Breakfast Pizza Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 17)

by Patti Benning

  The woman jerked open the door and stalked out. Tai followed her, not registering Ellie in the slightest. The young woman had a dangerous look on her face. Ellie watched through the window as she hung back, watching Mrs. Brigham walk away. After a moment, she followed, vanishing from Ellie’s line of sight.

  Ellie jumped up, realizing instead that the older woman might be in danger. It sounded like Tai and Joe had been in a relationship. He was older than her by quite a few years, but by the sound of it, he had come out the worse for wear in their relationship. What if she had killed him? Ellie couldn’t let the older woman meet the same fate. She was just trying to get justice for her son; she didn’t deserve to die for that.

  Ellie left her table, slipping out the door and following behind Tai. She considered calling the police, but decided to wait. Nothing illegal had happened yet. All she had was a theory, and she knew they wouldn’t be happy if she wasted their time.

  She followed the women for blocks, being careful not to stray too close to Tai. Luckily for her, the girl seemed to have a one-track mind. She was focused on the older woman with the intensity of a hunter.

  At last, the older woman turned into an old, rundown building. Tai waited for a few seconds, then followed her, and Ellie did the same, shutting the door silently behind her. She saw a flash of shoes as the younger woman vanished up the stairs of the apartment building.

  She followed cautiously, hanging back when she reached the landing. She could just see Tai standing in front of a door. She was pounding on it, and from inside she could hear Mrs. Brigham yelling, “Go away. Leave me alone. I’m calling the police.”

  “Please, just come out and talk to me,” Tai said. Her voice sounded as if she was choking on her tears, but her face was cold. It was a chilling disconnect that gave Ellie a sense of just how dangerous this girl was.

  Thankfully, the girl’s crocodile tears didn’t seem to work. Growing angry, she kicked at the door.

  “You know what? You’re right. I killed Joe. There. Are you happy? Come out and fight me, you old hag. He thought he could leave me, but I showed him. Do you know what killed him? A wok. Put that in his obituary. And you know what? I don’t regret it.”

  There was silence from the other side of the door. Tai glared at the door, then continued.

  “It didn’t kill him right away, though. I knew I couldn’t let him die in my aunt’s kitchen, so I slapped a hat on his head and managed to prop him up. Thank goodness he was only about halfway unconscious when I led him over to the pizzeria; I never would have made it without him stumbling along. I thought someone there might notice him eventually and get him an ambulance, but it’s probably a good thing no one did. The world’s better off without him. He was a waste of space and –“ Tai fell silent, and Ellie heard the crisp sound of the door’s lock turning.

  “No!” she shouted just as the door began to open. Tai jumped back and pulled a knife out of her jacket. She spun around, facing Ellie.

  “You,” she snapped. “What are you doing here.”

  “I saw you follow this woman from the restaurant,” Ellie said. “I know what you’re planning on doing. Don’t you dare hurt her. I already called the police.”

  She was bluffing; she hadn’t called them yet. Everything had escalated too quickly.

  “How could you say those things about my son?” Joe’s mother said, her voice shaking. Ellie realized with the sickening feeling that she couldn’t see Tai’s knife from where she was standing. Tai began to turn back toward the older woman.

  “Get back, she has a knife,” she said, hurrying up the stairs two at a time. The older woman slammed the door shut, but Tai managed to stick a boot in the crack. As she struggled to overpower the older woman and throw the door open, Ellie lunged forward.

  She tackled Tai, fighting to keep the younger woman from using the knife against her. The blade scraped across her cheek, narrowly missing her right eye. After a breathless, terrifying few seconds, she managed to pin Tai’s hands to the floor. The younger woman was seething with fury.

  “Hurry, call the police,” Ellie gasped. “This woman is crazy. I don’t know how long I can hold her.”

  EPILOGUE

  * * *

  Ellie closed her eyes and inhaled, breathing in the fresh, crisp Maine air. It felt unbelievably good to be back in her home state.

  “Ellie?”

  She turned to see Russell staring at her from inside her car. “Hey,” she said, giving him a cheerful wave before dragging her suitcase over. “Thanks for picking me up.”

  “What happened your face?” he asked, getting out of the car so quickly that an SUV nearly took the car’s door off.

  “Oh… this?” she touched the patch of gauze. “I told you that I had a run-in with the murderer.”

  “You didn’t tell me that you got hurt,” he said, hurrying over to her and taking her face gently in his hands.

  “I didn’t want to worry you,” she said.

  “Well, I’m worried now. What happened?”

  “It’s just a cut. It didn’t even need stitches, the hospital just put a bandage on it.”

  “How did this happen? Did you get a tetanus shot?”

  “Tai, the girl who worked at the Chinese restaurant, had a knife. She was going to kill someone with it. I had to stop her. I didn’t need a tetanus shot, the one I got a couple of years ago was still good. Russell, calm down. I’m fine.”

  “I shouldn’t have left,” he said. “This is all my fault.”

  “No, it’s my fault,” she said, giving him a quick kiss before putting her suitcase in the trunk. “I got involved in something I probably shouldn’t have, but at least we ended up catching the killer. I might have even saved someone’s life.”

  “I’m proud of you,” he said. “Worried, but proud.”

  “It’s just a cut,” she assured him again. “Come on, let’s head home. I can’t wait to see Bunny and Marlowe. How are they doing?”

  “They’re both doing well. They will be happy to see you. The pizzeria is doing well too; I stopped in a couple of times for dinner. You know, without you around, I did almost nothing besides work and sleep. I didn’t have anyone to visit me at the department. I realized how much I enjoy taking breaks to visit with you. I missed you.”

  “I missed you too. It was lonely, being in Florida without you.”

  “Did you spend a lot of time with your grandmother?”

  “I only saw her a couple of times. We went shopping for — well, we went shopping, and then I stopped by to tell her goodbye before I left for the airport.”

  “How is she doing?”

  “She seems to be settling in well. I’m happy for her, even though I’ll miss her.”

  “I’m glad she made the leap. It seems to be something that she really wanted. And it will be nice for you to have some space, won’t it?”

  “Of course.” She thought of the big, empty Pacelli house and frowned. Maybe not so nice. It was just so much space, and she really didn’t need that much room herself. It would be unsettling to come home to an empty house every night. Well, empty other than the animals. Maybe she would buy some more perches for Marlowe and put them around the house so the bird could keep her company more easily. At least that would give her someone to talk to who would talk back.

  “How is the Florida pizzeria doing?” he asked as he pulled away from the pick-up area at the airport.

  “It’s doing well,” she said. “It was actually a lot busier than I expected after it opened again. I think Linda, Sandra, and Maria will do just fine.”

  “That’s good to hear. I’m sorry it didn’t all turn out as planned.”

  “It’s horrible, what happened,” she said. “I keep thinking of how things might have gone differently… but then I remember that a woman is alive because of what I did, and that’s no small thing.”

  “No, it isn’t,” he said. “Saving someone’s life… that isn’t something you’ll ever forget.”

  S
he knew she wouldn’t. Leaving Florida had been bittersweet, and leaving her grandmother behind had been hard, but at least she would be able to rest easy at night knowing she had done the right thing. She touched her cheek. A scar was a small price to pay for someone’s life.