“It was Luigi. He thought I was an intruder and fired a warning shot in the parking lot, scaring Rambo and me half to death.” Carlita patted Rambo’s back. “Please take Rambo home. I’m going to have a chat with those two lugheads.”
Carlita waited until Mercedes and Rambo were back inside the apartment before marching across the alley. She found the men waiting for her near the back of the car.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Garlucci. We was patrolling the area and noticed some movement across the street. We followed it for a few minutes, and then we noticed someone moving around back here behind the vehicles. We didn’t stop to think it might be you and fired off a warning shot.”
“A warning shot that whizzed inches away from the top of my head,” Carlita fumed. “You can’t go shooting whenever and wherever you feel like it.”
“It won’t happen again,” Ricco promised.
“I hope not.” Carlita calmed. “As I mentioned earlier, Angelica, the downstairs tenant, is moving out in the morning. Once she’s gone, the two of you can move into her apartment for the duration of your stay.”
“Thank you,” Luigi said. “We don’t mind sleeping in the car.”
Carlita lifted a hand to cut him off. “I think we’ll all be safer if you’re inside instead of wandering around out here. In the meantime, please verify before firing shots. I know your orders are to protect Brittney no matter what, but shooting her mother-in-law is not something you should endeavor to do, even if she doesn’t like me.”
Ricco grinned. “That’s funny. Brittney likes you, almost as much as she loves herself.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. In the meantime,” Carlita pointed at the two of them, “no more gunfire tonight unless we’re under attack.”
“Understood,” Luigi said.
“I’m going home. It’s been a long day.”
Ricco fell into step with Carlita. “The guys over at Ravello’s gave us some food earlier.”
“I asked them to. I figured you might be hungry.”
They reached the back entrance, and Carlita grasped the knob. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Hey,” Ricco nodded toward Elvira’s building. “What’s the story on that place?”
“Elvira Cobb owns a security services and an investigative services company. She lives there with her sister, Dernice. They’re harmless for the most part. Why?”
“Just checkin’ to see who’s around. The one was actin’ weird.”
“I’m not surprised,” Carlita sighed. “Unfortunately, what’s weird to most people is normal behavior for them. Out of curiosity, what did they do?”
“Well, one of ‘em drove a Harley Classic out of the building and took off a coupla hours ago.”
“That’s Dernice, the owner’s sister,” Carlita explained.
“She wasn’t the one actin’ weird, although I don’t know too many biker chicks who park their Harleys inside. It was the other one. She’s got gray hair, shoulder length.”
“Elvira.”
“Elvira,” Ricco repeated. “She came out dressed in some crazy outfit and was mumbling to herself like maybe she was on somethin’.”
“Drugs?” Carlita had never heard of Elvira taking drugs, had never seen any indication of drug use.
“I dunno. We watched her walk to the back of the building. She was carrying a metal detector. When she got back there, she started digging a hole.”
“She’s convinced there’s buried treasure on her property.”
“For real?”
“For real. Rumor has it that during the Civil War, some of the Savannah property owners buried their valuables to keep them from being confiscated by invading army troops. Elvira dug up a few coins a while ago, and now it’s her new hobby…digging up her yard.”
“So she’s okay,” Ricco said.
“That’s debatable. Just don’t shoot her or her sister. They also have employees who come and go at all hours. Is that all?”
“Yeah. It’s the only couple of things that hit our radar.”
Carlita told Ricco good night after reminding him for the umpteenth time not to start shooting and returned inside. Back in the apartment, she turned the stove light on in case Brittney got up during the night, and she and Rambo turned in.
Despite being exhausted, it took a long time for Carlita to fall asleep. When she finally did, images of Elvira, Dernice, Luigi, Ricco and Angelica rotated around and around in her dreams.
She woke early, almost as exhausted as when she’d gone to bed and trudged to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Rambo’s first potty break of the day was uneventful. Luigi and Ricco’s sedan was empty, and Carlita had no idea where they’d gone.
A light drizzle fell as Rambo patrolled, but by the time they returned to the apartment, the drizzle had stopped. She poured a cup of strong coffee and headed to the balcony for her daily ritual of savoring the quiet of the early morning. She wiped the droplets of water off one of the chairs and sank into the lounger, her eyes drawn to Elvira’s building.
Dernice had said Elvira was ill, yet Ricco mentioned her carrying her metal detector to the backyard. Even more concerning, he’d specifically mentioned seeing her acting odd. Maybe even in her sick state, she was still driven to search for buried treasure.
She made a mental note to check on her later as Grayvie peered through the spindles. He sniffed the air and then jumped onto Carlita’s lap.
Carlita set her coffee cup on the small side table and placed her head against the backrest. She closed her eyes almost drifting off until the sound of a nearby garbage truck and the clank of a metal dumpster hitting the ground jolted her.
“We better head back inside.” Carlita stopped to refill her coffee cup and then settled in at her computer to check her emails.
At the top of the email list was a message and attachment Pirate Pete had sent her moments ago. He had forwarded her an updated copy of the Spooky Eats
