Sliced and Toasted With Murder (A Josie Rizzo Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by J R Pearson

  "Hey, Greta, I need another—" Tony stopped short, seeing Josie. "Um, never mind. I'll get it myself." He mumbled before disappearing. Awkward silence dawned upon the small kitchen. Josie stared a hole through the floor's tile.

  "What did happen between the two of you?" Brad asked her.

  "It’s complicated."

  "So is life, girlie," Greta said, wiping her hands and putting them on her hips. "The best way to handle it is to just knock it back like a shot of whiskey." Josie twisted her face. According to her mom, life should be taken by the horns with a belly full of banana-topped French toast, a fresh coat of lipstick, and pair of clean panties.

  "Sooo, what I'm hearing is, we're all gettin' fuzzy at Triple B's tonight?" Brad asked, looking hopeful.

  Greta patted his cheek. "Smart boy."

  ***

  The three B's: Burgers, bacon, and beer, each crafted and served in unique ways. Josie set down Triple B’s menu and gazed around the low-lit, cozy restaurant.

  Comfortable red-cushioned booths lined the sides. Tables in the middle. Neon pink pigs with angel wings hung on the walls. A complete circular bar stood in the center.

  The aroma: grilled burgers and sizzling bacon. It was a Saturday night, so the restaurant was alive with locals, young and old, alone or in a group, crowding the popular burger joint.

  Josie's cousins, Jennie and Kal, served drinks behind the bar. Detective Evans stopped by to check in with Jennie, and Josie smiled when Evans leaned across the counter to give Jennie a kiss before leaving. Her cousin's cheeks blushed bright red.

  Josie nibbled on a sweet potato fry and sipped her strawberry lemonade. Brad, remembering he had a later date with Mark that night and not wanting to be down for the count, he settled on a lite beer. Greta was on her second whiskey sour.

  "Y'all ready to order?" their waitress asked. Brad ordered his usual, a double mushroom Swiss burger with extra mushrooms. Greta, saying lactose intolerance could kiss her...bottom, asked for a four-cheese Angus bacon burger with lettuce and pickles.

  Josie took a break from her go-to fried egg and bacon burger, instead trying the sundried tomato Caprese hamburger with balsamic caramelized onions.

  Minutes later, their waitress returned, balancing baskets of food on a tray.

  Visually, Josie's burger was a work of art. The balsamic glistened under the booth's overhead light. The dressing wasn’t drizzled over the burger, but had been added to the onions during cooking. Melted white mozzarella oozed down the side of the sandwich, while creamy avocado peeked from under the patty.

  Lately, on her blog, Josie had shared her exploration of Danny’s Deli and the charming Sweeny’s Café. The café graced the town with variations of muffins, coffee, and oatmeal with dried fruit. In The Box bistro's gourmet hot dogs were a main highlight, too. But readers had wondered if she would do another post on Triple B’s.

  Tonight, she would grant their wishes.

  "Let’s hear it." Greta lifted her glass. "I want to know what’s going on with you and young Santino."

  "Or we can just enjoy our meal....in silence," Josie proposed. Brad flung a fry at her and raised an eyebrow. She sighed.

  "Fine." She explained how lovely Friday’s dinner began, how Honey Tucker made an unexpected—and rather irritating—appearance, interrupting potentially the best romantic moment Josie had had...ever.

  "Wait a sec, you were about to kiss Tony?" Brad leaned in.

  "I already said that." Josie rolled her eyes.

  "Yeah, yeah. But you didn’t say whether you wanted to," he said. Josie shrugged, opened her mouth, and then closed it. Then opened it again.

  "I—. Maybe. Probably....yes."

  "Yes?" Greta cupped a hand over her ear. "I'm old, speak up." She smirked, clearly fibbing. Well, not about being old.

  "Yes." Josie deflated.

  Brad patted her hand. "Don’t fight it. Tell Tony how you feel,” he said. "It’s never too late." Josie nodded, hoping he was right. No. Brad was right. If she and Tony were to remain close friends, then vacancy for secrets was unavailable. Being open was the way to go. Josie's palms dampened at the image of her ‘fessing up to him.

  What happens after?

  Did Tony even feel the same?

  "Hello!" Jennie bounced up to their booth. "I only have a minute to visit," she said, bending over to hug and exchange a cheek kisses with Josie, Brad, and Greta.

  "I wish you could join us," Brad pouted. "We were in the middle of planning Josie and Tony's wedding." He smirked.

  "YOU'RE ENGAGED?!"

  "No!" Josie kicked Brad's shin. "No, absolutely not," she hissed. Jennie giggled.

  "Too bad. I would have loved to be the one to tell your mom the good news."

  "Mmm-hmm. I bet you would." Josie narrowed her eyes.

  "We saw your sweetums—er, Detective Evans, come in," Greta grinned at Jennie, whose face was the shade of a fire hydrant.

  "He was just telling me that he’s staying late at the station tonight," she explained. "Get this." She squeezed in next to Josie, while she, Brad, and Greta lowered their heads closer to Jennie.

  "He's waiting for a warrant to arrest Brian."

  "No way!"

  "Way. But you didn’t hear it from me." Jennie pointed. "Caleb said he interviewed Gordy's lawyer."

  "Gordy had a lawyer? What for?" Josie asked.

  "Well, since his mother's death, Gordy apparently was on and off about wanting to run the Fitz and Glitz. The hotel his mother had owned. Then recently he decided not to, so he hired a lawyer to sign everything over to Brian."

  "That's why Brian came to Greenville," Josie said.

  Jennie nodded. "All three were to meet the morning of Gordy's death. But Gordy called his lawyer Sunday night and said he completely changed his mind and wanted to keep the hotel in his name." Jennie lifted her shoulders. "Caleb thinks Gordy waited until the last minute for Brian to arrive in town to finally tell him."

  "Which no doubt angered Brian." It was all starting to make sense for Josie. "Brian needed the job and money." She briefed the group on what Reese had dug up about Brian's unemployment.

  "Add on decade after decade of mistreatment he had to endure from his mother. He was probably jealous of Gordy’s relationship with their mother," Brad said. Josie gnawed on a cold fry.

  "True. He must have felt entitled to have the hotel after everything she put him through," Josie put together. "I bet Gordy asked Brian to come to the deli, and explained how he changed his mind."

  "Brian's pissed," Brad followed Josie's train of thought. "His gut reaction was to grab a knife and—"

  "WHAM!" Greta stabbed a fork in her half-eaten burger, causing everyone to jump a few inches into the air. Josie warily eyed the woman. Brad mouthed to Jennie “No more whisky.” Across the restaurant, Kal signaled his sister to return.

  "Gotta go!" Jennie hurried away. A familiar nose-clogging perfume descended upon their booth. Josie smelled Tucker before she saw her.

  "Um, hi?" Tucker waved. "I'm glad I found you," she said to Josie. Brad glared.

  "Why?" he asked. "So you can ruin yet another evening for my friend?"

  "Stop it," Josie fiercely whispered to him. Brad continued to glare at Tucker, who took a step back.

  "Uh, can I talk to you for a minute?" she directed to Josie again. This was strange. Odd. Peculiar. Josie could go on and on thinking up more synonyms. She definitely wanted to know what Tucker had to say.

  They certainly weren't aquatinted, so what did Gordy's former girlfriend want with her? Josie deduced the talk was most likely about Tony. Her stomach flipped at the thought of Tucker and Tony dating, and now Tucker was here to tell her to stop seeing him.

  If so, Tucker had another thing coming.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  "Sure." Josie followed Tucker into the ladies’ restroom, which was clean and empty. Josie licked her lips and waited.

  Tucker wrung her hands, then nervously twirled a strand of hair. "I just want to say sorry for i
ntruding last night."

  Josie, taken aback, wasn’t expecting the apology.

  "It was wrong for me to just show up." Tucker frowned. "I just figured Tony was alone..." She trailed off.

  "Well, after I left, I’m sure you had plenty of alone time," Josie pointed out.

  "After you left, Tony asked me to leave," Tucker chuckled. "He was polite about it, but I could tell he wanted to ring my neck."

  This was interesting.

  "I hadn’t realized he was involved." Tucker said.

  "Oh." Not knowing how to respond, Josie instead asked, "Why did you go to his house?"

  "I wanted to thank him again for offering me a ride from the funeral." The reason for their leaving early.

  And somehow this required a bottle of wine, a plunging-neckline dress and a “Come hither” gleam in her eyes?

  Yeah, right.

  "Tony listened to me blubber about Gordy." Tucker grew silent, and her eyes moistened. "Gordy and I...." She choked on a sob. Josie softened.

  "I'm so sorry," Josie reached over, ripping off a paper towel, handing it to Tucker.

  "Thanks," she said, dabbing her tears, makeup still flawless. How is that possible? Josie thought.

  "How long were you and Gordy together?" she asked.

  "Six months." Tucker blew her nose. "We were going to have lunch the day he-he... He wanted to celebrate good news."

  "If you don’t mind me asking," Josie knew the answer, "what was the good news?"

  "He inherited his mother's hotel in West Emily." She wiped away a tear. "He wasn’t too thrilled about it at first. But he finally decided it was the change he needed in his life. He told Danny Mendoza that Monday was his last day working at the deli."

  "Was Gordy excited?" Josie asked. Tucker smiled wide for the first time.

  "He was. He wanted me to move in with him in West Emily. Somewhere close to the hotel so he could focus all his attention on it." Tucker tossed the soiled towel into the trash. "Anyways, I better get going. Again, I'm sorry." She opened the door, then stopped to look back over her shoulder. "Tony's a wonderful man. You're lucky to have him," she said, then left. Josie faced her reflection in the large mirror. She pursed her lips and frowned.

  Her spirits down. She didn’t dare imagine being in Tucker's shoes and Tony being Gordy. Her heart ached for the new start in life Gordy had missed. It hadn’t been long ago when Josie herself moved to Greenville to begin her own.

  "You know what you need?" she asked her mirroring image. "A chocolate covered-and-bacon wrapped-pretzel stick." Jennie had told her Triple B’s easily ended up serving five hundred deliciously salty desserts a night.

  Here came Number 506.

  ***

  She and Brad parted ways with Greta, who was snoring loudly in a pile of sweet potato fries. They headed towards Josie's apartment. It was a decent walk, but the warm night air made it, comfortable. Brad, who still had his date later with Mark, said he'd just accompany Josie and then meet up with his boyfriend. They walked silently side by side, taking in the cozy town's surroundings. It was ten o'clock, and shop owners were leading out their last few customers. In the town of Greenville, shops were known to close around this hour. Restaurants and bars would soon do the same in the next hour or so. Josie and Brad passed Danny's deli. Through the large wall of windows, it was completely dark.

  "It’s sad," Brad said. "Gordy's life began and ended here." The large windows showed a view of the whole deli; small tables, the large and long counter, and the door to the kitchen. A small circular window on the door looked into the cooking area. That too, pitch black, but for a single dot of light.

  Josie squinted, stepping closer to the window.

  “Do you see that?" Brad joined her.

  "Yeah, it’s just a light." The light they were staring at moved away from the small window.

  “Is someone in there?" Brad wondered.

  “Danny, maybe?" The light appeared again. Suddenly they heard a booming crash.

  "That doesn't sound good," Brad commented.

  "Do you think he's hurt?" Josie worried, moving towards the side of the building. "Let’s go see if he needs help." Knowing that the front door would be locked, she and Brad walked to the back alley behind the deli. There, the back entrance was open.

  “Danny?" she called into the darkness. Behind her, Brad gripped her hem of her shirt.

  "What sane person works with all the lights off?" Brad whispered close to her ear. He has a point, she thought. She stepped forward, now in the kitchen, her fingers touched the edge of a stainless steel working table. She made out the silhouette of the walk-in freezer. By another preparation table stood a large figure. Whoever it was remained still, a small pen light in one hand. It reflected off the object in his other hand.

  A knife.

  Brad ran his hand along the wall, found a switch, and turned it on. The sudden shock of fluorescent revealed Brian Fitzgerald. His nostrils flared. Eyes large and bloodshot, he jolted and quickly ran to the swinging door leading out, where he stopped and flipped off another light switch. Again the kitchen was consumed by darkness.

  Josie was knocked by what felt like a freight train to the ground. Her shoulder connected hard with the checkered floor. Above, she heard grunts of pain and another body falling hard. Was that Brad? Where was he? She called out to him, rolling and crawling toward the direction of the back exit.

  She had just reached the threshold when her hair was roughly pulled. She screamed, clawing at the hands clutching her hair. She was dragged back into the building. Her shoulder screamed; her scalp felt like it was on fire.

  "I don't have time for this," Brian swore. He shoved her against a wall, his face close to hers, his hand still clutching a fistful of hair. "I’ll make this quick." He pointed the tip of the knife at her nose. Josie tried to pull away. He was going to kill her. What could she do?

  "Did you make it quick for Gordy?" Her voice was hoarse. Brian visibly flinched.

  "I-I-. That was an accident." He looked saddened. Or was he faking? Anger bloomed in Josie's chest.

  "How? You cold-heartedly stabbed your own brother—"

  "He should have done what he was supposed to do!" Brian yanked hard. Josie cried out again. "I’ve worked my ass off my whole life and all he’s done is make sandwiches," he spat. "Why does he deserve our dear mother's fortune? And not I?" Josie tried pushing and pulling away again, whimpering when his nails dug into her roots.

  "But it’s okay." Brian smiled sickly. "They both got what was coming. As did your friend." His sour breath in her face, he gestured to the body lying limp on the floor. In the open doorway the moonlight showed Brad's blonde hair. He didn't move. Josie's body shook violently, growing cold. "Now I'm going to do the same to you." Brian raised the large knife. With no time to think, Josie just reacted. She twisted her head and bit his wrist. Then quickly followed it by kneeing his groin. Brian howled in pain, bending over and clutching himself.

  The knife clattered to the ground. Josie whipped through the swinging door as Brian screamed after her. He sounded close. She wasn’t going to make it to the front entrance. She dropped behind the deli counter, pressing herself close. A barely audible muffled pop made Josie wince.

  Her breathing was coming out quick and uneven. She slapped a hand over mouth. Her rapid heartbeat rang in her ears. She strained her ears to hear Brian's movements.

  Nothing.

  Complete silence.

  Then…

  "Josie!" Brad shouted. She slowly got up from her position and saw her best friend. He looked pale but was able to run around the counter and help her up.

  Brian was nowhere in sight.

  He must have escaped.

  "What happened?" Brad grabbed her forearms. “Are you okay?” His eyes wild.

  "I thought you were dead!" Josie held on to her friend. Obviously, Brian hadn’t succeeded. Nevertheless, it scared her to the bone.

  "The bastard just clocked me. It’s gonna take a lot more to bri
ng me down." Brad said, rubbing the back of his head. They hugged tightly. “Kudos to you," Brad grinned. "You may be small but you can sure as hell hold your own.”

  “Huh?” Josie at a loss. Brad shot his thumb towards the kitchen doorway.

  "Brian. He's on the ground. Knocked out,” he said. All Josie did was knee him. Was it that hard to make him pass out? She and Brad quietly made their way back through the swinging door-stopping short.

  Brian lay, slumped on his side, on the floor. Josie stepped forward, peering closer. Was it possible for a person to be knocked out and still have their eyes wide open?

  She thought not.

  A single line of crimson slid down his face from the hole in the center of his forehead.

  Brian was dead.

  "Holy sh—. I hadn’t noticed," Brad stammered. "I just assumed he was down because you managed to hit him. Josie..."

  "I-I didn’t do this..." Josie's voice was barely audible. "He’s been shot. I don’t have a gun." Brad pulled her away, back to the front of the deli.

  "We need to call the police." Brad stared down at his cell phone. "What do we say when they get here?” Brad bent close to her. “Sweetie, you can tell me if—"

  "Brad I didn’t do that," Josie argued, pointing to the direction of what was left of Brian. “I don’t have a gun!” Brad held her again.

  "Okay, all right. I believe you." He rubbed circles between her shoulder blades, then stepped away and dialed Detective Evans.

  "He’s on his way." Brad led her to the front door. He turned the lock, and they sat huddled on the curb, waiting for police. Josie had Brad call Tony. The conversation consisted of Brad holding the phone away from his ear. Tony's loud and enraged shouting carried to Josie. Soon, red and blue lights lit the dark sky. Police cars and a large black truck screeched in front the deli. Tony bolted out of his truck, barreling towards Josie. He scooped her up, pressing his face in her neck.