“I know, Son. I believe you. I’m not sure if I asked you this already, but while you were standing there, did the servers come around and ask you if you wanted an appetizer or a drink?”
“Yeah. They came around a bunch of times, offering food and champagne, especially the one with the tray of food. I figured she knew I was the owner’s son and was trying to make a good impression.”
“Did you eat the food?”
“No.”
“I know this is an odd question, but do you remember if Megan Burelli ate the food?”
“Yeah. In fact, she told the server she would take my share of the chicken parmesan sticks. She ate them and seemed fine.”
“But she ate them, and you didn’t.”
“Yep.”
“That’s helpful. I have another question. Do you think Megan Burelli resembles Brittney…from a distance or at a glance?”
There was a long pause. “I guess so. Don’t tell Brit I said that, but yeah, I could see a resemblance.” Vinnie cleared his throat. “You think someone was working on the inside, trying to poison Brit or me?”
“That’s exactly what I think. I have other information, which leads me to believe that may have been the case. Vinnie, no one else got sick or poisoned by the food, just Megan, who you admitted resembles Brittney.”
“You think Vito’s inside info was correct. Esposito’s people followed us to Savannah and infiltrated your work staff. They poisoned some of the food, and then tried to serve it to Brit and me? I don’t think Louie’s guys are that smart.”
“They may be smarter than you think. I barely know the restaurant employees. On top of that, Vito sent his men to protect you. He must’ve believed there was a credible threat. It would almost have to be an inside job.”
There was a muffled noise on the other end. “I hear you, Ma. Brit’s done shopping. We can talk about this later.”
“Be careful,” Carlita warned. “You both may still be in danger.”
“Right.” Vinnie thanked his mother for her concern, and hung up the phone, promising they would be by later for dinner.
While Carlita talked, Mercedes printed off a screenshot of the two servers in the courtyard.
“Perfect.” Carlita plucked the copy from the printer. “It’s a little grainy, but I think you can make out enough of their features to identify them. Now all I have to do is show this to Pete to see if we have a match.”
By the time they finished reviewing the employee records, it was time to head down to the trolley to meet Reese. “We better hurry or we’re gonna be late.”
Mercedes joined her mother at the door. “Do you have the print off of the two servers in the courtyard?”
“Right here.” Carlita patted her purse. “We better get a move on or we’re gonna miss the Big Peach.”
Mercedes pulled the apartment door shut. “Good.”
“Huh?”
“Sam finally shut his door.” Mercedes nodded toward the end unit. “Maybe my calling him out did the trick, and he’ll stop spying on us.”
“Sam is not spying on us.” Carlita rolled her eyes. “Or maybe he’s spying on you. He’s a real catch.”
“Yuck,” Mercedes snorted. “Then I hope someone else does the catching.”
The women reached the trolley stop, moments before the Big Peach rounded the corner.
Reese tooted the horn and rolled to a stop. “Whew. What a crazy day. The Peach’s lights went on the fritz again. I swear they’re keeping tune to my CD player. Check this out.”
She adjusted the volume, and Jingle Bells began to play, the trolley’s interior lights keeping tune with the song. “See?”
“Christmas music in the middle of summer? Maybe there’s a short.” Carlita settled into her usual seat, directly behind Reese.
Mercedes took the seat opposite her mother. “I think it’s cool. You should leave it that way.”
“The riders seem to like it.” Reese waited while more passengers hurried across the street, and boarded the trolley. They made their way to the back, leaving Carlita and Mercedes alone with Reese.
“I have some good news, and interesting developments,” Carlita said.
“Pertaining to our investigation?” Reese asked.
“Yes. We might be onto something.”
“I have some news too. Unfortunately, it’s not good.”
Chapter 17
“You were able to get your hands on the mysterious handbag, and it was empty,” Carlita guessed.
“No. I’m good, but not that good,” Reese said. “There’s no video footage of the couple in question. I checked on my break.”
“Crud. So that shoots down one of my ideas to link the mysterious trolley riders to possible restaurant workers.”
“We need to go over our plan to convince Buzz to let us have a lookie inside the mysterious handbag,” Reese said. “He may ask you to describe it. Buzz is kinda funny about the lost and found stuff.”
Mercedes wrinkled her nose. “I see a big problem with that…we don’t know anything about the handbag.”
“You’re wrong. Jim described it to me. It’s small, gray and it has girlie stuff inside.”
“What kind of girlie stuff?” Carlita asked.
“Well…that’s where it gets a little tricky. When I asked Jim to elaborate on the contents, the only thing he could tell me is that it was small and gray and he thinks there was a bottle of hand sanitizer.”
“Hand sanitizer,” Mercedes repeated. “I think I can handle this.”
“Better you than me,” Carlita muttered.
“We’re here.”
Carlita and Mercedes waited near the front entrance while Reese drove the trolley around back to the parking garage. She joined them a short time later. “You ready for this?”
Mercedes sucked in a breath and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
They followed Reese through the reception area and down a narrow hall, stopping in front of an open door. “Hey, Buzz.”
“Reese. C’mon in,” a gruff voice echoed out.
Carlita followed Reese into the office,
