Garlic Artichoke Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 11)

by Patti Benning

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  GARLIC ARTICHOKE MURDER

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  Garlic

  Artichoke

  Murder

  Book Eleven

  in

  Papa Pacelli’s

  Pizzeria Series

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2017 Summer Prescott Books

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  Garlic Artichoke

  MURDER

  Book Eleven in Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  * * *

  The ocean was dotted with sailboats, and the water sparkled. Traffic on the road that wound along the Maine coast was heavy with the first tourists of the season, and the scents of burning coals and roasting hot dogs permeated the air as families celebrated the first truly hot week of the year.

  Eleanora Pacelli noticed none of that. Her thoughts were on something that she had found in her boyfriend’s pocket the week before. She could think of only one reason for Russell Ward to have a ring box in his pocket, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about the implications.

  She wasn’t sure whether the fact that he hadn’t mentioned it yet was good or bad. She had deliberately avoided him since her discovery, and feared that he would notice her odd behavior if they spent time together. She knew she couldn’t avoid him forever, but right now she couldn’t even look at him without feeling panic well up in her chest.

  A ring. Marriage. Was she ready for any of that? Was she ready for that with him? Was he really ready for it? He was a widower who had lived alone since his wife was murdered years ago. The only creature he shared his home with was a cat, and Sookie was a recent, accidental acquisition.

  That brought up another problem. Where would they live? Right now, Ellie shared a house with her eighty-five-year-old grandmother. Ann Pacelli was healthy for a woman of her age, but even so, Ellie wouldn’t be comfortable with Nonna living on her own. Yet the thought of Russell moving into the Pacelli house was absurd. She could, she supposed, stop in to visit the older woman every day, supposing they got a place in town.

  Stop it, she told herself. I don’t even know if he’s going to propose. I could be wrong about what I thought I felt in the pocket. I hope I was wrong. Or do I? She was confused by her own feelings on the matter. She had only known the man for a year. True, they complemented each other beautifully, but she had already come to realize that she wasn’t necessarily the best judge of men. Her last relationship had ended in tears when she discovered her fiancé with another woman. She couldn’t imagine Russell betraying her trust like that, but then she hadn’t thought her ex would cheat on her either.

  She desperately needed to talk to someone about everything. The only problem was, her best friend also happened to be Russell’s sister-in-law. If she was wrong about the whole thing and Shannon let something slip, well, Ellie didn’t know if she would ever be able to face the Ward family again.

  Talking to Nonna was another option, but the elderly woman was probably more likely than Shannon to mention something to her friends. She wouldn’t mean it badly, of course, but gossip was like water to the women who met every week for lunch at the nursing home—where half of them lived.

  Ellie had kept her discovery a secret for the better part of a week, but the urge to confide in someone had finally grown too strong to resist. That was why she was on her way over to Shannon’s house. She would just have to ask her friend not to tell anyone, even her husband. She would lose her mind if she didn’t find reassurance somewhere.

  Shannon and James Ward lived in a beautiful house in one of the newer suburbs in the small town of Kittiport. James was a contractor, and was exceptionally busy this time of year. Shannon, who worked at the local newspaper, had a more flexible schedule. She had been more than happy to invite Ellie over for lunch, and Ellie had been happy to supply the food.

  She knocked at the front door half an hour after leaving her home, with a warm pizza box in one hand and a two-liter bottle of cold soda in the other. Owning a pizzeria had its perks, and Papa Pacelli’s wasn’t just any pizzeria; it served the best pizza in the area.

  “Come on in,” Shannon shouted through the door. Ellie turned the knob and stepped into a brutally air-conditioned living room. She shut the door behind her and followed the sound of clacking to the kitchen, where she found her friend typing on a laptop.

  “I brought lunch,” she said, setting the pizza down on the table. “Garlic artichoke pizza with white sauce. I know you like garlic.”

  “That sounds delicious. I’m almost done with this article. Can you grab plates and stuff while I finish up the last paragraph?”

  Ellie knew the layout of her friend’s kitchen well enough to find the plates and glasses on the first try. By the time she had set two places on the table, the other woman had shut her laptop and was opening the pizza box.

  “So, what’s tomorrow’s news?” Ellie asked. “Anything interesting?”

  “I was just doing a column on the weekend’s activities. The farmers market will be opening, a local band is playing in the park, and on Sunday there’s a wedding at the community center, so the food drive is being moved to the library.”

  “Ah, small town life,” the pizzeria owner said. “I’m sure Nonna will want to go to the farmer’s market. Last year she fell in love with the pies one of the vendors makes.”

  “James
and I will be there too,” Shannon said. “I’m taking pictures for the paper, and I’m dragging him along. You should see if Russ is free too, and we can grab lunch after and make a day out of it.”

  “Or pack something to eat and take the Eleanora out if it’s a nice day,” Ellie suggested. The Eleanora was her grandfather’s boat. He had named it after her, and had left it to her grandmother when he passed.

  “That would be wonderful. Do you think Russ will be able to make it? I can tell James to make sure his schedule is clear all afternoon.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think he has any major cases at the moment, but I haven’t seen much of him the past few days.”

  “I guess he’s probably been busy dealing with all of the craziness that went down at the pizzeria last week. Speaking of that, did your window get replaced yet?”

  “Yes. James came through, like always. You married a great man.”

  Shannon smiled. “I know.”

  Ellie was suddenly reminded of her reason for coming over. She focused on serving herself a piece of pizza as she tried to figure out how to bring up what was on her mind.

  “This might sound crazy,” she began, “but Russell lent me his jacket a few days ago, and… I thought I felt something in the pocket.”

  Her friend raised her eyebrows. “Like what? A gun? You know he carries.”

  Russell was the town’s sheriff, and almost always had a firearm within reach. Ellie understood why; she had seen enough of the town’s frightening underside that she didn’t question it. He had already been shot once in the time that she had known him, and had been shot at again the week before, although thankfully that bullet had missed him.

  “No, something else.” She bit her lip, regretting bringing it up at all, but knowing that it was too late to back out now. “I thought I felt a ring box.”

  A look of mild surprise flashed across her friend’s face. It was enough to tell Ellie that if Russell was planning on proposing, he hadn’t mentioned it to his sister-in-law.

  “I was probably imagining things,” she said. “Just don’t tell anyone I mentioned it, okay? I would be so embarrassed.”

  “I don’t know,” Shannon mused. “I mean, of course I won’t tell anyone, but I don’t know if you were imagining it. I know Russ is crazy for you.”

  “I just haven’t been able to look at him without thinking about it,” Ellie said. “I feel bad for avoiding him, but he’s going to notice if I act a little bonkers around him. We went out for coffee while I was waiting for Nonna to get out of physical therapy a couple of days ago, and the entire time I was there, I was terrified that he was going to pop the question.”

  “Terrified? Do you want him to propose?” Shannon asked. “What would you say?”

  “I don’t know,” Ellie admitted. “I keep going back and forth, and I don’t even know if he’s going to ask. I’m probably freaking myself out over nothing. I just needed to tell someone.”

  “Don’t stress over it so much. I honestly don’t know what his plans are, but I doubt he’d ask unless he’s almost certain you will say yes. He’s a careful guy, and he doesn’t want to risk messing up your relationship. I think you should just try to relax around him and spend more time together.”

  “I’ll try,” Ellie said. “If we can all go out on the boat on Saturday, that would be nice. You’re right that I need to relax. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful summer; the pizzeria is doing better than ever now that Cheesaroni Calzones closed down; and I’ve really got nothing to worry about other than the man I love possibly proposing to me.”

  She laughed, but as she took a sip of her soda, she couldn’t help but feel that same persistent twinge of anxiety. She didn’t know if she was ready to get married, and if Russell asked and she said no, could their relationship possibly survive?

  CHAPTER TWO

  * * *

  The wonderful late spring weather finally inspired Ellie that evening. Instead of making dinner inside, she found her grandfather’s ancient grill in the garage, dragged it outside, cleaned it, and filled it with equally ancient charcoal. It took her a couple of tries to get it lit, but soon enough the coals were turning white and the grill was ready for the corn on the cob, bratwurst, and chopped-up veggies she had bought on the way home from Shannon’s house.

  She and Nonna spent the evening sitting in lawn chairs in the back yard, eating barbecue to their heart’s content while Bunny—Ellie’s little black and white papillon—rolled in the freshly cut grass.

  Ellie sat up long enough to lower the back of her lawn chair, then leaned back and closed her eyes, overcome with a sense of peace. She really was happy here. Maybe that was why she was so worried about what might have been a ring in Russell’s pocket; getting engaged would mean change, and she really didn’t want anything to change just then. Her life was as close to perfect as it ever had been. How could anything, even marriage, make it better?

  Her sense of peace lasted until—as she drove toward the pizzeria after filling up on gasoline in town—she saw that the For Sale sign in the window of the calzone shop had been exchanged for a Sold sign.

  The men that had owned and run the calzone shop had spent months tormenting her and trying their hardest to bring Papa Pacelli’s to its knees. She had been relieved when the shop had finally shut its doors. Now, it looked like another restaurant would be taking its place.

  What are the chances that the people who bought it will be as petty and cruel as Jeffrey and Xavier? she reassured herself. The new owners will likely be perfectly nice people.

  Still, she couldn’t help but think that the sign was something of an ominous omen that change was coming whether she wanted it or not.

  Papa Pacelli’s was only a block away from the marina, and in the fall and winter, when the trees were naked, she could see the harbor just by sticking her head out the door. With the trees fully leafy, the water was now hidden from view, but the fresh sea breeze still reached the outdoor patio she had installed earlier in the year.

  Today the streets were busy with both cars and pedestrians, and she had barely turned the sign on when her first customers came in. They seated themselves outside, and she brought them ice-cold glasses of fresh lemonade while they looked over the menu. Iris, whose brightly colored hair was a shocking mixture of pink and green this week, took their orders while Ellie seated the next group. It was going to be a busy day, but she didn’t mind. There was nowhere she would rather be.

  By the time Jacob came in at five, they were sorely in need of his help. Ellie was grateful for the chance to get off her feet and work the register. She was thrilled and amazed at how well the pizzeria was doing. Not for the first time, she entertained the idea of opening a second store, but the same problems that she ran into every time she thought about it were still there.

  If she wanted to ensure that the new store wouldn’t steal business and customers from the original Papa Pacelli’s, she’d have to open it at least an hour away from Kittiport, if not further. While her employees were wonderful and knew their way around the pizza shop, she didn’t know if any of them were ready for the task of managing a store, but she couldn’t very well run two stores at once, at least not for long. If it was just her, she might be able to move to the new store’s location while it got up and running, but she couldn’t leave Nonna alone.

  If she had someone she could trust to run one of the stores smoothly while she focused on the other, things might be different. In a year or two, Jacob might be up for that job; she would just have to wait until then.

  The bell on the door jingled and she pulled her thoughts away from the future to greet the customer—then saw that it was Russell. What is he doing here? she wondered. It wasn’t unusual for him to stop in if he was passing by, but lately she had been so on edge around him that she found herself questioning even the little things. I really wish I had never put that jacket on, she thought. I don’t know how I’ll ever relax around him if I think he’s going to pull ou
t a ring any second.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling at him despite her worries. It was good to see him.

  “Hey. I figured you’d be in here today. I saw how full the parking lot is. I’m glad to see this place is doing well.”

  “I wish my grandfather was around to see it. He would be impressed. Oh, before I forget, Shannon and I are trying to plan an outing on Saturday afternoon. We thought we’d all go to the farmer’s market together, then pack up some food and have lunch on the Eleanora if it’s nice out. Can you make it?”

  It would be the perfect way to spend some time together without her worrying about a proposal. Russell was a private person, and she doubted he would propose when they were around others, even if those others were his family.

  “I should be able to. I actually stopped in to see what your plans are for this weekend too. A friend of mine is getting married on Sunday. He sent me the invitation a while ago, and it slipped my mind until I got an email reminder. Would you be able to go with me? I know it’s short notice, but the wedding is just at the community center and it shouldn’t be an all-day event.”

  A wedding? She bit her lip. It would be the perfect setting for a proposal. She rarely worked on the weekends, so unless something came up with Nonna, she wouldn’t have any handy excuses. Besides, she would feel bad to make him go by himself.