Cupcakes, Butterflies & Dead Guys (Gianna Mancini Mysteries Book 3)

by Jennifer Fischetto

  After realizing the truth about the movies last night, I fired up my laptop and searched every website and Google image I could find of the twins. The butterfly tattoo must be fairly new because I couldn't find it on older photos of Kelly. The second movie was made three years ago, and there aren't any wrist images of Kelly with her sister since then. Long sleeves, big bracelets. It's not like there are an abundance of Kelly pictures anyway. She went to an awards show with Raina shortly after the film came out, and then there are a few photos of Raina with her new niece and sister. The show was seven months after the film released, which was nearly a year after Tessa's birth. Raina no longer had baby weight.

  In fact, there are absolutely no pictures online of the twin that lived here in South Shore Beach around the time of Tessa's birth. No photos of the Warrens and their new bundle of joy. I'm sure there are some. Wilma, Warren, his mother probably took a bunch, but they aren't online. Not even on Facebook. Is that weird, suspicious, or not?

  Why the switch?

  If Raina was pregnant, why didn't she postpone the film? I don't know how these things work, but there are plenty of pregnant women in Hollywood, right? Wait, what if she wasn't pregnant before they switched? What if Warren is Tessa's father? I start to count the months. I read that the film's pre-production began…

  The bell above the deli door dings and pulls me from my thoughts. I look up to see Wilma.

  She's in a faux, teal-colored fur and a big smile. "Gianna, I'm glad to see you."

  "Hi. Are you here to see Ma? She's in the back. I can get her." Pop just arrived, and I'll need to hurry to catch her before she leaves.

  "Yes, that would be great, but I'd like to talk to you too."

  Curiosity keeps my aching feet still. "Oh? What about?"

  "My son."

  Of course.

  The kitchen door swings open, and Ma walks into the front of the deli. Her eyes widen. "Wilma. How great to see you. How are you, dear?"

  I almost snort how Ma's tone goes from excited to concerned in half a second.

  "I have my good and not-so-good moments," Wilma says.

  "Of course. That's to be expected. Are you here to see me?"

  "Yes, but I was telling Gianna about Michael."

  "Oh?" Ma looks as curious as I feel with her raised brows and that 'O' thing she's doing with her mouth.

  Wilma reaches across the counter and pats my hand. "I'm hoping you can help me convince Michael to move back home. With all that's happened…" She puts a hand to her chest. "Well, I'd like what's left of my family to be closer."

  Ma and I exchange sad, sympathetic glances.

  "I'm not sure what I can do," I say.

  One corner of Ma's mouth tugs up.

  Wilma smiles fully. "Oh, dear, I'm sure you can be persuasive."

  My face starts to heat up as I'm almost certain she means that in a dirty way. I hope not. I mean, there's the whole Julian thing. No one else knows we're having issues, and then there's the ewww factor. A mother pimping out her child is up there in grossness with watching your dead aunt make out with her dead boyfriend.

  Yep, my world is officially crazy.

  "I am seeing someone," I say, in case she doesn't know.

  Wilma frowns for a second, which means she didn't. "Does Michael know this?"

  "Absolutely," I say more firmly than intended.

  Ma flinches.

  Wilma seems unaffected, but the frown disappears, and the smile returns. "That's okay then. He's been talking about you non-stop since the shower. One can never have too many friends."

  "That's true," Ma says.

  I give her a suspicious look. I can't tell if Ma is hoping Michael and I get closer or not. It would be strange if she is because she loves Julian almost as much as I do. Maybe I'm just being extra paranoid with everything going on lately.

  I grin at Wilma. "I'll do what I can."

  Wilma squeals in delight. "Thank you, dear." She turns to Ma. "Do you have a moment?"

  "Of course." Ma takes off her apron and joins Wilma on the other side of the counter. They go to one of the two tables set up by the side windows and sit down.

  Ma and Pop added the tables last month. They've been a hit. So much so that they're talking about renovating the whole storefront and adding more.

  When they're done chatting, Wilma gets up, waves at me, and leaves. Ma walks back behind the counter.

  "Is everything alright?" I ask. I didn't eavesdrop on their conversation. I am proud of myself.

  "Yes, fine. She wanted to know about catering for a funeral party next weekend."

  "A what?" I've never heard of such a thing.

  "Since the funeral will be close family only, Wilma wants to have a gathering to celebrate Raina's life. We are invited."

  "Oh, that's nice."

  "Yeah. Poor woman. She's trying to be happy for her fiancé and family, but she's fragile. It's such a shame this had to happen right before one of the happiest days of her life."

  "Yeah."

  "So about Michael. What's going on between you two?"

  "Nothing."

  "Are you sure? You and Julian didn't look too comfy at dinner Sunday."

  "He and I had a romantic dinner last night, and yes, I'm sure. Michael and I are only friends."

  "Okay, good. I like Julian. He seems good for you, but…" Ma stops short and starts to head back into the kitchen.

  I lay my hand on her arm. "But what?"

  She looks away and seems uncomfortable to say what she's thinking. "I know I've put a lot of pressure on you about Julian, and I'm sorry for that."

  Wow, this thing with Aunt Stella must be weighing on her.

  "I will be happy with whomever you wish to spend your life with." She presses her lips together and scrunches up her nose. "Unless he's a convict. I am sorry, but I will not be happy about that."

  I chuckle loud. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

  She pats my hand, probably relieved.

  "You know, Aunt Stella wasn't there when you made your big speech. I'm sure she'd like to hear it from you directly."

  Ma doesn't say anything, and I wonder if she will. She must be thinking. Hard. Finally, she says with a sigh, "Tonight is Taco Tuesday."

  Like I could forget. We've always had themed dinner nights, and they haven't changed since I can remember.

  "Tell her to come by tonight, and I'll talk to her."

  I smile. "You mean you'll make peace? When Aunt Angela leaves, Aunt Stella may be going back too. This may be your last chance…"

  "I know, Gianna. Just come by tonight." She goes into the kitchen.

  Free dinner and peace in the family. That's a win-win.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Taco night is one of those glorious experiences of savory ground meat, cheese, crispy lettuce, spicy salsa, and smooth avocado all together in a hard or soft shell. I prefer the soft, but when I'm feeling daring, I'll wrap a soft one around the hard, like I'm queen of the taco.

  I'm currently biting into one of these heavenly creations when Aunt Stella appears in Ma's kitchen. A chunk of tomato slides down my throat, and I start choking.

  Enzo is seated beside me. He never misses taco night. He gives me a quick frown. "You okay?"

  I'm surprised he's showing concern since he's still annoyed I was in on Aunt Stella's scare. He glared at me when I first walked into Ma's house tonight. It's nice to know that our sibling bond is more important.

  Ma faces us from the sink where she's washing the cutting board and knife she used to chop the veggies. "What's wrong?" Her tone is full of worry.

  Aunt Angela isn't into tacos. The blasphemy! But she's sitting at the table reading something on her phone. She looks up with panic on her face.

  We take choking seriously in this house. It might have something to do with the amount of food we consume.

  I shake my head to tell them I'm fine and don't need them to perform the Heimlich or call 9-1-1. But truth is that little red sucker mu
st have positioned itself diagonally because it hasn't gone down yet. I gulp my water to dislodge it.

  With a free passageway to cram more food down, I let out a whoop and giggle, feeling victorious over the silly little fruit. By the way, what's with tomatoes being fruit? That sounds wrong.

  "Are you okay?" Ma asks. This time it's probably because I'm acting weird.

  I glance to Aunt Angela while saying, "Aunt Stella's here, Ma."

  Both women stiffen for different reasons.

  Enzo's chewing slows down but not for long.

  Aunt Stella sits at the head of the table, closest to me. She holds her head high. She's waiting for that apology.

  Ma wipes her hands on the green and white checkered towel before walking over. "Where is she?"

  I point to the chair.

  Ma sits across from me and turns toward her sister. "Stella, I am sorry I didn't let you make choices for your life."

  Everyone holds their breath, including Enzo.

  Then they all turn and stare at me, waiting for Aunt Stella's reply.

  She just sits there though. Silent.

  I shrug and wait.

  Then Aunt Stella opens her mouth. "Go on."

  I repeat it, and the alive sisters glance to one another, the chair, and back again.

  Clearly Ma doesn't know what to do with that reply. She seems confused, opening and closing her mouth like a dying fish. I'm glad we're not having fish tacos tonight.

  "Go on? What does that mean? Do you need me to say sorry again?"

  "No," Aunt Stella snaps. "Although that isn't a bad idea, I need you to tell me how you are sorry. Why? How do I know you're not saying that so I'll forgive you, but you don't mean it?"

  Ma slaps her hand on her thigh and shakes her head. "I can't believe you. You can't accept a simple apology?"

  "Oh please. We fought for years and said a lot of awful things. I'm supposed to believe you take all of that back now? What's changed?"

  Ma is quiet for a moment. Enzo's stopped eating, and Aunt Angela's phone is on the table. I can't look at my last taco, despite all of its yumminess.

  "I realize that what I did wasn't fair and that I lost my sister due to some guy. I will always regret that."

  That seems to rattle Aunt Stella's cage. She lowers her chin. "Fine. I accept your apology."

  Ma smiles and lets out a soft chuckle. "I wish I could hug you."

  They all look to me. "I can't help you there. I can see and hear but not touch."

  "I have a question," says Aunt Angela. She's staring at the chair. "Why have you hung around all of this time?"

  "I had no place else to go. No place else I wanted to be. Besides, I didn't want to leave my sisters," Aunt Stella says.

  Aunt Angela's smile is sweet. "But all of this time with me and you never made yourself known."

  Aunt Stella giggles. "I did in little ways. Like that time I set off that bag of firecrackers during the Fourth of July a few years back or when the TV fell off the stand. Franco was pissing me off by ignoring you."

  Aunt Angela sits back in her seat with shock on her face.

  Ma raises a hand and covers a chuckle.

  Enzo reaches for the taco on my plate. "You eating that?"

  I slap his hand away. Darn skippy I am.

  "Now that you're back with Mitchell, do you both plan on moving on to the other side?" Ma asks.

  "I don't know our plans yet. We're still mulling our options over."

  "I hope you don't move on," Aunt Angela says. "That's probably selfish of me, but I'm glad to know you were with me all of this time. I'd like you to come back."

  "You don't need me. You never did. You know what to do about your marriage."

  Aunt Angela looks at Enzo and me uncomfortably.

  "Besides, it's time for me to live my life," Aunt Stella says. "I'll let you know when I've decided what I'm doing from here on out."

  She stands up, and the chair moves a bit. Aunt Angela gasps. Enzo raises his brows, and Ma smiles.

  "Some final words of advice," Aunt Stella says. "Rosa, you picked a good husband. He's loyal, hardworking, and loves you dearly—still after all of these years. You also have great kids."

  She grins at me, and I return the toothy expression.

  "Angela, dear, you weren't as lucky."

  Yikes, I hate repeating this, but I do. It's Aunt Stella's message, and I can't fudge it.

  Aunt Angela's gasp is slight.

  "He's a jerk, as you well know. But your kids are great. Except Claudia. Stop coddling her. She needs to learn to think of others." Aunt Stella winks at me before she disappears.

  "She's gone," I say. My chest is full of gratitude to Ma and love for all of them, especially Aunt Stella. I'm glad she came to visit, that she found the love of her life, and that I got to see how awesome she is.

  I look back down at my taco.

  Enzo's staring hard at it.

  I lift it, take a huge bite, and hope those slippery little fruits don't try to kill me again.

  * * *

  After dinner, I hang out with my family until Aunt Angela start yawning and Enzo wants to leave. Then I come home and shift into sleuth mode.

  I'm not sure what to do with the information about Kelly and Raina or how to confirm it. Kelly's not going to admit Tessa's her niece. And where does that leave Warren? Does he know Tessa isn't his child, or is he in the dark? Then again, is Tessa his? Did Raina and Warren have an affair?

  Wait, what if Kelly can't have kids and Raina was a surrogate? Maybe it's Warren's kid and Tessa was conceived in a test tube. There are so many variables my mind buzzes with them all. Should I call Michael and talk to him? What if he doesn't know? Wouldn't he have mentioned it if it wasn't a big deal? Maybe the family keeps quiet because of Raina's reputation. But why not tell the world you were doing this for your sister and put off the movie? Lying and pretending feels shady and not honorable.

  If I go to any of them, there's a 99% chance they won't admit to the truth. I could threaten to tell someone, call a gossip magazine, but that's awful. I don't want to ruin their lives. I'm not that kind of person. I'm sorry I even thought about it.

  The best option would be to find some type of concrete evidence. I'm not sure what I'd do with it once I found it. I'm not convinced this has anything to do with Raina's death. Other than the argument I witnessed between the sisters, this could be a non-issue. But I won't be satisfied until I know more. My best bet is to get inside Kelly's house and look for clues. But that's wrong.

  I take a deep breath to clear my mind. I'm doing it again. I'm obsessing.

  Aunt Stella appears. She looks bored but then stares at my sleuth wall and frowns.

  "Hey, where's Freezer Dude?"

  "He's hanging with his daughter before she moves." She hovers closer to my wall.

  That must be interesting. He watches her, and she doesn't know he's there.

  "What's all this?" she asks.

  She's the perfect person to tell all I know to because she can't tell anyone else. I fill her in, and by time I'm done, her expression has gone from bored to oh my God.

  "How can I help?"

  "I don't think you can."

  "Of course I can. Whatever you need." She sounds so eager.

  "That's just it. This is taking over my life. I need to let it go. It's not my place to try to prove my theories. It was one thing when I was just fishing for info on whether or not Raina's death was an accident. If I learned it wasn't, there was no harm, and if it was, then I helped, right? But invading the privacy of a birth feels different."

  Aunt Stella purses her lips and stares at my wall. "There's nothing saying you can't find the info and then decide what to do with it. You don't have to share it with anyone."

  She has a point, but it still feels shady.

  She turns to me and crosses her arms. "Okay, can you let it go? Never think about it again and get on with your life? 'Cause from what I've seen, you obsess over things. You're arguing with th
at gorgeous hunk of a man over his job."

  When I drop my mouth open, she rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I hear things. The point is, finish this and then move on. If we find out something private that you don't want to share, then don't. But at least find peace."

  She's very good at persuasion.

  I nod and call Michael to find out if Raina's belongings are still at Kelly's house.

  "They should be, unless Kelly's gone through them and plans to sell them. Why?"

  I chuckle to play off the nervous edge to my tone as well as the ridiculousness of the question. "I was curious."

  "This is about your mother, right?"

  I frown. "What?"

  "My mother told me that yours has this strange hobby."

  I press my lips together to keep from laughing. He's talking about Ma's murderabilia collection. "Oh, you know about that?"

  "Yeah. It sounds interesting. Odd but interesting."

  I chuckle softly. "Yeah, it is both. It makes her happy though."

  "Why does she collect them?"

  I explain about Aunt Stella's death and how it all started.

  When we're done discussing it, we hang up with a promise to speak soon, and I call Warren's office. The receptionist says that he'll be there until six, which gives me plenty of time. Now I have to figure a way to get Kelly and Tessa out of the house.

  I grab my things to drive over. Aunt Stella shouts, "Shotgun."

  When I pull up diagonally across from Kelly's house, I see the mother-in-law walking from Kelly's door, holding Tessa. Kelly is home. She stands there and watches them leave. The mother-in-law straps Tessa in a car seat and then backs out of the driveway. Neither of them notice me.

  I decide to follow.

  "What are you doing?" Aunt Stella asks.

  "Getting the mother-in-law alone may be better than looking at evening gowns and whatever else Raina packed."

  Aunt Stella shakes her head as if she's disappointed in my decision.

  "We can go back after."

  She raises her brows and purses her lips. "Fine. But call me when you need me. Hanging out with toddlers makes my skin itch." She disappears.

  We end up at McDonalds. I go in, order a coffee and an apple pie, and track down where Judith Monroe and Tessa are seated. I find them in the playscape area. Of course. So glad Aunt Stella didn't tag along. She would hate this.