Death Fricassee

by Kandle, Tawdra

  “I didn’t know him well, Jackie. Maybe I’m way off base.”

  I shook my head. “No, it was my first thought, too. I don’t think Al liked to keep secrets, but if he thought he was protecting his family, he’d absolutely do it.” I glanced into the rearview mirror and changed lanes. “Do you think it had something to do with his murder?”

  Lucas wrinkled his brow. “I doubt it. I mean, if he was making these payments all those years, why would someone cut off that source of money?”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” The navigation on my phone instructed me that my destination was ahead on the right. I peered into the trees around us. “Is this place a tree house? I don’t see anything else.”

  “There’s a road, Cathryn said. . .there it is.”

  I braked and made the turn, but barely. We drove down a narrow road that opened to a huge house, surrounded by acres of manicured gardens. The round driveway curved in front of the door, and I stopped the car on the side.

  “Wow.” Lucas stepped out of the car, and I walked around to join him. “This is some place.”

  “You must be Lucas.” The door had opened, and a small woman with multi-colored hair stood watching us. “Come in, come in, my dears. So lovely to meet you at last.”

  We followed her into a cavernous entry hall. “I’m Zoe. I’m excited to meet you, Lucas, and of course, you too, Jackie.” She beamed at us with such joy that I almost thought sunbeams were going to shoot out her fingertips. “Now, we have a lot of work to do. Jackie, I know you’ve made this long drive up here to keep dear Lucas company, but it will be far easier for us to accomplish our work if we’re alone.”

  I nodded. “I figured that. Is there some place I can sit down out of the way?” I lifted my bag. “Have laptop, will work.”

  “Oh, yes. Go straight down this hallway and turn left when you can’t walk any further. There’s a small library and conference room to your right. No one will bother you there.”

  Lucas squeezed my hand. “You’ll be okay?”

  “Sure. I can take care of myself. Go figure out how to stop hearing voices, you crazy man, you.”

  The library was exactly where Zoe had pointed it out, down a hallway of gleaming dark wood. I opened the door and settled myself at a table, pulling out my laptop and delving into the text for next week’s column. I’d worked for about fifteen minutes before I heard a noise.

  “Hello.” A voice at the door broke into my concentration. I looked up to see a young woman regarding me with curiosity.

  “Hi.” I didn’t know whether I should stand up and offer to leave or introduce myself. The woman had long black hair that formed a cloud around the translucent skin of her face. Her eyes were a startling blue, out of sync with the rest of her coloring, but all the more attractive for that. She reminded me of a jungle cat, standing almost preternaturally still as she watched me.

  “What are you doing here?” The tone was more curiosity than animosity.

  “I. . .” As far as I knew, Lucas’s visit here wasn’t a secret, but Cathryn was so into discretion that I didn’t want to break any of her rules. “I’m here with a friend. He’s meeting with Zoe.”

  At the mention of Zoe’s name, her face settled into friendlier lines. “Oh.” She stared a moment more before she came into the room, moving with the same feline grace. “I’m Nell.” She offered a small white hand.

  “I’m Jackie.” I shook her hand, smiling. “Do you work here?”

  She inclined her head. “I guess I do. Yes.”

  I searched for something else to say. “I know Cathryn. She’s a friend of my boyfriend’s.” I’d been experimenting with that word for the last few weeks. It was getting easier to use.

  Nell’s face broke into a smile, transforming from merely arresting to downright gorgeous. “Really? Cathryn? I didn’t know she had any friends, outside maybe Zoe and Harley.”

  “Nell, where did you go? Oh.” The guy who came around the corner was tall, dark and if I’d been ten years younger, I’d have termed him yummy. His eyes skimmed over me in surprise before fastening on Nell with an expression that told me all I needed to know.

  “I came in to get a book.” She smiled at him. “This is Jackie. Her friend is having a session with Zoe.”

  “Ah. Lucky friend.” He winked at me and took a step forward. “I’m Rafe Brooks. I work here.” He slid his hand into Nell’s. “We both do.”

  “Jackie knows Cathryn.” Nell grinned up at Rafe, who shook his head.

  “I think Nell and I make Cathryn’s life a little more exciting than she’d like.” He looked down at Nell again. “Let’s not disturb Jackie any more than we have. I found the book in the other library. I was about to tell you that, but when I turned around, you’d disappeared into thin air.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Not quite. I haven’t mastered that one yet.” She glanced back at me as Rafe pulled her hand. “Nice to meet you, Jackie. I’m sure we’ll see you again.”

  As they turned down the hallway, I heard Rafe’s voice. “I’m never sure what you can and cannot do at any given moment. I wouldn’t put it past you to just learn to vanish one day.”

  Nell laughed, a low, throaty sound. “Keeping you on your toes is my number one goal.”

  I tried to go back to work, but there were too many distractions, even in this room. Out the window, I could see people moving around the grounds, driving in golf carts and pulling into and out of a small parking lot in the rear. Before too long, the enticing aroma that I recognized as roast beef began wafting down the hallway.

  There was a knock at the door, and a woman in a gray uniform carried in a tray. “Zoe told us you were working in here, and that you might appreciate lunch.” She removed the silver dome, revealing a white plate overflowing with food. She set a goblet of ice water down next to it.

  “Thank you.” I picked up the napkin from the tray and lay it on my lap. “This is an unexpected pleasure.”

  The woman nodded. “You’re very welcome. Just leave the tray outside the door when you’re finished.”

  The food was delicious, and once I’d finished it, I had a hard time staying awake. When Lucas found me an hour later, I was nearly dozing.

  “Hey, you ready to go?” He tugged on a lock of my hair.

  “Yes. . .although I’m kind of thinking of moving in here. Did you have lunch?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, Zoe and I ate in her office. Pretty good, huh?”

  We walked out to the car, and Lucas opened the door for me. “I’ll drive back.”

  I glanced at him, surprised. “Is that safe? What if you zap out?”

  Lucas smiled. “Zoe and I worked on that. She taught me how to delay a transport. Also. . .I can block the voices now.” His voice was gleeful. “She’s a miracle worker.”

  “All that in one session?” I raised my eyebrows as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

  “Yes, but I’m going to come back. Just to make sure I’m adjusting well to all the changes.”

  “Awesome. Can you make sure we come back on roast beef days?”

  “Ha. Not sure about that, but guess what I’m going to do tonight?”

  I smiled big. “This sounds promising. Does it have anything to do with getting naked?”

  “You’re insatiable. No, I’m going to take you to dinner. Out to a real dinner, with real live people around us. And I’m going to relax while we’re there, because I won’t worry about transporting or hearing voices. How does that sound?”

  I laid my head against the seat. “That sounds fabulous. Still interested in the getting naked part, though. Not gonna lie.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  ***

  THE DAY AFTER our trip to see Zoe, I had lunch at Leone’s. The diner had reopened with the blessing of Al’s family, who hadn’t yet decided whether they would sell it or keep it. The managers and wait staff were working hard to make sure the restaurant carried on Al’s high standards of food and service, and it made my heart ha
ppy.

  Mary brought me a glass of water and a plate of bread. “So good to see you sitting in your regular spot, Jackie. We’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you all, too.” I pointed across from me. “Do you have a minute to sit down?”

  She grinned and took the seat. “For you, always. Isn’t that what Al used to say?”

  I nodded. “All the time.” I sipped my water and glanced at her. “Mary, do you know a Lucinda DiBartola?”

  Mary leaned back, rolling her shoulders. “Sure. She lives in Windy Glades, just ten minutes down the road. She came from up north, too.”

  “Did she know Al?”

  She pursed her lips. “I don’t know. She didn’t come in here that I can remember. I only know her from St. Anthony’s. We’re both in that parish.” Mary leaned forward. “Though she lives with this guy. . .Eddie Cortini. . .he’s not her husband. They’ve been together for a long time, but he’s never done the right thing by her.”

  I frowned. “Does she have a daughter? There was a girl at Al’s repast named Antonia DiBartola.”

  “I don’t know Lucinda that well, but I’ve never heard of a daughter. Name isn’t that common though. Could be. I’ve never seen her at Mass with anyone but Eddie.”

  I left the diner an hour later, with a full stomach and a little more information than I’d had going in. I called Lucas to let him know I was taking a ride down the coast, looking up an old friend. I didn’t say she was a friend of mine, but I had a hunch we had a mutual acquaintance.

  Thanks to the age of technology and smart phones, I was able to find a listing for Eddie Cortini. He lived in a townhouse two blocks off the beach. I parked on the street and knocked on the front door, butterflies dancing in my stomach. The chances that I was going to find out good news here were pretty low. I wondered if I were ready to learn that Al wasn’t quite the man I’d thought.

  The woman who answered the door was short, with white hair and snapping black eyes. She looked me up and down, frowning.

  “We don’t need any cable or security systems here. And you should know, missy, solicitation is strictly forbidden in this complex. You’re lucky I don’t take you down, turn you in.”

  I held up my hand. “I’m not soliciting, I promise. Ms. DiBartola?”

  The eyes narrowed. “Who’s asking?”

  The suspicion ran deep in this one. “I think maybe we have a mutual friend. I don’t want anything. I just want to talk with you.”

  “Okay, talk.” She folded her arms over her chest.

  I sighed. An invitation inside was not forthcoming, clearly. “Alfonso Leone. Did you know him?” I watched her face closely for any sign of recognition.

  Her forehead wrinkled. “Leone? The name sounds familiar, but. . .oh, wait, he was the old man who was killed in Palm Dunes, right? Sad, very sad. Did they ever find the crazy who did it?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet.”

  “So bad things are getting. If I had grandchildren, believe me, I’d be on top of them all the time, no going off by themselves. It’s not safe anywhere anymore. I used to cry and cry because my daughter didn’t have children, but now, I’m not so unhappy.”

  I leaned forward. “You have a daughter?”

  “Sure, my Antonia. She’s a big-shot lawyer up in New Jersey, but she comes to visit, two, three times a year. She’s one of these who married her job, you know?”

  “Sure.” I nodded. “You and your husband must be very proud of her.”

  “Oh, Eddie here, he’s not her father. No, Antonia’s father. . .” Lucinda’s face softened into lines of old grief. “He died a long time ago. Before she was born, even.”

  I touched her hand. “I’m sorry, Ms. DiBartola. I didn’t mean to bring up a sensitive subject.”

  Lucinda’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you come here asking about the dead man? We didn’t know him.”

  I took a deep breath. “It’s about the money. There were—”

  “What’s going on here?” A tall, thin man with thick gray brows over brown eyes came up behind me. “What’re you doing, bothering my lady here?”

  “She came asking if we knew that man who was killed down in Palm Dunes, Eddie. They’re trying to find who did it.”

  Eddie stared down at me. “Why would we know him? He had nothing to do with us.”

  I blinked in the face of the obvious hostility. “There were checks—”

  “You gotta leave. Honey, you go inside. I’ll take care of this.” Eddie gripped my elbow and hustled me down the sidewalk. I stumbled as we got to the curb.

  “Get your hands off me. Stop.” I shook him off. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “What’s a matter me? You come around here stirring things up, making a big fuss, getting Lucinda upset. It’s old news. Old and forgotten.”

  I stepped back. “Mr. Cortini, did you know Al Leone?”

  He was silent, his eyes forbidding. “I know no one by that name.”

  I caught the nuance. “Not by that name. But you know him.”

  Eddie looked away. “A long time ago, and you’re bringing up bad things.”

  “Mr. Cortini, Lucinda’s daughter Antonia—was Al her father?”

  “What?” He squinted at me. “No! Antonia’s father died long ago.” He laid a hand across his chest. “God rest his soul. He was my good friend. That’s why I take care of Lucinda now—because Antony was my best friend.”

  “Look, Mr. Cortini.” I drew myself up as tall as I could stand, trying to look imposing if not intimidating. “Al’s children know about the money going to Lucinda. They’re trying to figure it out, and it’s not going to take long before the police put it all together, too. You should tell me now, so I can explain everything.”

  Eddie ran a hand over his balding head. “It’s so long ago. . .best forgotten. But there’s the money. And I always knew that would cause trouble.” He sighed, heavily. “Come sit here. I’m an old man, and I can’t stand up to keep talking.”

  We moved to a green wooden bench nearby. I walked and Eddie shuffled. When we were settled, I turned to him, one eyebrow raised, waiting.

  “A long time ago, we were boys together. Alec, Antony and Eddie. We came up in the old neighborhood, and in those days, the Family was very powerful. We thought we were bullet-proof, right? Alec and me, we were ladies men, a different girl every Friday night. But for Antony, it was always Lucinda. They got married, and she was just starting with a baby when we were asked to do a job. When you got asked, it didn’t mean you could turn them down. No, you did it. Or else. I got very sick at the last minute, didn’t go. But Alec and Antony went. They were fighting, the two of them, because Antony had promised Lucinda he was getting out and they’d move away. Alec didn’t want him to go. But that night, things went bad. They went wrong. There was trouble, and at the end of it, Antony was shot. Alec said it was his fault, because he didn’t protect him. And they were distracted by arguing with each other.”

  I could see it now, the story unfolding before me. “Alec. That was Al, wasn’t it?”

  Eddie nodded. “He was destroyed. He couldn’t work anymore. He ran away, changed his name. We didn’t know where, we never saw him again. But he promised Lucinda before he left that he would always take care of her and the baby. So the checks came, and they came every month for over fifty years.”

  “Did you know he was down here, so close to you?”

  “No, not until recently. Then a friend of mine told me he knew someone who needed to ask a question about the Family. About something that might or might not be going on down here. I met up with the man, and it was Alec. We were both shocked. But I talked to him, and it was good. I told him, he had done good, making a life all these years and always remembering Lucinda. I told him, it was okay. That I was taking care of Lucinda now, and he could stop.”

  I licked my lips and looked hard at Eddie. “Did you shoot him? That night at Leone’s, did you go back there and shoot him?”

  Eddie paled. �
�As God is my witness, no. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, how could I do such a thing? Never. I had no reason to do it.”

  I believed him. This man and Al. . .both had taken care of their dead friend’s family, for much longer than anyone could’ve expected. But what if someone else didn’t see it that way?

  “Mr. Cortini, who else did you tell? About Al. About where he was, who he really was?”

  Eddie looked away. “I shouldn’t have. I didn’t mean to. But Antonia was here. She was visiting her mama. And. . .Lucinda was at bingo when I came home, and I was emotional. And maybe a little less for the wine.” Guilt colored his face. “I let out the secret. I never should’ve said it.”

  We sat in silence on the bench. Seagulls cried overhead, and the breeze chilled me until I shivered.

  “She shot him, didn’t she?” I whispered the words, but I knew Eddie heard them.

  “I don’t have proof.” Eddie covered his face with a gnarled hand. “I don’t know. And I could never turn her in, do that to Lucinda. But when I heard what happened, I thought. . .yes, she could’ve. Coming up without a dad, no matter how hard I tried, it was hard on her. She’s not a young woman anymore. She’s old enough to be over it. But she isn’t. I saw it in her eyes that night. She’d heard the stories, over and over, and in her mind, Alec was the one who came home when her dad didn’t.”

  I took a deep breath. “Mr. Cortini, I have to tell Al’s children. I don’t know if there’s proof, I don’t know if there’s anything the police will do. But I have to tell.”

  I expected him to argue with me, to yell or shout. But he only wagged his head.

  “It was a long time ago. But he was a good man. He deserved more.”

  ***

  “SO THAT WAS it. In the end, Al had done everything right, and that’s what killed him.”

  I sat on the porch in my rocking chair, with Lucas on the step. It was Florida-chilly, meaning that the windows were open and the wind had picked up. I had a blanket around my shoulders.

  “Yes, that pretty much sums it up. I told Dena the whole story, and they’re turning everything over to the police. If Antonia doesn’t confess, I’m not sure they have enough evidence to bring her to trial. Eddie won’t testify. Lucinda has no clue about it, and she wouldn’t say anything against her own daughter, either. Antonia’s a lawyer who’s rumored to be up for a seat on the district court soon. Who’s going to believe she shot some old man down in Florida?”