A CRISPY SLICE OF MURDER (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 21)

by Patti Benning

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I’m just a little bit freaked out,” she said. She told him what happened at the pizzeria. “I had no idea who he was. He didn’t seem dangerous.”

  “I’m sorry, I should have given you a description then. I didn’t think he would actually seek you out, not so quickly anyway. What did he say?”

  “Not much. He just ordered a pizza and a two-liter, and asked about motels in the area.” She inhaled sharply. “Russell, I think I might know where he’s staying. I told him about that old motel off the main road about two miles from here.”

  “You think he went there?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know why he’d stay in town if he was on the run, but it certainly sounded like he planned on staying there.”

  “Okay. I’ll give Liam a call and we’ll go check it out. Will you be all right here?”

  She nodded. “Go get him, and be safe. If he hurts you…”

  “I’ll be careful,” he promised, giving her a quick kiss. “Lock the door behind me, all right?”

  “I will. Call me when you’re home for the night, even if it’s late. I don’t want to worry.”

  “It probably will be late. I’ll text you. I don’t know how long this will take. If I can’t make it to dinner tomorrow evening, will you be okay going without me?”

  “Of course, but I hope you can come. I know Shannon’s making something special for dinner, and I’m looking forward to seeing the movie with you afterward. Once Shannon has the baby, we won’t be able to go out on double dates as much anymore.”

  Shannon Ward, Russell’s sister-in-law and Ellie’s best friend, was almost six months pregnant. Ellie had never been an aunt before, and she was excited for her friend. Between planning for the baby and planning for her own wedding, it had been a busy few months.

  “I’ll try to make it. Cross your fingers that we catch him. I’ll sleep a lot easier tonight knowing that man is off the streets.”

  Ellie tried not to show how deeply his words chilled her as she said goodbye. How could she have been so close to such a horrible person and not realized it?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  * * *

  She woke the next morning to a message from Russell letting her know that he got home safe, but hadn’t had any luck finding the missing man. There was a second text, which she saw he had sent earlier this morning, in which he told her that the state police were getting involved; they would be searching the area surrounding Kittiport for him.

  At least I know what he looks like now, she thought. If he comes back to the pizzeria, I’ll be able to call the police right away. While she hoped that she never saw that man again, a tiny part of her couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if she was the one who made the call that led to his capture. She always wanted to help Russell whenever he was working on a big case; maybe this was her chance to do it.

  Her fantasy was wrecked when she flipped on the morning news after making a pot of coffee. She saw a photo of the missing man, with the headline, Where is Clark Mackley? It seemed that the state police weren’t the only ones joining in the manhunt; the rest of the town would be looking for him too. Chances were, Clark wouldn’t be showing his face anywhere around Kittiport for a long while.

  “Oh, well,” she said aloud, flipping to another channel. “I may not get my moment in the spotlight, but at least with this much publicity he probably won’t be able to cause any trouble.”

  It was a much easier day at the pizzeria, since she wasn’t running the place by herself. After she told Rose about seeing Clark Mackley the night before, the two of them spent the rest of the day carefully watching every customer that came in. Elie didn’t think that he would return, and he didn’t, but it was a fun way to spend the hours before she left to meet her friends for dinner. Jacob arrived shortly before five, and Ellie thanked him for covering the half shift on her way out the door.

  She always enjoyed dinner at her soon-to-be in-law’s house, but she was more eager than usual to get there that evening. After receiving zero updates about the search for Clark Mackley, she was anxious to ask Russell how the search had gone. The man had escaped from the sheriff’s department, after all, and that had to sting. She didn’t know if something like that had ever happened in Kittiport before. The sheriff’s position was up for re-election later this year, and something like this could damage Russell’s chances of being re-elected, not to mention the fact that a dangerous criminal was now on the loose. The sooner he was caught, the better for everyone.

  Shannon and James lived in a nice house in one of the newer subdivisions in Kittiport. Ellie was almost as familiar with their house as she was with her own; she was usually over at least once a week. She had been friends with Shannon since her high school years, and the friendship had quickly rekindled once she moved back. Her friend had even been instrumental in getting her and Russell together. In just a few weeks, her best friend would become her sister-in-law, and she couldn’t be more excited.

  Ellie parked in the driveway, making sure she left enough room for Russell to pull his truck in behind her, and walked up to the porch to knock on the door. She heard Shannon shout “Come on in!” from inside, so she turned the knob and stepped out of the cold and into the warm house. The air inside was rich with the scent of food, and Ellie felt her stomach growl. Since she knew her friend always went all out with these dinners, she hadn’t let herself eat anything since breakfast, and the delicious smells inside were already beginning to make her mouth water.

  “In the living room,” Shannon called. Ellie took off her boots and coat, which she hung in the closet, and went to find her friend, who was sitting on the couch with a glass of something that looked like wine, but Ellie knew it was probably just juice.

  “Hey,” she said, taking a seat next to her friend. “I was going to offer to help, but it looks like you don’t need any.”

  Shannon rolled her eyes. “I was shredding the chicken in the kitchen, but James made me go sit down. He’s finishing it right now. I’m glad he’s excited about the baby, but I’ve never seen him this protective before and it’s starting to get on my nerves. I’m fully capable of standing up for twenty minutes in my own kitchen. I just hope he’s this helpful after the baby’s born.”

  “If he’s not, you can always call me. I want this kid to grow up knowing Aunt Ellie is always there.”

  “I’m so happy that you and Russell are getting married. It will be wonderful to have you as part of the family. Not that you aren’t family now, of course. How lucky are we?”

  “Pretty lucky,” Ellie said with a smile. “What’s for dinner by the way? It smells great.”

  “Pulled chicken with barbecue sauce on Hawaiian buns, my family’s famous potato salad recipe, corn on the cob, and a leafy salad. Dessert is cheesecake. It’s the only thing that isn’t homemade.” She chuckled. “It sounds like something we’d eat on the fourth of July. I guess I was craving a cookout.”

  “It sounds delicious to me. I’m sure it will all be amazing.”

  The living room’s window lit up with the light from a vehicle’s headlights. Shannon started to rise. “That’s probably Russell.”

  “I’ll get the door,” Ellie said. “I’m closer, anyway.”

  When she opened the door, the first thing that struck her was how tired her fiancé looked. She felt terrible that he had to deal with the escape. It had to be a stressful situation for him. If Clark hurt someone else before he was caught again, she didn’t know if the sheriff would ever be able to forgive himself.

  “It smells wonderful in here,” he said as he came in. He smiled, and some of the tiredness around his eyes vanished. “Do we still have time to eat before going to the movie? I hope I’m not too late. I had to finish some stuff up at the sheriff’s department.”

  “The food’s not quite ready yet,” Ellie said. “You’re here just in time.”

  She hung up his coat while he took off his snow-covered boots, then gave h
im a quick kiss before they headed toward the living room together. Shannon had gotten up already, and they could hear James calling from the other room telling them that the food was ready. Ellie smiled. Yes, they had a lot going on, but there was still nowhere that she would rather be than right here with the people she loved.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  * * *

  It was late by the time Ellie made it back to the Pacelli house that night. They had made it to the movie just in time, and had said goodbye to each other outside the theater’s doors when it was over. In just over a month, she and Russell would be married, and they would begin living together, but for now she was coming home alone.

  Even though it was late, she didn’t feel tired. The movie had been good, and the dinner had been fantastic, and she was still too hyped up to want to go to bed right away. Instead, she made herself the last of the hot chocolate and settled down in the study to check her emails. She got updates about the second pizzeria daily; usually it was just a record of the sales, but this evening Linda had included a note in the email.

  Your grandmother stopped in today. She’s doing great, and it was a pleasure to see her as always, but she wanted to know if we have room to hire someone else. The girl is the grandchild of one of her friends and is looking for a job. We’re doing fine with the employees we have now, but at the same time, I want to help her out. What do you think? Can we afford to hire someone we don’t really need at the moment?

  Ellie bit her lip. She had always tried to involve her grandmother in decisions about the pizzeria as much as possible. Papa Pacelli’s had been Arthur Pacelli’s pride and joy, and she knew Nonna cared about it nearly as much as he had. However, if they really didn’t need another employee at the Florida location, hiring someone else would do more harm than good. The employees they already had wouldn’t want to sacrifice their hours, and the new employee might not get enough hours to make it worth the time. She thought about it for a moment, then typed back.

  See if she would be willing to be hired as a floater. She could pick up shifts when someone asks for a vacation or needs sick days, and can come in when you guys are slammed. As the business grows, she would be able to get more hours, but make it clear that you aren’t guaranteeing a certain number of hours right off the bat. I’ll give Nonna a call and tell her all of this too. Thanks for doing such a great job down there! I’ll visit again in April — I’ll be helping Nonna with her move back for the summer.

  She sent the email, then signed off. It felt good to have gotten some work done, and the warm hot chocolate had done its job. She was beginning to feel tired.

  When she got into bed a few minutes later, she was still thinking about the pizzeria in Florida. It had run smoothly for months now, and she was glad that she had decided to open it. In fact, it was doing so well that she had some extra spending money. Right now, she was putting everything she could toward her wedding, but once her big day was over… well, the possibilities were endless. She and Russell were both about to start a whole new chapter in their lives, and she couldn’t wait to see where things went.

  She was just beginning to doze off when her cell phone’s ringer blasted from her nightstand. The noise startled her, making her jump and nearly knock Bunny off the bed. She fumbled for the phone and answered it without looking at the screen first in her hurry to make the noise stop.

  “Hello?” she mumbled.

  “Ellie, I’m so freaked out right now.”

  “Shannon?” she asked, sitting up and pulling the phone away from her face to glance at the screen. She had never heard her friend sound so panicked.

  “James is gone,” the other woman was saying when Ellie put the phone back to her ear. “He’s not in the house anywhere, I checked all over, but his car is still here and so are his wallet and phone. What should I do?”

  “What do you mean, missing? Didn’t the two of you drive home together?”

  “We did, but then I went back out because I was craving some ice cream. James wanted me to stay in, and we got into an argument and I went out anyway, and I just got back and now he’s gone.”

  Shannon was nearly hysterical. She sounded like she was just moments from bursting into tears.

  “Maybe he went on a walk,” Ellie suggested, hoping to calm her down. “He could have just gone out to cool off.”

  “But why would he leave his phone and wallet at home? And his winter boots and coat are still in the closet.”

  “I don’t know,” Ellie said, frowning. “Maybe one of your neighbors had an emergency, and he rushed over?”

  “Maybe,” her friend said doubtfully. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Do you want me to come over? We can figure out what happened together.”

  “Yes,” Shannon said in a small voice. “Please do. I’m so worried about him, Ellie. I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s hurt or… or…”

  “Don’t think about that,” Ellie said. “I’ll get dressed and come straight over. I’m sure he’s fine. He’ll probably be back by the time I get there.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  He wasn’t. Ellie arrived to find Shannon standing on the front porch, shivering in her sweater. Ellie got out of her car quickly and hurried up the steps. “Any sign of him?”

  “No.” Her friend took a deep breath. “I called the neighbors on either side of us and they haven’t seen him. I don’t know what to do. Should I call Russell? I didn’t want to bother him if James had just stepped out, but I’m seriously worried here, Ellie.”

  “Let’s look for him together first.” Ellie remembered how tired her fiancé had seemed earlier. She didn’t want to call him just yet either. “Is it possible that he’s somewhere in the house? Maybe in the basement?”

  “I checked everywhere. I thought he might have fallen down the stairs and been injured, but he’s not in the basement. I checked the whole house. I even checked the car and the garage, in case he was out there for some reason.”

  “Could he have left a note?”

  Shannon frowned. “It’s possible, I suppose. I don’t know why he wouldn’t just text me if he had to run out somewhere. I think I would have seen a note if he did leave one, but I guess I could have missed it in my panic.”

  “I’ll help you look. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for all of this.”

  Ellie followed her friend inside, and they began their search. She checked every surface in the house for a note from James. When she had first come over, she had been convinced that he would return in no time at all, but as time went on with no sign of James and no hint of where he might have gone, she began to get more and more worried.

  “There’s nothing here,” her friend said at last. They had met up in the kitchen, and were both sitting at the table. Ellie bit her lip.

  “I think it’s time to call Russell,” she said. “This is his brother we’re talking about. As much as we both hate to wake him up after everything he’s had to deal with for the past couple of days, I think he would want to know about this.”

  “What if…” Shannon took a deep breath. “What if he left?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if he left me because he doesn’t want to deal with the baby?”

  Ellie smiled. It was the wrong reaction; Shannon began to cry. “Oh, Shan, he didn’t leave you. He loves you, and he’s just as excited for this baby as you are. Besides, he couldn’t get very far without his wallet and car keys, could he?”

  “Then where is he? This has got to be a nightmare. How can this be happening?”

  “I’ll call —” Ellie broke off mid-sentence. She had just noticed a smudge of something on one of the back-door’s windowpanes. Hardly daring to breathe, she got up and flipped on the patio light. The smudge was in the shape of a smeared handprint, and it was red. Blood.

  Behind her, Shannon screamed. “James!”

  With her heart pounding, Ellie reached for the handle and pushed open the door. The empty pati
o was a relief; she had feared the worst.

  “He’s not out there,” she told her friend. Her voice was strangely calm, but her hands were shaking. “I’m going to call Russell. You sit tight, okay? We don’t know what happened. Don’t risk yourself and the baby by going out there.”

  She waited until her friend nodded, then hurried back toward the front entrance, where she had left her purse. Her fingers were shaking badly enough that it took her a couple of tries to dial her fiancé’s number. When he answered, she told him what had happened. Her explanation of events was jumbled, but he still managed to get the gist.