Hot, Spicy Murder

by Patti Benning

  Hot, Spicy Murder

  Patti Benning

  Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  Also by Patti Benning

  Author’s Note

  Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Copyright

  Copyright 2018 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

  Chapter One

  Eleanora Ward felt like crying. It was the end of what she was sure had been the busiest week of her life, and in just over eight hours, she was supposed to be on an airplane flying towards Florida. The only problem was, she hadn’t even started packing. Between the never-ending stream of customers at the pizzeria, the hassle of her and Russell trying to organize the new house that they had just bought, and with both of them juggling work and trying to find enough time to go shopping for furniture together, she had been too exhausted to even think about her trip to Florida.

  And now, of course, she was faced with the monumental task of packing everything that she needed for a week in the sun in one suitcase. The task wasn’t made any easier by the fact that most of her summer clothes were still packed away in a box in the back of the closet at the Pacelli house next door, but her suitcase and all her toiletries were here in her and Russell’s new house.

  “I'd better get started,” she said out loud.

  Bunny, her black and white papillon, perked her ears up. Ellie paused to stroke the soft fur on the dog’s head, glad for a moment that her husband, Russell, was staying behind for the trip. While she would have loved Russell's company, it was a relief to know that he would be watching the animals. She always felt bad upsetting their lives when they had to go to a pet sitter. Marlowe, especially, seemed to take it roughly. The big green and red parrot wasn't a fan of change and liked very few people besides Ellie herself.

  It didn't take her long to pack her toiletry bag, which simply entailed moving her supplies from the bathroom cabinet to the waterproof bag. Anything she forgot she could easily replace, so she hardly bothered double-checking it. More important was her laptop, and her charging cords for the computer and her cell phone. She had traveled to Florida so often in the past year that it was beginning to feel routine, and it didn't take her much time to finish packing everything that she could.

  She zipped up her suitcase and went downstairs to find Sawyer, the black Labrador retriever puppy, taking a nap on the couch. He no longer needed to be directly supervised all the time, but she still didn't trust him in the house alone. Luckily, he was all too happy to accompany her across the lawn to the Pacelli house, so with him at her heels, she dragged the suitcase through the grass, all the while mentally berating herself for not remembering to move the boxes of clothing over sooner.

  When she opened the door to the Pacelli house, she felt an unexpected blast of nostalgia. It didn't look much different; most of her belongings had been upstairs, so aside from Marlowe's cage in the hallway, no large items had been removed, but the house already had the air of emptiness about it.

  She wondered, not for the first time, whether her grandmother would be pleased with this arrangement. She and Russell had decided to have the new house be a surprise for Nonna, but every now and then, Ellie got the urge to tell her anyway. It was going to be a big change for all of them, though not as big as it might have been. Finding a house right next door to her grandmother for her and Russell to live in had really been the perfect blessing. Rationally, she knew that they would not get a chance like this again, and that of course her grandmother would have encouraged them to make the most of the opportunity if she had been there.

  She and Russell had agreed to tell Nonna about the house the instant they got back from Florida. They had already installed a two-way intercom system between the houses, so if Nonna needed to talk to them, or they wanted to check on her, they would be just the press of a button away. And besides, Ellie couldn't deny that she was looking forward to having her own home with her husband. It was the beginning of a whole new world for both them.

  Since all of her summer clothes had been packed away neatly, it didn't take her long to pack what she needed for her trip into the suitcase. When she got back, she could just unpack them in the closet at the new house. It would be summer here in Maine soon enough, and she was already looking forward to the warm days ahead.

  Back in her and Russell's new house, Ellie took a moment to pass Marlowe an almond in the shell through the bars, then went into the kitchen to feed the dogs. She was supposed to be going to bed soon; she had to wake up early to drive down to Portland to catch her flight, but she wanted to wait for Russell to get home. She wasn't going to see her husband for nearly a week after this, and after spending every day together for the past couple of months, that was going to be rough.

  While she waited, she scrolled through her emails on her phone, double and triple checking her flight time and departure gate, and then re-reading her last email to Linda, which the other woman had yet to answer. The Florida pizzeria had been through a major upheaval recently, and she had been micromanaging the business more than usual — at least, as well as she could while living in Maine. It would be good to visit the pizzeria again and make sure that everything was going well, but she would have to remember her promise to her grandmother not to work too much while she was down there. This trip was meant for the two of them to spend time together; she could always make a work trip later.

  The dogs ran to the front door a moment before Ellie heard the sound of Russell’s truck pulling up the driveway. She put her phone down, glancing in the hall mirror as she walked toward the door. Even though they had been married and living together for a few months, she still got butterflies in her stomach whenever her husband got home after a long day. Some days it was hard to believe that she was married, and that this man she loved would be there every day for the rest of her life.

  Smiling at her reflection, she turned to hurry down the hall, eager to see Russell and get in some last goodbyes before she went to bed.

  Chapter Two

  It was still morning when her plane landed in Florida. Ellie had fallen asleep during the flight and was disoriented when she woke up as the plane began to descend. It had been dark out when she had flown out of Portland, and the feeling of not knowing what time it was, was unsettling.

  She got her bearings about her quickly enough and was feeling wide-awake by the time people began getting off the plane. The trips to Florida were familiar, and she didn't even have to check the signs in the airport to know that she was heading the right direction to pick up her luggage. It was a simple matter to find her suitcase and make her way to the other side of the airport where the office for the rental cars was. She smiled to herself as she paid for the vehicle and accepted the keys. The first time she had come down here, everything had been so confusing, and she had gotten lost in the airport more times than she could count. This familiarity was nice, and it was also a reminder of how
much her life had changed.

  The roads surrounding the airport were always busy, though they weren't as bad today as they had been in the past, since it was a weekday morning. Still, she never enjoyed driving through Miami, and didn't begin to relax until she reached the outskirts of the city.

  The retirement community her grandmother had lived in for the past six months was on the coast just outside of Miami, and coincidentally was only a short drive to the Florida pizzeria. If she took only a small detour, she would drive right past the restaurant. Ellie hesitated for a moment at the intersection but decided to head straight to her grandmother's. It was still early enough in the morning that no one would be at Papa Pacelli's, and there was no real reason she needed to stop by an empty restaurant. She would get plenty of time to visit later this week and see how Linda was holding up.

  Her favorite part of the drive from the airport to her grandmother's was the last stretch, when the road hugged the coast and she got to enjoy the scenery of the beaches, the ocean, the palm trees, and the various shops and houses. Even though she lived a stone's throw from the ocean in Maine, the two great bodies of water could not have been more different. In Maine, the ocean was cold and choppy, and the water was usually a dark, steel grey color. The beaches were rocky, and only the bravest people swam in the warmest months.

  Down here in Florida, the ocean was a gorgeous dark blue, and the beaches were sandy and dotted with swimmers and sunbathers. I don’t blame Nonna for wanting to spend winter down here, she thought. Her grandmother had spent decades suffering through the cold, brutal Maine winters, and Ellie knew that she had only done it out of love for her grandfather. The warm Florida weather and the active city were the perfect match for her independent grandmother.

  At last, she saw the sign at the entrance to the community and turned on her blinker. The subdivision felt oddly empty as she drove through it, and she realized that a lot of the residents must only stay for the winter months. She knew that the condominium did six-month leases, though some of the residents lived there full-time as well.

  She drove slowly through the twisting streets until she saw her grandmother's condominium in the distance. She had to double check the address; her grandmother couldn't drive, but nonetheless there was an expensive looking bright yellow sports car in the driveway. She had called her grandmother as soon as she had disembarked from the plane, and the older woman hadn't mentioned any guests, but she figured it was possible that one of Nonna’s friends had stopped by without warning. Ellie parked along the street, not wanting to block the other car from leaving the driveway. She shot the vehicle an admiring glance as she walked past it, dragging her suitcase. She knew that a lot of the people in this retirement community were well off, but it was still strange to see such a flashy car in a community where many of the residents couldn't drive at all.

  She knocked on the front door, already grinning. She was excited to see her grandmother, even though it had only been a few of months since the last time they had seen each other. She felt a moment of doubt once again as she thought about the surprise that she and Russell had for the older woman, but forced it down. Everything would turn out well, she was sure of it.

  The door opened a moment later, and Ellie and her grandmother beamed at each other for a moment before rushing into a hug. Ellie squeezed the older woman as tightly as she dared, glad that her grandmother didn't feel as if she had lost any weight. The white-haired woman was tan and looked healthy, even better than she had the summer before. It made Ellie's heart beat a bit easier in her chest. Her grandmother was in her mid-eighties, and even though it was sometimes easy to forget how old she was, Ellie was always worried that her age would catch up to her. She didn't know what she would do without the older woman in her life.

  “Come on in,” Nonna said. “I just made some fresh lemonade, and I thought we could go out for brunch if you'd like. I can't imagine that you had a good breakfast on the plane.”

  “Brunch sounds wonderful,” Ellie said. “I'd like to sit down for a few minutes first, though. I slept on the plane, but I still feel tired. I don't know why travel always takes so much out of me.”

  “Come and sit down in the kitchen, then,” Nonna said. “We have so much to talk about. I’m glad you’re finally here.”

  Amused at her grandmother's eager, bustling energy, Ellie relented and left her suitcase by the front door, slipping off her sandals and padding barefoot across the lush carpet toward the bright and airy kitchen. Despite the heat outside, or maybe because of it, the house was chilly. The Pacelli house in Maine was old, and didn't have central air, and she was amused to realize that her grandmother took full advantage of the top-of-the-line air conditioning in the condo. Her grandmother might love the sun and warm weather, but she still preferred to have a cool house to retreat back into when it all got to be a bit much.

  “How was the trip, dear?” her grandmother asked as she bustled around the kitchen, removing clean glasses from the cupboard and taking the pitcher of freshly made lemonade out of the fridge.

  “I slept for most of the flight,” Ellie said. “The drive was pleasant, though. This really is a beautiful area.” She sipped the lemonade, which was just perfect – not too sweet, and not too sour. The color reminded her of the bright yellow car sitting in the driveway. “Is someone here?”

  Her grandmother frowned. “No, it's just me. I told all my friends you were coming today, so I don't think any of them are planning on stopping by. Why do you ask?”

  “The car in the driveway…” Ellie frowned, getting more confused. “Whose is it?”

  To her surprise, her grandmother grinned. “There's something I need to tell you. It all happened so fast, you see. I probably should have spoken to you first, but I know you've been so busy these past few days, and I figured you probably wouldn't mind too much. You know my friend Grace Elliott in Kittiport? Her husband purchased the car last week and was going to have someone drive it up to Maine for him, but that didn't work out, so she called me and asked if you and I can drive it up when we come back home. It will take a couple of days, but it should be fun, I haven’t been on a road trip in such a long time. And of course, you would get to drive the car.”

  Ellie blinked. It was a lot to take in. She had been planning on staying for nearly a week, then flying back with her grandmother, but now it seemed that plans had changed unexpectedly. She imagined driving the beautiful convertible up along the East Coast, and grinned.

  “I'm glad I spent the extra money on exchangeable tickets,” she said. “You're right, this is a surprise, but a good one. A road trip will be fun.”

  Her grandmother smiled. “That's what I was hoping you would say. I figure we can leave Wednesday, that should give us plenty of time to get home on schedule. Or we could leave earlier, if you want to sightsee along the way.”

  “I came out here to spend time with you, so as long as you're happy, we can leave anytime. I do want to stop by the pizzeria first and say hi to Linda, but after that, I'm all yours for the week. Now that I know we're going to be driving it, I'm going to go outside and take a couple of pictures of the car to send to Russell.” Ellie smiled, thinking about how jealous her husband would be. He drove an old truck with four-wheel-drive, which was useful for the sometimes-icy Maine roads, but he appreciated flashy sports cars just as much as the next man.

  “I can't believe I'm going to be going home,” Nonna said, raising her lemonade glass. “I can't wait to spend the next six months up north. I hope you'll tell me about everything that's happened since I left, but first, let's decide where we want to get brunch. I don't know about you, but I'm starving.”

  Chapter Three

  The two of them decided to stay in Florida for the next day, and leave early the morning after to begin their road trip. That gave Ellie enough time to visit the pizzeria and check on Linda and the others, and also relax at the beach for a while. She didn't mind that her grandmother had changed their plans suddenly without talking to
her, and if anything, it made her feel a little bit better about the surprise that she and Russell had planned for Nonna when they got back. Besides, a road trip really would be fun. She flew back and forth a lot, but she hadn't gotten a chance to see much of the country. Now, she would be driving all the way from one of the southernmost states to one of the northernmost ones, and she was looking forward to the adventure.

  Of course, she had packed for a weeklong stay in Florida, not a week long drive up the coast, but luckily many of the same things that were comfortable to wear while lounging around in the sun were also comfortable to wear whilst sitting in the car. She knew that she would be the one driving the entire way; her grandmother no longer had her license, so even if Ellie got tired, the older woman wouldn't be able to take over.

  That evening, they went to dinner at the pizzeria. She had already emailed Linda, and the other woman knew to expect her, so they were greeted at the door by an exuberant, if stressed looking, familiar face.

  “It's good to see you again,” Linda said, surprising Ellie by pulling her into a hug. “Sit wherever you want. What can I get the two of you to drink?”

  “I'll have a water,” Ellie said. It was hot outside, and with the sun beating down on her, she was beginning to feel parched.

  “I’d like the strawberry banana smoothie,” Nonna declared. Ellie smiled. The smoothies were a new addition to the menu. They had decided to try them out down in Florida, where the demand for them would be greater, and if things went well, she was planning on introducing them to the menu at the Maine pizzeria for the summer.