“Hang on.” Mercedes stopped her. “Before we do, let’s empty the construction trash so we can call the city to come back and pick the rest of it up.”
After changing into old clothes, mother and daughter returned to the dumpster and climbed inside. It was a stinky job, separating the trash from the construction materials. Not only did they find more broken pieces of drywall and paint cans, but they also found strips of electrical wire and chunks of concrete.
“No wonder the city fined us. This is wrong, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it,” Carlita vowed.
The women finished picking through the dumpster and then headed inside the restaurant. Employees buzzed back and forth, and a few stopped to greet mother and daughter as they made their way to the small office area.
Carlita rarely used the restaurant’s computer, preferring to handle the bookkeeping and desk work at home where she could concentrate. She logged on and pulled up the surveillance camera app.
Since the surveillance looped every 24 hours, she started at the beginning, fast forwarding through several segments until she caught something. The first was a restaurant worker placing flattened cardboard boxes in the recycle bin. The worker returned with other items and tossed them into the dumpster.
It was tedious work, fast forwarding and then hitting the “play” button as they watched other employees use the bins.
Toward evening, the dawn to dusk lights flooded the alley, illuminating the dumpster and bins. Carlita could feel her mind wander as she continued watching.
“There.” Mercedes tapped her mother’s arm. “I think I saw something.”
Carlita rewound and then hit the slow motion mode. They watched as a man steered a wheelbarrow alongside the dumpster. With a furtive glance over his shoulder, he hurriedly began tossing the contents inside. As soon as the wheelbarrow was empty, he flipped the lid and scurried into the shadows.
She replayed it a second time. “Did you catch the direction he came from?”
“Yep. Sandy Sue’s Bar-B-Que.” Mercedes straightened her back. “Let’s see if the pawn shop’s cameras caught anything.”
The pawn shop was bustling for a Friday morning. Instead of bothering Carlita’s son, they made a beeline for the desk and computer.
Similar to what Ravello’s cameras had captured, a man wheeled a load of construction materials to their dumpster and dumped the contents inside before hurrying off.
Tony joined them. “What’re you doing?”
“Trying to figure out who dumped construction waste in our dumpster.” Carlita briefly explained what had happened and then told him about the notice from the city. “Mercedes and I took the stuff out. Now I’m gonna have to figure out what to do with it.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Tony curled his lip. “You smell that?”
“Smell what?” Carlita asked.
“Something rotten.”
Mercedes shoved her shirtsleeve in her brother’s face. “Is this it?”
“Gross.” Tony made a gagging sound. “You smell like you’ve been rolling around in a pigpen.”
“More like rotting vegetable scraps.”
“It’s disgusting.” Tony changed the subject. “Have you talked to Elvira lately?”
“We just ran into her. She’s taking a look at her video surveillance. Since her cameras are set at a different angle, they may have picked up something else,” Carlita explained. “Why?”
“Has she told you about her surprise yet?” Tony grinned.
“No.” Carlita’s eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
“I can’t say.”
“Is it good or bad?”
Tony shifted his feet. “It depends on who you’re asking. Luigi stopped by here earlier and accidentally let the cat out of the bag.”
“Great. Now I really am worried.”
Before leaving the pawn shop, Tony promised to call the city to try to get them to drop the fine and also schedule a pickup.
It was a quick trip across the alley to Elvira’s back door. She didn’t answer, so the women walked around to the front. The building was not only her home, but it also housed her businesses…EC Security Services and EC Investigative Services.
Dernice greeted them as they stepped inside. “Hey, Carlita, Mercedes.”
“Good morning, Dernice.” Carlita gave her a brief rundown of their situation. “Is Elvira around? She promised to take a look at her surveillance camera recordings.”
“She’s in the back. I’ll go get her.” Dernice hurried out of the room, returning moments later with Elvira following close behind. “I almost gave up on you.”
“We decided to check out our cameras first,” Carlita said. “Someone with a wheelbarrow showed up after dark and dumped a bunch of construction trash.”
Elvira pinched the end of her nose. “One of you smells.”
“It’s me,” Mercedes said. “I got into some stinky stuff when me and Ma were dumpster diving.”
“You reek. Do you mind standing near the door?”
“Fine.” Mercedes rolled her eyes and made her way to the door.
“Thanks.” Elvira fanned her face. “I found something very interesting on my cameras, but first I want to show you my surprise. You’re gonna love it.”
“I’m not sure Carlita is going to be as thrilled as you…as we are,” Dernice warned.
Elvira shot her sister an annoyed look. “Why not?”
“Because we didn’t run it by her first.”
“This is a free country. Besides, we’re all tight. Like family,” Elvira said. “It’s gonna be awesome.”
A feeling of dread filled Carlita. Whenever Elvira mentioned being close and like family, it typically involved her butting into Carlita’s family affairs…events like weddings, holidays, any sort of celebration. “What is it?”
“This.” Elvira snatched a colorful folder off the desk and handed it to Carlita. The feeling of dread intensified when she glanced at the front.
Mercedes must’ve noticed it too. She forgot her promise to stand near the door and joined her mother, her eyes growing wide. “No way.”
Carlita flipped the folder open. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Chapter 2
“Aren’t you geeked?” Elvira beamed.
“I’m something, all right. Geeked isn’t even close to describing it.”
