Thin Crust Killers

by Chris Cavender

  “And if the robber used a Bic pen, would you think they were liable for the crime as well?”

  “That’s nonsense, and you know it,” Betsy said.

  “No more than thinking someone here had anything to do with what happened at the bank this morning,” I said. She could take all of the shots she wanted to at me, but I wasn’t going to stand for her casting aspersions on my staff.

  Betsy sniffed the air as though there was something distasteful lingering in it. “I can see you’re in one of your moods. We’ll talk about this later.” She turned with remarkable swiftness for a woman her size and headed for the door.

  “Maybe it would be better if we didn’t,” I said as she left the kitchen.

  Did Betsy hesitate at the door before she walked the rest of the way through? At that point, I honestly didn’t care. I knew the woman had a mouth that matched the rest of her—broad and deep—but if she thought I was going to kowtow to her just because of what she might say behind my back, she was sadly mistaken.

  Maddy came back into the kitchen a few seconds later, laughing hysterically. “I don’t know what you said to her, but I second it. She nearly ran Father Pat over on her way out the front door.”

  I shook my head, the momentary joy of that wisecrack already dying. “I should have held my tongue. I probably just cost us a customer.”

  “She didn’t come here to eat,” Maddy said. “The woman’s nothing but trouble, and we both know it.”

  “It’s true, but that’s another reason I shouldn’t have provoked her. If you can believe it, she had the audacity to say that no one blames us for what happened.”

  Maddy shook her head. “What is that woman’s problem? She must have been kicked in the head by a mule as a small child.”

  “If it were true, could you really blame the mule?”

  “Blame her? I’d like to rub her ears as a reward and give her a carrot,” Maddy said. “The mule, not Betsy.”

  “I know what you meant.”

  Maddy touched my shoulder lightly. “Eleanor, don’t worry about Blowhard Betsy. She’s harmless.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Sis, you worry too much. If anybody’s going to start pointing fingers, her deadbeat son was in here last night, remember? He took up a table for an hour and a half with his two buddies, and it just about took an act of Congress to get them to finally clear out. I wonder what she would say about that, if she knew that her dear son had access to those menus as well.”

  “I’m sure she’d find a way to turn it around against us, but that’s not the point, is it? We need to put Chad on our list, if we ever get the time to actually start one,” I said. “He could have taken one of the menus while he was here.”

  “Chad? Seriously? I honestly doubt he has the ambition to rob a bank.”

  “We have to list everyone we can think of who was here yesterday. At least there weren’t that many customers. I just hope people keep coming in after they hear about what happened at the bank today,” I said.

  “Trust me, that’s not going to be an issue. You should take a peek outside in the dining room. Every table’s full, and there are more waiting for a place to sit.”

  As I took the handful of new orders from her, I said, “Sure, but are they here for the food, or are they looking for something juicier?”

  “Who cares? If we keep this up, you might even be able to afford to take a vacation this year.”

  “I’m not holding my breath,” I said.

  “You really do need to get out more,” Maddy said. “Even if it’s just for an evening or two.”

  I knew full well she was talking about David Quinton, but I wasn’t about to rise to the bait. David had threatened to move to Raleigh a while back, and when I’d called his bluff, he’d actually left town. And if I was being honest with myself, I barely missed him. It was just another lost cause, and he’d finally realized the futility in chasing me.

  “What a fun game,” I said to Maddy. “Is it my turn now to tell you what you need?”

  She took the hint. “Sorry, I’d love to chat, but my tables are full, and you’ve got food to make.”

  “That sounds like a good plan,” I said, and started to do just that, knuckling pizza dough into pans and topping them as fast as I could work. It was times like these I loved the conveyor oven Joe and I had put in. I’d had my heart set on a woodburning pizza oven, but the sheer magnitude of handling the firewood and the expense of the equipment had made us go for something simpler. Now I prepped the food, slid it onto the conveyor, and took it off on the other side after it had passed through the oven.

  Things were stacking up, so I decided to give Maddy a hand out front. Swapping out my dirty apron for a clean one, I grabbed two plated and cut pizzas and headed out.

  When I saw who was waiting for me there, I instantly began to regret the decision to help my sister out in the front.

  “Steve, what are you doing here?” I said as I approached my late husband’s brother as he sat at one of our tables doing a crossword puzzle, something he had always dearly loved to do. He looked enough like Joe to throw me off for a second whenever I saw him, and if they’d been that close, it might be nice to see him, but Steve Swift had been trouble from the day he’d come into the world, and I doubted that the two years since I’d last seen him had changed him much.

  “I have to tell you, I’ve had warmer greetings in my life, Sis,” he said. “Not even a hug?”

  “It’s Eleanor,” I answered as I gestured with the pizzas in my hands. I hadn’t liked him calling me Sis when his brother had been alive, and I certainly wasn’t going to allow it now.

  “Eleanor it is, then,” he replied, barely remorseful. “How have you been?”

  I pointed around the crowded restaurant. “As you can see, we’re pretty busy. What brings you to Timber Ridge?”

  “I was in Raleigh on business, so I decided to come over and see you.”

  “We’re pretty far from Raleigh,” I said. “It’s over three hours away.”

  He shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve been living in San Diego since the last time I saw you, so compared to how far I’ve come, it wasn’t all that much more to swing by here. Do you have a second?”

  There was a pleading look in his eyes that reminded me so much of his brother, I couldn’t bring myself to say no. “We’re slammed right now, but we close in an hour and a half for our lunch break, so if you’ll come back then, we can talk.”

  “Thanks. It’s good to see you.”

  “See you soon.”

  As he walked out of the pizzeria, Maddy came up to me. “What did the Swift family bad seed want? I thought we were done with him once and for all.”

  “He said he wanted to catch up with me.”

  Maddy snorted. “Which translates to he needs money. You’re not giving him any, are you? You can’t really afford it; you know that, don’t you?”

  “Take it easy, Maddy. What can it hurt to talk? I owe Joe that much.”

  “Don’t kid yourself, Eleanor. Your husband didn’t care that much for his older brother either, and I happen to agree with him. You need to be careful.”

  “I will,” I said. I handed her the pizzas. “If you’ll deliver these, I’ll start bringing out the rest of the food.”

  Maddy didn’t particularly like the way I dismissed her advice, but she didn’t fight me on it, something that I was willing to count as a victory.

  We were slammed until just before closing, and I was beginning to wonder if we were even going to get our regular hour lunch break. Things generally slowed down midafternoon enough for Maddy and me to have a little time off, but it wasn’t written in stone. If Steve had to wait for his little reunion, there was nothing I could really do about it.

  Maddy came back into the kitchen, and I tried not to sigh as I asked her, “Do you have more orders?”

  She looked at me oddly. “I quit taking them twenty minutes ago, and the last customer just left. Why, did y
ou want to work through our break today?”

  “Not particularly,” I said as I finished cleaning up the toppings station.

  “You don’t want to see him, do you?”

  “It’s hard,” I admitted. “There are too many memories of Joe every time I look into his brother’s eyes.”

  “So blow him off,” Maddy said.

  “We both know I can’t do that.”

  She shook her head. “When are you going to get it through that thick skull of yours that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to anymore? You’re a grown woman, Eleanor. Maybe you should start acting like it.”

  “Funny, I thought that’s exactly what I was doing. There’s a long list of things I’d rather not deal with that I have to anyway. Don’t you think that’s a part of being a grown-up? There are times you have to bite the bullet. I have responsibilities here. I can’t just do whatever I want to on a whim. If I could, I’d be on the beach somewhere right now.”

  Maddy looked at me intently. “Eleanor, I know most of that is true, but you’ve got no one to blame but yourself if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities that come your way, too. I know you’re not rich, but you have enough to go away for a week. Why don’t you do it? Greg and I can run the place that long, and Josh will help out, too. For once in your life do something crazy.”

  “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “Are you kidding? Of course I am.” She added with a smile, “But it’s for your own good, so that has to count for something.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I said as I wiped the last of the counters down.

  “Liar,” she said with a laugh.

  “It takes one to know one,” I answered, meeting her laugh with one of my own. I threw the dish towel down on the counter. “There’s no sense putting this off any longer. I need to see him.”

  “At least let me come with you,” Maddy said. “I can act as a buffer, and if he asks you for money, I can be the one to tell him no.”

  I laughed. “As much as I’d love the moral support, I have to do this by myself.”

  “Okay, but I’m just a phone call away.”

  We walked out into the dining room together, and I hoped for a second that Steve had changed his mind about our meeting.

  No such luck. I looked out the window and saw him sitting on a park bench outside the pizzeria, watching the folks walking by on the large swath of brick pavers that made up the promenade.

  It appeared that I was going to have to have this particular conversation, whether I wanted to or not.

  As I approached him, I blurted out, “If this is about a loan, I’m afraid business just isn’t that good.”

  He looked surprised by my outburst. “Is that why you think I’m here? I don’t need money, Eleanor.” Steve frowned for a second. “As a matter of fact, it’s just the opposite.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out ten brand-new one-hundred-dollar bills. “I borrowed this from my brother six months before he died, and I came by to repay it to you. I should have done it sooner, but I didn’t have the money when he died, and I was too embarrassed to face you until I did.”

  “You’re kidding me,” I said.

  “Trust me, I never joke about money. Are you going to take this?”

  I stared at the cash a few more seconds, then I looked back at him. “I didn’t think you and Joe talked all that much in the last few years he was alive.”

  He at least had the decency to look sheepish by his next admission. “I’m not proud of the fact, but I got myself into a little jam, and Joe was the only person I could ask. Don’t be upset if he didn’t tell you about it.”

  “Joe and I didn’t have any secrets,” I said stubbornly. I knew in my heart that my husband wouldn’t have loaned his brother that much money, at least without talking to me about it first.

  “I’m sure he meant to tell you about it someday. He just never got around to it.”

  I didn’t know what to think. Was it possible that I didn’t know everything there was to know about my late husband? I didn’t keep him on a leash, and we both had money of our own, separate from our pooled assets. It gave us a sense of independence, something we needed working and living with each other around the clock. If Joe had chosen to take some of his money and loan it to his brother, it wasn’t any of my business. He probably hadn’t told me because he knew I wouldn’t have approved. Joe had a soft spot for his brother, no matter how many times it had led him into trouble.

  “You’re probably right,” I said. If there was one thing I knew, it was that my husband would have wanted me to take the money. “Thanks,” I said as I took the bills and tucked them into my blue jeans. I’d have to think of something special to do with the money, perhaps treat it as a late gift from Joe. Maybe I’d shock Maddy and take that trip after all.

  Steve seemed pleased that I’d accepted the cash.

  I looked at him a second, and then said, “This isn’t going to put you in a bind, is it? Joe wouldn’t have liked that.”

  “Not at all. Trust me, I’ve got plenty more where that came from. Do you have time for lunch? My treat.”

  I glanced at my watch. “We’re opening back up soon. Sorry.”

  “How about tonight? Surely you get a night off now and then.”

  “Not without a lot of advance notice,” I said. “It’s tough running the place by myself.”

  “What about your sister? Surely she could fill in for you.”

  He was persistent, but I didn’t let him sway me. I wasn’t sure why he wanted to see me, but I was fairly certain it wouldn’t be for my conversational skills. “I honestly can’t.”

  “Well, I’m only going to be in town for a few more days. Why don’t we have breakfast tomorrow? You can spare some time to do that. I won’t take no for an answer, Eleanor.”

  At least he hadn’t called me Sis. “Breakfast I can do,” I said. “How about meeting me at Brian’s Diner at eight?”

  “Why don’t I come by the house and pick you up? I’d love to see it again. I still can’t believe you and Joe managed to turn that wreck into a showplace.”

  “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I stood, then I looked at him and mustered every ounce of sincerity that I could. “Thank you for repaying Joe’s loan. No one in the world would have known about it if you’d decided to keep the money yourself after he died.”

  “Joe would know,” Steve said.

  “I won’t argue that point with you,” I answered as I walked away.

  I headed back into the Slice and decided to make myself a sandwich. Flipping on the oven’s conveyor, I split a hoagie down the middle, spread some pizza sauce on it, then added pepperoni, sausage, and a handful of our special cheese blend. As I slid it onto a wire tray, I watched it disappear into the oven. What should I do with the money? One thing was certain; I wanted to keep it separate from my regular bank account. It would be too easy to lose track of it that way, and I wanted to know I was spending Joe’s money when I finally came up with something to do.

  Maddy came into the Slice a few minutes later, just as my sandwich was coming out the other side.

  “That smells great,” she said. “Want to split it with me?”

  It was a big sandwich, and I could always make us another one if we were still hungry. “Sure. Why not?”

  As I cut it into equal portions and plated them up, she grabbed drinks and we found a table near the window.

  Maddy took a bite, then asked me, “How did it go with Steve?”

  “You were right,” I said, fighting to keep my face straight. “He wanted to see me about money.”

  “I knew it,” Maddy crowed. “How much did he want? I can’t believe the nerve of that man.”

  “He didn’t ask for any,” I said as I reached into my blue jeans pocket. “He wanted to give me some.” I held the bills up in front of my sister, who plucked them out of my hand.

  “He actually gave you cash?” she asked. “Are they real?�
� she added as she held one after another into the light.

  “They look real to me,” I said.

  Maddy handed the money back to me as she shook her head. “I don’t get it. Where did Steve get that kind of cash?”

  “He said he’s got plenty more where this came from.”

  “Why exactly is he giving you a thousand dollars?” Maddy asked. “Did he even say?”

  “He borrowed it from Joe, and he wanted to repay it.”

  My sister frowned. “Why would he do that? Did you know about this loan?”

  “No, Joe didn’t tell me, but it doesn’t surprise me. You know what a big heart he had when it came to Steve.”

  “I just can’t believe he paid it back.”

  “Believe it,” I said as I tucked it back into the front pocket of my blue jeans.

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “For now, it’s going in the safe,” I said. “I want to do something special with it, so I’m not going to pay bills or anything practical like that.”

  Maddy laughed. “That’s my girl. It took long enough, but I’m finally rubbing off on you. You know what you should do? You need to take that beach trip we were talking about this morning.”

  “Maybe,” I said, “but right now, I just want to enjoy having it.”

  As we ate, we both began to wonder aloud what Steve was doing now that was so lucrative he could pay off thousand-dollar loans.

  “Maybe he’s got a job,” I said.

  “Steve Swift? I can’t imagine him working at anything long enough to earn a thousand bucks, can you?”

  “Not really,” I said. “But he told me that he was in Raleigh on business, so maybe I’m judging him a little too harshly.”

  “I can’t imagine that,” Maddy said.

  Greg Hatcher showed up just as we were finishing our meal.

  “Hello, ladies,” he said after I unlocked the door to let him in.

  “I thought you had class this afternoon,” I said as I bolted it behind him.

  “It was cancelled. Imagine that.” He took our plates and carried them to the back, over my protests.