Josie picked up her purse. "Well, I've got to get home to the kids. See you tomorrow morning. Night, Brian." With that, she rushed out the door.

Some best friend, deserting me in my hour of need.

Brian watched her depart then looked at me, arms crossed over his broad chest, his Greek god-like face stern. "I'm waiting for an answer."

My insides filled with dread. "Josie and I did a little snooping yesterday. We found a place Charlotte likes to frequent. It's called Snake Eyes Casino."

Brian's jaw tightened, and his eyes blazed into mine. Nervous, I glanced down and busied myself with fingering the tablecloth. He said nothing for a full minute. I wondered if he was counting to ten, or perhaps ten million, before he was going to start yelling at me.

When he finally spoke, however, his voice was cautionary. "I know that place. It's a hellhole. A woman was raped there last week. Promise me you won't go there again."

I didn't answer.

"Sally, I'm not kidding around."

"I can't just sit here and wait." I grabbed a handful of my hair and twisted it in exasperation. "If this keeps up, I won't be able to pay my rent next month. This is my livelihood we're talking about."

Brian placed his hands on my shoulders. "I told you. Let us handle it. Don't you trust me?"

"You know I do, but—"

He pushed the hair back from my face. "No buts. I have enough to worry about without having to think about you, too." He ran a finger over my lips, and my heart stuttered inside my chest. "Okay, maybe that came out wrong. I like thinking about you when I'm stuck in my squad car during the middle of the night."

He placed his hand behind my neck, pulling me toward him. I closed my eyes and let his mouth devour me. His lips were moist, warm, and delicious. The kiss seared through every part of my body. When we finally broke apart, I longed for more.

Brian stroked my cheek. "Very nice. So, dinner tomorrow night?" He whispered as he kissed me again.

"Yes." My brain had zoned out.

"Good." Brian eyes sparkled. "I get off duty at six. I'll pick you up here at seven." He hesitated. "We'll eat at my place, if that's okay with you."

Heat crept into my face. "That sounds nice."
And hot.

Brian got to his feet and put his hat on. "Until tomorrow, beautiful." He opened the door and quickly disappeared into the night. Josie had the right name for him. He was Officer Hottie.

*   *   *

"Dang." Gianna watched me in amazement from across our parents' dinner table. "I've never seen you eat so much."

I looked up from my second helping of eggplant parmesan to glare. "Pass the garlic bread, will you?"

"It is good." Grandma Rosa nodded in approval as she walked into the kitchen. "You need the food. You are all skin and hair."

I raised one eyebrow at her. "Do you mean bones?"

"That is good, too."

I had arrived at my parent's house at seven o'clock. They had already eaten and disappeared upstairs to watch television, or so they said. My mother's giggling, which resembled that of a schoolgirl's, found its way back down to the dining room table. We knew exactly what they were doing.

"They're just like rabbits." Disgust was written all over Gianna's face.

My grandmother reappeared with coffee for me and gestured toward the plates. "Gianna, you start stacking the dishes. I need to talk with Sally."

Gianna groaned. "Come on Grandma, can't I stay?"

Grandma Rosa yelled at her in Italian.

"Okay, okay," Gianna grumbled as she took the plates into the kitchen.

My grandmother reached into her housecoat pocket and placed a check in front of me. "A little something to help you out with expenses."

"What's this?" A check for five thousand dollars. My jaw dropped. "Grandma, I can't accept this."

"You will take it," my grandmother ordered. "Use it for the new case in the shop and to help pay your rent, if needed."

My eyes filled with unshed tears. "I need to do this on my own."

"Baloney. What good is it to have grandchildren if you cannot help them once in a while?" Grandma patted my arm. "Thanks to your great-aunt Luisa, my sister, I am able to give you this. God rest her soul." She made the sign of the cross. "Gianna will use her money toward student loans, and you have used yours for the business. Me, what do I need the money for? My whole world is right here. You take this, and pay your bills, and if you have enough left over, give Josie some. The poor girl has never had anyone looking out for her, and she and Robbie need the money."

I sobbed as I threw my arms around her neck. "You're so good to me."

My phone started ringing as Grandma hugged me back. She retreated into the kitchen while I stared down at a number I didn't recognize. Not a Florida area code, but I wasn't taking any chances. I prayed it wasn't Colin asking for bail money and pressed ignore on my phone.

Grandma Rosa reappeared with a dish of spumoni
for me. As I savored the mixture of pistachio, cherry, and chocolate ice cream, I marveled at how lucky I was to have this wonderful woman in my life. Family was everything. True, my parents were a bit crazy at times, but I had never doubted their love for me or Gianna. And Grandma Rosa was in a class by herself. Too bad someone like Mike had never been able to experience this special bond of family.