Exes and Woes: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Book 14)

by Hope Callaghan

  Carlita watched as she tried the door. “She’s trying to get in,” she whispered.

  Zulilly pulled her cell phone from her back pocket.

  “She’s meeting someone.” Carlita craned her neck. “What is this place?” She had no more finished asking the question when she spied a sign above the entrance. “I think we’re close to cracking the case.”

  Chapter 25

  Chirp. Carlita jumped at the sound of her cell phone. “It’s Elvira. Hello?”

  “Where are you?” Elvira asked. “I’m home. No one is around.”

  “Luigi and I followed Zulilly.” Carlita rattled off the address.

  “It’s a business?”

  “Yes, it is. Coastal Adventures.”

  “I…I. Are you sure? I had no idea they had an office in Savannah.”

  “Well, they do, and Zulilly is standing outside. It looks like she’s waiting for someone.”

  There was heavy breathing on the other end of the line, and Carlita guessed Elvira was on the move. “I’m on my way. Don’t go in. Wait for me. I’ll be there in ten minutes, tops.”

  Carlita promised they would wait and then ended the call. “Should we call the cops?”

  “And tell them what? We suspect Elvira’s ex and possibly even her daughter killed someone?” Luigi asked. “We have no proof.”

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, Carlita smiled. “You sound like a cop. You sure you’re not a former cop?”

  “Would you believe me if I told you I went through the whole police academy thing and then changed my mind?”

  “Yes…actually, no. No, I’m not surprised. Why…” her voice trailed off.

  “Dirty cops. One of my best friends was gunned down by a dirty cop. It left a bad taste in my mouth.”

  “I’m sure it did. Not all cops are bad.”

  A four-door car passed by them and turned into the parking lot. The car parked next to Zulilly’s security services’ van. A thin man with curly gray hair exited the vehicle and met her at the door. They disappeared inside.

  “Where is Elvira?” Carlita’s armpits grew damp as she glanced behind her. “She better hurry up if she wants to be the one to confront her ex.”

  “Here she comes.” A van sped past them.

  Carlita could see Elvira behind the wheel, a grim expression on her face. She must’ve realized she went too far. The van circled back around before pulling in behind Luigi’s vehicle.

  Carlita exited the vehicle and joined her on the sidewalk. “You took long enough.”

  “I made it as fast as I could. Are they inside?”

  “Yes.” Carlita pointed to the car parked next to the security services van and described the man who was driving it.

  “That’s him…my ex.”

  Luigi made his way around the front.

  Elvira gave him the once over. “I remember you.”

  “Elvira Cobb,” Luigi said. “Glad you could make it to the party.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m here, and I don’t need your help. I don’t need a former mobster working for me. I have enough troubles.”

  “Elvira,” Carlita chided. “I don’t think you’re in any position to judge. Besides, Dernice hired him.”

  “Look where she’s at. She’s in jail.”

  “Because of you.”

  “I’ll cut you a check and bring it over later, after I get to the bottom of what’s going on in there,” Elvira said.

  “You didn’t hire me. You can’t fire me.”

  “What do you mean?” Elvira’s face turned bright red. “I can fire you, and I just did. You’re fired.”

  “Nope.” Luigi shook his head. “You’re not my boss.”

  “I…I’m the owner,” Elvira sputtered. “You’re fired if I say you’re fired.”

  Luigi threw her words back in her face.

  She clenched her fists and took a menacing step toward him.

  Luigi, cool as a cucumber, grinned, as if daring her to hit him, or perhaps he was simply amused by her reaction.

  Carlita stepped between them. “We have bigger problems right now. We might need Luigi’s muscle.”

  She could see Elvira considering her reasoning and relaxed her stance. “Fine. You can stay until I get to the bottom of what’s going on. I have a gun in my glovebox.”

  Luigi patted his pocket. “I got it covered.”

  “Let’s go.” Carlita made a move toward the building.

  Elvira hurried ahead of her. “I’ll go in first.”

  Luigi brought up the rear, giving the vehicles the once over as they walked past. “Hang on.”

  “What is it?” Carlita asked.

  “Check out the car,” Luigi said.

  Carlita studied the man’s car. “What about it?”

  “Over here.” Luigi made his way to the passenger side and pointed to the missing mirror. “The mirror is missing. I shot it out the other day when the driver forced Dernice’s van off the road.”

  Chapter 26

  Carlita’s breath caught in her throat. “You’re right. This looks like the vehicle we saw. Elvira’s ex, Gremlin, is behind all of this.”

  Luigi unzipped his jacket pocket. “This might get ugly.”

  “We have the element of surprise.” Carlita tried to sound confident but knew they could very well be walking into a bad situation. She started to tell them she thought it was time to alert the authorities. It was too late. Elvira had already entered the building.

  Luigi followed close behind while Carlita reluctantly brought up the rear.

  Zulilly was the first to notice them. Her jaw dropped. “Mom? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to talk to your father.”

  “I…I thought you were gonna be gone a while longer.”

  “Change of plans. When I found out the police picked Dernice up, I knew I needed to come home to see what was going on.”

  “I already told you. The police searched Dernice’s van. They found evidence linking her to Kim Turbell’s death and arrested her.”

  Elvira took a step forward, her attention focused on her ex. “Are you behind all of this, Gremlin?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You knew Kim Turbell. She was an employee of a company of which you’re part owner.”

  “It doesn’t make me a killer. Besides, she was found in your building. Maybe you killed her.”

  “I barely even knew her. I was in another state when she was murdered. You know what I think? I think you had something to do with her death.” Elvira moved in for the kill. “Who shot out your passenger side mirror, Gremlin?”

  “Dad didn’t kill her.” Zulilly straightened her shoulders and shot her mother a defiant look. “If you had sold the property like Dad asked you to, then none of this would’ve happened.”

  “How do you know?” Elvira asked her daughter. “How do you know your father isn’t responsible?”

  “Aunt D killed the woman,” Zulilly insisted.

  Elvira’s voice softened. “I don’t think she did. I think your father did it. In fact, I have a piece of evidence I believe the authorities will be very interested in taking a look at.”

  There was a look of fear in Zulilly’s eyes. The fear disappeared, and her eyes flashed with anger. “This is all your fault. You were greedy and selfish. The only thing you were worried about was Dad not getting his hands on your businesses. But all you had to do was sell the property, and no one would’ve been hurt.”

  “Someone has been hurt. A woman is dead, and your aunt is at the police station.”

  The man with the mop of curly gray hair, placed a light hand on Zulilly’s arm. “It’s okay. I can handle this.”

  “Yes. Let your father handle this,” Elvira mocked as she slowly crossed the room. “Let’s talk.”

  “About what?”

  “About the death of your employee, Kim Turbell.”

  “You’re barking up the wrong tree. Your sister, a convicted felon, ha
s been picked up.”

  “She didn’t do it, and you know it. Zulilly as much as admitted you were behind this.”

  “I…you’re twisting my words around,” Zulilly’s face crumpled, and Carlita almost felt sorry for the woman who looked like she was going to burst into tears.

  “What were you doing, Grem?” Elvira asked in a soft voice. “You never were happy with just one woman. Were you having a fling with a married woman? Did you talk her into leaving her husband or boyfriend…the fling went south and, you did her in?”

  “You’re crazy…even crazier than before,” he blustered.

  “Am I? This is all beginning to make sense. You want the Tybee Island project to move forward. Unfortunately, your ex is standing in your way. As luck would have it, Zu offers to come down here to Savannah to help me, but she ends up helping you instead. You talk her into tracking my moves and Dernice’s moves. I’m temporarily out of the picture, so you go after Dernice. Maybe my sister was figuring it out too.”

  “I’m calling the cops.” Gremlin reached for his cell phone.

  “Go ahead and call them. I’m sure they’ll be interested in discovering the truth about what has been going on, maybe even dig a little deeper into your relationship with Kim Turbell.”

  “You’ve gone too far.” Gremlin made a move for his desk. Luigi, despite his size, moved fast. He charged the man, knocking him off balance and sending him flying across the room.

  Meanwhile, Elvira darted to the desk. She reached inside and pulled out a gun. “I think he was going for this.”

  Carlita, stunned by the turn of events, quickly recovered. She fumbled inside her purse for her cell phone and dialed 911. “Yes. This is Carlita Garlucci. We need the police at twenty-nine Magnolia Street as soon as possible.”

  She wasn’t sure how Luigi managed to do it, but by the time she hung up, he had pinned Gremlin against the wall. “He ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

  It didn’t take long for the police to arrive. All of them began talking at once with Elvira pointing fingers at Gremlin while Gremlin and Zulilly blamed Elvira.

  The officers escorted Elvira, Luigi and Carlita outdoors. Gremlin and Zulilly remained inside while the police began searching.

  A short time later, the officers led Gremlin and his daughter outside. “We’ll let you inside after we finish searching the rest of the premises.”

  Gremlin’s face grew deathly pale as he watched them through the window. “They don’t have a search warrant. I want my attorney.”

  The officer, who was standing next to him, ignored the comment.

  While Gremlin anxiously watched them search, Zulilly slumped against the wall and began muttering under her breath.

  It seemed like forever before the officers finished and joined them. One was holding a manilla file folder. He reached inside the file folder and pulled out a greeting card. “Does this look familiar?”

  Gremlin’s face grew even paler as he stared at the card. He opened his mouth and then closed it

  “This is a card addressed to you from ‘Kim.’”

  “Dreaming of our forever.” The officer flipped the card open. “Wishing each moment was spent with you. It’s signed, I love you forever, Kim.”

  Gremlin’s eyes grew wide. “I…you have it all wrong. That’s not from Kim Turbell. It’s from another Kim.”

  “Kim who?” the officer asked.

  “I want my lawyer,” Gremlin finally said.

  “You’re under arrest for the death of Kim Turbell.” The officer handed the envelope to his partner and began reading Gremlin his rights.

  Zulilly sprang to her feet. “No. No! He didn’t do it. I did it.”

  Gremlin grunted loudly, watching in horror as his daughter tried to tackle the officer.

  The other officers sprang into action and quickly subdued her.

  “Zu,” Gremlin said. “Stop with the crazy talk. Neither of us killed Kim Turbell. Your mother or aunt are responsible.”

  Zulilly fought to break free. She flung herself to the side, so that she faced Elvira. Her eyes were dripping with hatred. “This is your fault,” she spat out. “Yours and that stupid witch, Kim. She hated me. She tried to keep me from Dad. You don’t deserve your businesses. Dad and I do.”

  “What are you saying?” Elvira whispered.

  “You abandoned Dad and me years ago. You bought that property to spite him. If you had stayed out of it, none of this would’ve happened.”

  “Kim,” Gremlin interrupted. “You killed Kim?”

  Zulilly turned to her dad, her eyes half-crazed. “She didn’t deserve you, so I lured her to Mom’s place. She never even saw me until it was too late.”

  Zulilly calmly stated how she confronted Turbell at the real estate office where Turbell taunted her, claiming Gremlin would choose her over his daughter. “She was an evil woman. I did you a favor.”

  Shocked, Carlita struggled to put the pieces together. “The car. You tried to run your aunt, Luigi and me off the road.”

  “And I would’ve taken you out if not for this goon.” Zulilly curled her lip and glared at Luigi.

  “You borrowed my car and ran your aunt off the road?” Gremlin asked. “I thought you backed into a mailbox.”

  Carlita could see Gremlin was slowly realizing his daughter was not who he thought she was. “Don’t say anything else, Zu. I’ll get you a good lawyer.”

  The police finished reading the woman her rights and placed her in the back of the patrol car. As they drove off, Zulilly glared at them through the back window. Her lips were moving, and she stared her mother down.

  “I…I’m sorry, Elvira. I had no idea,” Gremlin said. “I had no idea Zulilly killed Kim. I thought you did it.”

  “And I thought you did it.” Elvira’s shoulder’s sagged, and Carlita thought she was going to burst into tears. “My daughter has been taken from me all over again.” She gave her ex a defeated look and began shuffling away.

  Gremlin wasn’t off the hook, either. The police escorted him to the back of another vehicle and placed him inside.

  Carlita caught up with Elvira by her van. “I’m sorry, Elvira.”

  “I had no idea.” Elvira clutched her gut, a pained expression on her face. “I feel like I lost my daughter all over again.”

  Concerned over Elvira’s state of mind, Carlita drove them home with Luigi following behind in his car. When they reached the apartment, Carlita offered to run down to the police station to check on Dernice.

  A subdued Elvira thanked her and trudged into her apartment. Luigi offered to tag along and climbed into the passenger seat. “That’s one messed up family.”

  “It is.” Carlita consulted the rearview mirror before backing out of the parking lot. “I thought it was Gremlin.”

  “Me too.”

  At the precinct, Carlita and Luigi waited for nearly an hour before Detective Wilson joined them in the front lobby. “Mrs. Garlucci.”

  “Hello, Detective Wilson. We’re here to see if Dernice Cobb will be released soon.”

  “As a matter of fact, she’ll be ready to go shortly.”

  Dernice emerged. She spotted Carlita and Luigi and hurried over. “The detective told me you were out here waiting. That was a fun time.”

  “Thank you for your cooperation in our investigation, Ms. Cobb.” The detective smiled. “You’re free to leave.”

  “What happened?” Dernice followed Carlita and Luigi out of the building. “I was in for my fifth round of interrogations when someone came in and said I was free to go.”

  “Because they have Kim Turbell’s killer in custody.”

  “Seriously?” Dernice abruptly stopped. “Do you know who it is?”

  “Zulilly. Your niece hated the woman. She lured her to Elvira’s property and killed her.”

  “That’s heavy. What about Gremlin?”

  “They brought him in too. He was much more involved with Kim Turbell than any of us knew. If what Zulilly says is true and she murdered Ki
m Turbell, I’m sure he’ll eventually be cleared.” Carlita continued. “Your sister is home and taking it hard. She needs you right now.”

  “Poor Elvira. I’m sure she’s devastated.”

  Carlita had barely finished parking the car when Dernice bolted from the vehicle. She was already inside the apartment by the time Carlita and Luigi walked past.

  Mercedes heard her mother return home and wandered out of her room, still wearing her pajamas. “What happened to you?”

  “What hasn’t happened? Dernice was picked up for questioning. Elvira is back. Her daughter is responsible for Kim Turbell’s death.”

  “Zulilly?”

  “Yep.”

  “And I missed all of that?”

  “Yes, you missed all of that.”

  *****

  Two days passed before Elvira stopped by to tell Carlita that Zulilly had been admitted to the prison’s mental health ward. “Zulilly still believes she did her father a favor by killing the woman.”

  “What about you and Gremlin? Are you speaking to each other?”

  “We are. He’s devastated. I’m devastated. It’s a mess.”

  “I’ve been wondering about something,” Carlita said. “Dernice was convinced someone was messing around your place right before Turbell was killed.”

  “It was Gremlin. He was sneaking around, trying to find out where I went. My surveillance cameras are hunks of junk. I’m replacing every single one. He found out Zu was coming to Savannah and convinced her to keep an eye on Dernice and me. Zu tracked Kim down, they got into a huge argument about Gremlin and that’s when Zu lured her to my property.” Elvira placed her hands on her hips. “Gremlin thought Luigi was my boyfriend. Can you believe it?”

  “Yeah. I can see you two as a couple,” Carlita joked.

  “That’s not funny,” Elvira said. “Thanksgiving is right around the corner. You gonna have a big shindig again this year?”

  “I am. I’m hosting a Thanksgiving Day dinner at the restaurant at six o’clock for family and friends.”

  “Dernice and I will be there.”

  Carlita sighed. She hadn’t invited Elvira. In fact, she’d made a point not to, deciding to save herself some unneeded aggravation and potential drama. “You just invited yourself.”