The door opened a crack and then opened wider. Dernice appeared. “Zu?”
The woman smacked her gum, a wide grin on her face. “Surprise.”
“What are you doing here?” Dernice frowned.
“Ma said she was concerned about you. She says you’re overwhelmed running the businesses. I offered to come down here to give you a hand until she comes back.”
“Overwhelmed? Your mother cleaned out a bank account and left town. To top it all off, I found out she started a new business.” Dernice pursed her lips. “I thought you and your mother had a falling out.”
Zulilly jabbed her finger in Carlita’s direction. “That’s what she said. Last time I saw Mom, she said something about taking care of a personal matter.”
“I thought she was depressed after seeing you.”
“You thought wrong. In fact, we talked yesterday, which is why I’m here.”
Dernice’s voice grew hard. “You wasted your time driving down here. I’ve already hired someone to help me.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Dernice stepped out of the building and closed the door behind her. “You can head right on home. Call your mother – who, by the way, hasn’t returned my last two phone calls and tell her I don’t need help.”
“No can do.” Zulilly crossed her arms. “I promised I would stay here until she gets back.”
There were a few tense moments as the women stared each other down. Zulilly reminded Carlita of her mother. She was a chip off the old block.
Finally, Dernice backed down. At least Carlita thought she was backing down. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let you in IF you get your mother on the phone.”
For the first time since Carlita had met her, Zulilly’s confident demeanor faded. “I’m calling Mom later.”
“You’re calling her now. I want to talk to her.” Dernice adjusted her stance, blocking the doorway.
“She’s not gonna like this.”
“I don’t care,” Dernice sing-songed.
Zulilly reluctantly reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone as she shot Carlita a puzzled glance. “Why are you still here?”
“Because I can’t wait to see what happens.”
“Carlita stays. She’s my witness,” Dernice said.
The young woman tapped the screen and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hey, Mom. It’s me…Zu. I’m here. Auntie D isn’t letting me in the apartment until she talks to you.” There was a moment of silence. “I’m not kidding. She’s blocking the door. There’s someone else here too. It’s your neighbor.” Zulilly rolled her eyes and handed the phone to Dernice, who promptly put the call on speaker.
“Why is Zulilly here, and what’s this personal matter you’re handling?”
“I can’t discuss it right now.” Elvira sounded distracted. “Zu was nice enough to offer to come down and help you. Don’t give her a hard time.”
Dernice cut her off. “I don’t need her help. I hired someone to help me.”
“Who?” Elvira demanded.
“Why should you care?”
“Because it’s my business.”
Dernice unloaded on her sister, ranting about her leaving town, how she was worried about her safety, how she left them in a bind after cleaning out a bank account. “And now someone is targeting the businesses.”
“What do you mean, targeting the businesses?”
“If you had answered my calls, you would already know. I think someone has been messing around. I’m almost certain of it, although they haven’t taken anything. And what’s this about you buying a property in Tybee?”
There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the line. “How do you know about the property?”
“Because the deed came in the mail, and I opened it.”
“Certified mail?” Elvira asked. “I told you not to sign for anything certified.”
“It wasn’t certified.”
It was quiet again on the other end, and Carlita thought Elvira had hung up. “You said someone’s been messing around. Is it possible it has something to do with the Garlucci family connections?”
Carlita’s blood pressure shot up. “This has nothing to do with me,” she snapped.
“Maybe they were trying to rob the pawn shop and picked the wrong business,” Elvira said.
“I don’t think so.” Carlita resisted the urge to yank the phone from Dernice’s hand. Instead, she forced her voice to remain even. “You’ve left your sister hanging while you gallivant around the countryside doing who knows what.”
“This doesn’t involve you,” Elvira said coolly.
“It does involve me when someone is breaking into businesses in my backyard.”
“Take me off the speaker. I want to talk to Dernice privately.”
Dernice tapped the screen and turned so that her back was to Zulilly and Carlita. “I already told you. Someone broke in. They didn’t steal anything. There was also a minor propane tank explosion, but I’m fixing the damages.”
There was a pause.
“I’m taking care of it,” Dernice said. “What’s up with starting a new business and not even mentioning it to me?”
“Why? Fine. She can stay, but if she starts causing trouble, she’s out of here. Good-bye.” Dernice handed the phone back to Zulilly as she stepped aside. “You can come in now.”
Zulilly smiled smugly as she squeezed past her aunt.
Dernice started to follow, and Carlita stopped her. “Wait. What did Elvira say?”
“She…uh. She said she’ll be coming home in a few days. She said the Tybee property was an impulse purchase, and she’s going to be selling it soon.”
“You didn’t mention the car that forced us off the road.”
“No. I was so mad, I forgot.” Dernice wagged her finger. “Elvira is hiding something. There’s a reason Zulilly is here, and it has nothing to do with helping me.”
“Now that Elvira’s daughter is here to help, do you still want to hire Luigi?”
“I do.” Dernice nodded. “I think I’m going to need him now more than ever.”
Chapter 7
Carlita and Rambo circled several blocks before making their way back to
