“Coming right up,” Linda said. Ellie watched as her friend hurried away, feeling the slightest twinge of worry. Linda had definitely lost weight since the last time she had seen her. Ellie knew that she was dealing with a lot, and she just hoped that her friend didn't overwork herself.
Ellie and Nonna took a seat at a booth near the register. Nonna was happily chatting about all of the things she planned to do when they got back to Maine. Ellie was only half listening; the other half of her was looking around the restaurant, trying not to be too obvious as she evaluated how well the place was doing.
She had to hand it to Linda; even though the other woman was going through a lot, the place was spotlessly clean, and all of the guests seemed happy. One of the employees, a young woman whom Ellie hardly knew, was taking an order from a family with two small children. She was glad to see that the young woman was smiling courteously, even when one of the children accidentally spilled a cup of water.
“Here are your drinks,” Linda said. “Are you sure we can't get you something else, Ellie?”
“Thanks, but I'll just have the water for now. I know I'll get a headache if I don't drink enough of it, especially in this heat.”
“Well, just let me know if you change your mind. The smoothies have been extremely popular. You should try one, at least.”
“Maybe I’ll get one to go after we’re done eating,” Ellie said. “So, what’s the special today?”
“Spicy shrimp pizza on a flat bread crust,” Linda said. “It’s served cold. It’s been pretty popular; it was a special a couple of weeks ago, and we decided to bring it back. Everyone loves it.”
“I’ll have two slices of that,” Ellie said.
“I’ll have the same,” Nonna said. “I remember the last time you guys served it, you’re right. It is pretty good.”
Linda beamed at her, then hurried off to go and get their orders ready. Ellie leaned back in the booth, satisfied that the restaurant wasn’t about to burst into flames or crumble into a heap of rubble. She didn’t like to admit how worried she had been about Linda. Sandra, one of Linda’s close friends and the assistant manager at the pizzeria, had passed away during Ellie’s last visit to Florida. She could only imagine how hard it was for Linda to run this place on her own.
“So, do you still come here often?” Ellie asked her grandmother.
“Of course,” her grandmother said. “It reminds me of home. And you just can’t beat the food or the service here. You did well in choosing Linda to run the pizzeria for you.”
“I know I did,” Ellie said. She smiled. “She’s been through a lot, but she seems to be doing all right, doesn’t she?”
“She’s managing,” Nonna said. “She’s a survivor, that one. Plus, I think it helps her to have this place. It gives her something to focus on.”
Ellie could understand that. She sipped her ice-cold water and smiled. It was reassuring to see Linda again face-to-face, and it was a good reminder that no matter how bad things got, life always went on.
After dinner, they returned to the rental car company, so Ellie could drop the vehicle off, then took a taxi back to the condominium complex. The next morning, they got up before the sun began to come up. It took them a while to double and triple check that Nonna had everything she wanted to bring with her. It was tough to fit all of their luggage into the tiny car, but somehow, they managed. Ellie waited patiently as her grandmother took one last look around the condo that had been her home for the past six months, and she could tell that the other woman found it bittersweet to be leaving.
“You’ll see it again in October,” she reminded her grandmother.
“I know. And I want to get home.” She took one last look down the hall, and then stepped inside to join Ellie on the front porch and lock the door.
Ellie took the seat behind the driver’s wheel and began fiddling with the car keys. It took her a moment to realize that there wasn’t a key – not a physical one, at least. Instead, there was a button near the steering wheel that she had to push to start the engine. It was strange to hear the car purr to life at the touch of a button.
“This is making me feel old,” Ellie said. “You don’t even need a key to start a car anymore.”
“I’m glad I’m not the one driving,” her grandmother said. “This machine frightens me.”
Ellie was glad that her first experience with the car was on the slow, empty streets of the retirement community, because it took her a while to adjust to the sensitive steering and gas pedal. By the time they reached the office, she was grinning. This was going to be a fun road trip – as long as she didn’t somehow manage to crash the car.
Indeed, driving up along the Florida coast with the roof down and the wind blowing in her hair was an amazing experience that left both women laughing and happy. They drove for most of the day, stopping occasionally for bathroom breaks, and once to eat lunch at a lovely little restaurant right next to a beautiful beach. Ellie leaned back in her chair after finishing her fish taco and sighed. While it wasn’t exactly the week that she had planned for, she was definitely enjoying the road trip. Her grandmother was too, she thought, but she could tell that the older woman was beginning to get uncomfortable from sitting in the vehicle for so long.
After taking a slow walk on the beach to stretch their legs and help them digest, the two of them folded themselves back into the vehicle and took off again. It was getting dark by the time Ellie mentioned finding a hotel for the night, and they were already well into Georgia by then.
“Let’s pull over soon so I can look up local hotels online,” Ellie said. Her grandmother agreed, and they got off at the next rest stop. Ellie pulled out her cell phone, then sighed. “I don’t have any cell phone service here. We can keep driving for a bit, if you’d like, and see if my phone picks up the signal again, or we could just get off at the next exit that promises lodging.”
“My vote is for the second option,” her grandmother said, her eyes sparkling. “This is supposed to be an adventure, isn’t it? So, let’s just see where life takes us.”
Chapter Four
The very next exit promised both lodging and fuel, so Ellie took it even though it seemed that they were far from any city. She had her doubts and the ramp ended on a quiet country road, but they followed the signs that pointed them toward the promised motel.
“This really is out in the middle of nowhere,” Nonna said. She didn’t look worried; on the contrary, she looked excited. Ellie realized that her grandmother must have missed the peace and quiet of living outside of town – her retirement community was a busy place, and they were only a short drive from a very major city. It must be good for her to get out of town for a while, Ellie thought.
“I just hope they have a vacancy,” Ellie said. “I’m getting sick of driving.”
The motel turned out to be only a few miles down the road, on the outskirts of one of the tiniest towns that Ellie had ever seen. Luckily, the word vacancy was flashing on the large sign that read Maple’s Motel. Right next to the motel was a small diner that already looked closed for the night, and kitty corner across the intersection was a ramshackle gas station with a tow truck that read Rob’s Vehicle Repair in the parking lot. Ellie was having her doubts about staying in this motel for the night – it looked just as rundown as everything else in the tiny town did – but her grandmother seemed up for the adventure, so she turned into the parking lot. She still wasn’t used to driving the sleek, shiny car, and accidentally hit the brakes too hard, jerking them to a stop in one of the parking places.
“Shall I go in on my own?” she asked. “I can get us a room, and I’ll see if they offer breakfast in the mornings.”
“I’m happy to wait here,” her grandmother said. “It will be easier than trying to get in and out of this car.” Ellie nodded, understanding. The car had a very low seat, and it was difficult for her grandmother to get up from it.
“I’ll be right back,” she promised, leaving the vehicle runn
ing. She grabbed her purse and went inside, looking around the small lobby. It appeared to be empty, but the door had been unlocked, and lights were on inside, so she assumed that they must be open. She approached the front desk and rang the bell that was on it.
She waited a moment, but no one showed up. She was about to press the bell again when she heard the murmur of voices behind the door. The sign on the door read Laundry Room, so she figured it would be all right if she peeked inside. She pushed her way through it, then quickly stumbled back, gasping out, “I’m so sorry.”
She had walked in on two people kissing passionately. Both of them jumped when she came into the room, and she felt embarrassed. She let the door close behind her, then turned to the front desk, where she was surprised to see that an older woman had appeared.
“How can I help you, dear?” she asked. Behind her, Ellie heard the door to the laundry room open. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man with a clipboard walk through the door to the parking lot. The woman walked around Ellie to the other side of the desk, standing next to the older woman with a flush on her cheeks.
“I’d like to rent a room,” Ellie said, putting the incident out of her mind. “My grandmother and I will be staying for the night.”
“Just the one night?”
“Yes. We’ll be leaving pretty early in the morning.”
“Okay. Check out time is eleven, just in case you decide to sleep late. We don’t serve breakfast here, but the diner next door opens at seven. Will you be paying with cash or credit? We don’t accept checks.”
“I’ll be paying with my card,” Ellie said, digging her wallet out of her purse.
“You’re all set. You’ll be in room number eleven. Here are the keys. Just drop them off here in the morning when you leave. My name is Annie Maple, by the way, but you can call me Annie. I’ll probably be the one here when you check out.”
“Thanks,” Ellie said. “I’ll see you in the morning, I’m sure.”
She made her way back to the car, her eyes counting down the numbers on the exterior doors. She had already almost forgotten the incident with the man and the woman in the laundry room. It really wasn’t any of her business, she was just embarrassed that she had walked in on such a passionate embrace.
Purely by coincidence, she had parked almost directly in front of room number eleven, so she simply reached in and shut off the car, then went around to the passenger side to open her grandmother’s door and helped the older woman out.
The room wasn’t anything special. There were two neatly made beds, a microwave, and a small bathroom with a questionable tub. Still, it was dark and cool inside, and as she sat down on the corner of her bed, she sighed in relief. It felt good not to be driving. They still had quite a few hours of their trip left, but she was sure that she would feel more up to continuing to drive after a good night’s sleep.
“Are you hungry?” she asked after her grandmother came out of the bathroom.
“A little bit, but I think I’d like to lay down before we find somewhere to eat,” the older woman said.
“Okay.” Ellie was tempted to do the same, but she knew that once she lay down, she wouldn’t want to get back up. Instead, she decided to make herself useful. “I’m going to go and get some ice and see where the vending machines are. Whenever you’re ready, we can head back out and see if we can find a restaurant that’s open this late.”
“Will you shut the curtains before you go out?”
“Of course.”
Ellie grabbed the ice bucket and a plastic liner for it, and, making sure that she had her key, slipped out of the room. Her stomach rumbled, and she patted her pockets to make sure that she had a couple of dollar bills available. If she found vending machines, she was going to stop and get a small snack. She didn’t know when her grandmother might wake up, and for all she knew, there weren’t any restaurants open past ten in the area, so if she could find something to eat, she would take it.
The ice machine and vending machines were situated between one of the long arms of the motel and the front lobby. She took her time perusing the options in the vending machine, and eventually settled on a bag of chips and a small package of beef jerky. After she had her food, she filled up the ice bucket, putting the top on it before turning to head back to her room.
She hadn’t gotten more than a few steps away from the machines when she heard a squeal of breaks and a loud crash coming from the parking lot. With a bad feeling in her stomach, Ellie hurried toward the sound, skidding to a halt as she stared in horror at the sleek yellow car, which had just been run into by another vehicle.
Fighting back the surge of anger that she felt when she saw the wrecked vehicle – it wasn’t even hers; what would her grandmother’s friend say? – she hurried forward to see if whoever had been driving the SUV was all right. She was relieved when she saw the driver undo her seatbelt and opened the driver’s side door.
“Are you okay?” Ellie called out.
The woman looked up at her, but instead of responding, she just pointed. Ellie turned, following the direction of the woman’s finger, and felt the bag of chips and beef jerky tumble out of her hands. Just inside the open doorway of one of the motel rooms, a man was slumped, his eyes wide and staring, and a smear of blood on the door behind him. Ellie forgot all about the car as she took a hesitant step toward the man, hoping against hope that he would move, but somehow knowing in her heart that he was already dead.
Chapter Five
She had left her cell phone in the motel room, which she realized only after patting her pockets frantically for a moment. The woman who had been in the SUV came up behind her, and Ellie saw that she already had a phone in her hands.
“I – I was just driving through the parking lot and I saw him. I was trying to figure out just what exactly I was seeing, and I must not have been paying attention to where I was going,” she murmured. “Is he… dead?”
“I think so,” Ellie said, still staring at the man. Summoning all of the bravery that she could find, she approached the man who was slumped against the door and pressed her fingers to his neck, but try as she might, she couldn’t find a pulse. His eyes were still open, and he hadn’t blinked once. Even though she tried not to look at it, the blood was only inches from her face, and she could tell that it was fresh. Whatever had happened to him, it had happened recently. She must have walked right by him on her trip to the vending machines but had been so focused on her task of finding food that she hadn’t even noticed.
She heard beeping behind her, and turned to see the other woman pressing a cell phone to her ear. A moment later, she began talking rapidly to the emergency dispatcher. Ellie stood up, wiping her hand reflexively on her pants even though she hadn’t done anything more than touch the man’s skin. She looked at his face, frowning, wondering why it looked so familiar. It wasn’t as though she knew anyone in the area. She bit her lip, tearing her eyes away from his face, only to have them land on a clipboard that had fallen to the floor beside him. Suddenly, her mind made the connection, and she gasped. This was the same man who she had seen kissing that woman in the motel’s laundry room not even an hour beforehand. She felt a chill.
“The police are on their way,” the woman said, her voice shaking. “Should we tell someone who works at the motel? What should we do about the body? What if someone with children walks by?”
“I’m not sure that we should do anything,” Ellie said. “I’m sure the police will handle everything when they get here. How long did they say they would be?”
“Not long,” the other woman said. “We should probably just wait here, you’re right. We shouldn’t leave the body alone, and I wouldn’t feel safe waiting here by myself.”
The truth was, Ellie really did not want to be left alone with the man either. For all they knew, whoever had attacked him was still around. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes away from his face, and felt nausea building in her stomach. The other woman’s presence was a welcome dis
traction.
“My name is Regina, by the way,” she said. “Did you know him?”
“I saw him in the motel lobby, that’s all,” Ellie said.
“I’ve never seen a dead person before,” the other woman whispered. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Neither do I,” Ellie admitted. They both froze as a door at the other end of the building opened and a young woman came out. Ellie tensed, worried that the woman would walk by them, but she made a beeline for the parking lot and got into a vehicle. As she drove away, Ellie wondered if they should have tried to stop her. For all they knew, she might have had something to do with the attack. Wouldn’t the police want to question everyone? She wished Russell was there. This was his job, after all, not hers.
“Do you hear that?” the other woman asked. Ellie fell silent, concentrating, and then relaxed slightly. Sure enough, she could hear the sound of sirens off in the distance. The police were nearly there.
“They’ll know what to do,” she repeated, as much to herself as to the other woman. Her palms were damp with sweat, and she wiped them on her shorts before bending down to pick up the bag of chips and jerky.
She wasn’t hungry in the slightest anymore, but she couldn’t very well just leave them lying on the sidewalk.
All of a sudden, she remembered Nonna. Her grandmother would be wondering where she was, and she wished that she had a way to let the other woman know that everything was okay. She wasn’t looking forward to telling her grandmother about what had happened.
The sirens drew nearer, and eventually Ellie saw two ancient police vehicles with flashing red and blue lights pull into the motel’s parking lot. They parked near the two crumpled cars, and shut the sirens off, though they left the lights on. The officers got out, one of them hanging back to report something into his handheld radio, and the other one approaching them.
Hot, Spicy Murder Page 2
