M.urder R.eady to E.at (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 2)

by Anita Rodgers

  I opened the computer file that held my work product for Joe and scanned the Beidemeyer photos. Looking for things I might’ve missed, I examined the background for people, vehicles or any other detail that seemed out of the ordinary. Nothing. But a photo of Drew Fuller and Beidemeyer in the restaurant parking lot caught my eye. I printed the shot, closed the file and sent a quick email to Eric. Then I logged off and closed the computer.

  Bare feet padded across the tile floor and I caught the scent of freshly showered man. "What's this?"

  I tilted back my head and looked up at Ted. He held the printed photo in his hand. "Just a picture from the Beidemeyer case." Ted studied the photo. I swiveled in my chair. "Is that the guy who met Beidemeyer in the diner parking lot?"

  Ted knitted his brows then hunched a shoulder. "Could be.” He handed the photo to me. "Can’t be sure."

  "So, nothing familiar?"

  "Body type seems right, but that's about it." Dressed in only a towel, he leaned against the bookcase and frowned at me. "You're still thinking about this?"

  I held up my forefinger and thumb with a quarter inch between them. "You came this close, Ted. When I think about what could've happened I can barely breathe."

  He pulled me out of the chair and put my arms around his neck. "Then stop thinking about it."

  I smirked. "Yeah, that works."

  He put his arms around my waist and pressed against me. "I know something that’ll take your mind off of it."

  Slipping out of his arms I said, "Tempting, but I’ll have to take a rain check. Melinda’s expecting us."

  <<>>

  Ted received a mixture of genuine relief and ball busting when we walked into Melinda's house. He deserved both. Lots of bro-hugs and soft smacks to the back of the head. Steve even gave him an orange jumpsuit as a coming home present.

  I ducked into the kitchen to start dinner and was assessing the contents of the fridge when Melinda walked in. "Scotti?"

  I turned to her sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

  She puzzled and put her hand on my shoulder. "Whatever for?"

  "I should've called you last night. I don't know what I was thinking."

  Melinda's eyes moistened. "You were thinking that you didn't want to let him go once you got him back into your arms." She shrugged. "I've felt that way before. Many times. Ted's father was often gone for long periods. When he came home, I wouldn’t let him out of my sight." She looped my hair behind my ear. "Believe me, I understand."

  I nodded and cleared my throat then turned back to the fridge. “What are we feeding the troops?"

  Melinda made the salad and garlic bread, while I threw together spaghetti and meatballs. Just to be on the safe side, I made grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for the girls.

  Like power-eating locusts, the guys devoured the pasta then belched appreciatively. I laughed. "My God, your grocery bill must've been insane while these guys were growing up."

  Melinda rolled her eyes. "You have no idea." She looked around the table proudly at her grown sons. "But at least they handled the clean up without too much griping. Hint, hint."

  Like a well-trained drill team, the brothers pushed back their chairs and started the clean up. Magically, the dishes were cleared, the condiments removed, tablecloth crumbed and wiped down. Cheers erupted from the kitchen. I gave Melinda a quizzical look.

  She chuckled. "Plate tossing."

  When it was safe to go back into the kitchen I sliced up a couple of pies and brewed a vat of coffee. We lingered in the great room acting like it was a regular old Tuesday.

  The guys were wound up and got on a roll telling family stories — mostly about Ted and all the crap he got into when he was a kid. I laughed so hard I snorted. And then it was my turn for ball-busting. I was honored. But soon it was time to leave. A lot of bro hugs and back clapping, snickering and fist bumps at the door until it was only me, Ted, and Melinda standing on the doorstep.

  Melinda bear-hugged Ted then stepped back and pushed the hair off his forehead. "Okay my love, you go start the car, I want to say good night to Scotti."

  Ted's eyes flitted from me to Melinda, then he shrugged. "Yes, ma'am." He saluted, evaded a swat from his mother and walked out to the Escalade.

  I turned curious eyes to Melinda.

  She hugged me and cried a little. We hung onto each other for a few seconds. Words weren't necessary. We broke apart, laughing at ourselves. "Well, we're a pair, huh?"

  "Indeed, we are."

  I squeezed her hand. "I'll take good care of him. I promise."

  She smiled. "Of that, I am certain." She gave me a little shove. "Now get out of here and go home. You both need a good night's sleep."

  She stood at the open door and waved as we pulled away.

  Ted glanced at me. "What was that all about?"

  "It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand."

  Chapter Forty-Two

  On Wednesday, Matt and I food trucked in Glendale, and Ted went back to work. He called later in the day to reassure me and to report that the test results had officially cleared him in the shootings of Marika Jansen and Carl Beidemeyer. I was so relieved that I screamed like a little girl.

  After we finished our route, we stopped at Ted's shop and furnished snacks for the crew. I ducked into Ted's office for a quick kiss and a hug. But really to make sure he was okay. The sense that the other shoe was about to drop still lingered, and I hoped seeing him would banish the fear.

  He kissed me quick. "See you tonight about six." I hesitated. He laughed and tickled my chin. "You're worse than my mother. I'm fine." He fanned out his arms and strutted. "See?"

  I stared at him for a few moments. "If you’re not there at six on the nose, I'm organizing a search party."

  When I climbed into the truck Matt said, "Home boss lady?"

  I nodded. "Nothing left for the station house today."

  Matt cranked up the radio and I dove into my own thoughts. Still plagued by the unanswered questions surrounding Beidemeyer, Marika and Ron, I spun in the hamster wheel of why.

  Daniels shut me out for obvious reasons, and my connection to the case was over anyway. Ted was cleared. My stalker was gone. Everyone I knew was still alive and kicking. Mike and the guys would emerge eventually. Life should've defaulted to normal. Everybody had moved on — why couldn't I?

  "Scotti, you in there? We’re here."

  I glanced at him. "You're a good guy, Matt. And you’ve been such a help to me. I want you to know how much I appreciate it."

  He grinned. "No worries, dude. I'm totally into it. Loved every minute of it.” He swished his lips. “So Zelda coming back for her job, huh?”

  I shook my head and sighed. Not everything was back to normal. "No." I cocked my head. "Oh you thought I was thanking you because it’s the end of the line? No such luck my friend. You’re stuck with me and the big green monster for the duration."

  Matt smirked, clicked through the gate, pulled to the back wall and parked. He eyed the side mirror. "You sure about that?"

  I got out of the truck wondering about Matt’s glum mood. When I came around the back of the truck, I saw Zelda’s jeep parked next to us and Zelda yanking her suitcase out of the back.

  "Zee?"

  She grinned. "Hi honey, I'm home."

  I screamed and threw my arms around her. Zelda put up with my emotional outburst until she couldn't stand it anymore then pried my arms off her. "Okay enough, it's not like I was in a Siberian prison for cripes sake."

  Matt stocked the truck during our hug-fest, and when I looked up he was headed to his car. "Where you going?"

  Matt held out his hands and shrugged. "Exit stage left?"

  I took a step toward him. "Are you coming back tomorrow?"

  He shook his head and gave me the truck keys. "Dude your homie's back."

  Zelda rolled her eyes and thrust out her hand. "Zelda Carter."

  Matt shook Zelda's hand, "Matt Jordan. We met before at the house, right?"

  Zel
da tilted her head and stroked an imaginary beard. "So I hear you're an excellent driver." Matt blushed and shuffled his feet. "How about you do the run with me tomorrow?" She hooked her thumb at me. "Give this one a day to get over her drama-queeniness?"

  Matt lit up like a pinball machine. "That would be awesome. Can I make some of the coffee drinks too, man? Driving and hanging in the cab gets wicked boring."

  Zelda chortled. "Amen brother." She pointed at me. "This one won't let you do anything. Am I right?"

  Matt's eyes flitted to mine then back to Zelda. "It's cool man. Scotti likes things a certain way."

  Zelda flapped her hands. "Screw that shit. Tomorrow is free day. I'll drive, you drive. I'll serve, you serve. Whatever moves us, you know? Sound good?"

  Matt threw up his arms. "For real? Awesome, man. You are on." They did a little fist bumpy dance then Matt got in his car. "See you tomorrow."

  I dragged Zelda's suitcase toward the house. "What's in this thing, Henry?"

  Zelda hip-bumped me out of the way and hoisted the suitcase over her shoulder. "You can pick me up and toss me around but you can't handle a suitcase? Weakling."

  When Zelda walked inside Boomer sniffed the air then shot across the room to her. He was so happy to see her he peed on the floor. Zee dropped her suitcase and got down on all fours to play tug a rope with him — using her teeth.

  I went to the kitchen and pulled out the iced tea and a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies, then waited for Zelda. Her radar led her straight to the butcher-block, where she plopped onto a stool. "So catch me up. Everything cool now?" She bit into a cookie and groaned. "Damn, I've missed your cooking."

  I squeezed extra lemon into my iced tea. "Yeah, things are back to normal. Ted's in the clear." I blew out a sigh. "Thanks for staying with me the other night, I was a mess."

  Zelda finished the first cookie and started on a second. "So how will you spend your day off?" She wiggled her eyebrows. "A little role-playing? You're the prison guard with Teddy boy as your charge?"

  I chewed on my thumbnail. "Did you decide about Henry?"

  Zelda pushed the cookie plate away and poured a glass of iced tea. "Yeah."

  "Well?"

  "We're going to try long distance. I'll go out there for a week during the month, then the next month he'll come out here for a week. We'll see how it goes." She eyed me. "You have a problem with him staying here?"

  I shook my head. "No problem at all. It's your home too. You can invite whoever you like." I giggled. "Except, if you're going to shower together, lock the bathroom door please."

  Zelda jabbed a finger at me but laughed. "That was one time. One time!"

  I doubled over. "And an image I'll never get out of my head."

  She laughed. "Bitch."

  I laughed so hard I snorted. "Slut."

  Maybe life was defaulting to normal. Zelda was home, I felt like me again, and Boomer was at his dancy best.

  When Ted arrived, he caught Zelda in a bear hug and lifted her off her feet. "Put me down you big moose." Ted put on a pout and set her down. She backed up a couple steps. "What's the deal with you two and all the hugging? Jeez, next thing you know, we'll be calling ourselves the Partridge Family and installing a karaoke machine on the truck."

  Ted pulled out a stool and went after the cookies Zelda left on the plate. "We just missed you Zee." He squinted at her. "And tell the truth, you missed us too."

  She rolled her eyes at him and pulled up her stool. "Yeah, yeah." She slid the cookie platter away from Ted and covered it with her arms. "Get your own." She picked up a cookie and waved it at him. "And by the way, how'd you end up getting your ass thrown in jail?"

  Ted grabbed the cookie jar from the kitchen counter and brought it back to the butcher-block. "Steve didn't tell you?"

  Zelda reached for the cookie jar, but Ted held it out of her reach. "I want the unabridged version." She wagged a finger at Ted. "Not the PG version Steve gave me."

  Ted slid the cookie jar across the counter to her and stood. "You girls have a lot of catching up to do, yeah?" He loosened his tie. "You girls talk. I’ll clean up. Then I’ll take you both for dinner."

  Zelda frowned. "Hey get back here." But Ted scooted out of the room without another word. Zelda looked at me. "What was that all about?"

  The water pipes thunked when Ted turned on the shower. "He wants me to tell you."

  Zelda rolled her eyes. "So what, you’re his interpreter now?” She cranked her hand, "Then tell me." I told her. Every detail. From start to finish. Zelda was agape. "Perfect Ted went all gonzo on Beidemeyer? Sorry I missed that." She laughed. "He was ready to cold cock Beidemeyer just for talking to you?"

  I shook my head slowly. "It's not funny, Zee. It scared the hell out of me."

  She stopped laughing. "Right. Not funny.” She tapped her cookie against the platter. "Now I get why you were so freaked out the other night." She lowered her voice. "Were you afraid he killed them?"

  I looked to the doorway then whispered. "Maybe for a second." I kept my eyes on the doorway. "That was his job when he was in the Army. But even still, I couldn’t believe my Ted would do that. Kill in cold blood?" I slumped and rested my head on my arms. "Thank God, it's over."

  "Over, huh? Then why did you print out this?"

  I raised my head and saw Zelda holding the picture of Drew Fuller. I motioned her back over to the butcher-block then whispered. "Because I think Fuller is who Beidemeyer met at the diner. They were obviously friends." I glanced at the kitchen doorway then back to Zelda. "Don't tell Ted, but I asked Eric to hack Fuller's phone."

  She bent her head and whispered. "Yeah, I know. Now what are you up to?"

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Thursday morning Matt and Zelda went off in the food truck for their day of fun without me. Finally convinced it was safe to leave me without personal security, Ted packed his bag and kissed me goodbye.

  Not sure what to do with myself, I grabbed Boomer and drove to Franky the Copy King's. There was no reason to hide the sketch pad anymore, and I wanted to study it before I gave it back to Donna.

  I was bothered that Mike and his crew still hadn't resurfaced. Beidemeyer was dead and no longer a threat to them, so there was no reason to continue hiding. The official story issued by the LAPD was that Beidemeyer killed Ron, and then when he learned the cops were onto him, he killed Marika and himself. Even I was coming around to that point of view. It was the most obvious and logical explanation. And Daniels cleared three homicides to boot, so it seemed everybody was on board.

  I thought the guys were still laying low because they hadn't heard the news. None of them had radios or TVs in their carts, and I doubted they read the papers either. I drove to Crescenta Valley Park in hopes of finding them and letting them know the coast was clear.

  Boomer couldn't have cared less about my missing friends and romped in the dog park while I scanned for the guys. Boomer gave a German shepherd and a schnauzer a run for their money and scored a new tennis ball. I came up empty.

  I left a message on Mike's cell phone telling him it was safe to come out of hiding but didn’t expect a return call. It was just as likely they’d moved on to some other city and I’d never see them again. And that thought made me a little sad. Because once upon a time, Mike was there for Ted when he really needed somebody. That meant something to me and made me care about them.

  On the way home, I dropped by to see Eric. Boomer ran in ahead of me and did his twirly dance but Eric barely smiled. I frowned at the sight of him. He'd lost weight and the dark circles under his eyes made him look like those poverty stricken kids they show on late night TV. "You okay?"

  He hunched a shoulder. His eyes looked past me. "Where's Zee?"

  My love detector beeped. "She's working the truck with Ted's brother Matt. They gave me a day off."

  He slumped. "Mmm."

  I squinted at him. "Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like shit."

  Eric swiveled back to his computer s
creen and tapped some keys. "The hack didn't produce much." He looked up at me. "Are you positive this is his primary phone?"

  I looked over Eric's shoulder at the computer screen. "I think so, why?"

  The image displayed on the screen was just a phone log. "Because there's nothing there. No tunes, no pics, no vids, no speed dial list." Eric looked up and shrugged. "Maybe this is just his work phone? Purely business?" He tapped a few keys and another document came up, grouping numbers with names. He pointed to the screen. "See, it's all police station houses, other detectives, nothing personal."