“Luigi has an excellent track record at keeping people in line.”
“If you have time, why don’t you bring him by the pirate ship later?”
“That would be great,” Carlita said. “I think a security job would be right up Luigi’s alley.” She thanked Pete and promised to run it by her tenant.
Carlita ended the call. Her eyes drifted to the balcony doors where she had an unobstructed view of the back of Elvira’s apartment, reminding her she was curious and wanted to find out if Dernice had heard from her troublesome sister.
Carlita slid her phone in her pocket. She was halfway to the front door when Mercedes emerged from her room. “Hey, Ma. You heading out again?”
“I want to track down Dernice to see if she might be interested in hiring Luigi.”
“I need a break. I’ll go with you.” Mercedes pulled the door shut behind them and followed her mother down the stairs.
“I’m also wondering if she’s heard from Elvira.”
Elvira, Carlita’s former tenant, had recently become despondent. Despite their best attempts, Dernice and Carlita had been unable to pull her out of her funk. Without warning, she had left town.
The women rounded the corner, nearly colliding with a police officer who stood blocking EC Investigative Services’ entrance.
Chapter 2
A red-faced Dernice was standing in front of the building, motioning wildly, as she spoke to one of the officers.
“Now what?” Carlita muttered under her breath as she and her daughter eased in behind them.
“This is a security company,” Dernice snapped. “Of course, I keep the doors locked when no one is here. I also have surveillance cameras, which aren’t catching anything.”
“There’s no sign of forced entry. My men and I searched the place. As far as we can tell, no crime has been committed.”
“I’m telling you, someone is messing around here,” Dernice insisted.
The officer shrugged helplessly. “There’s nothing I can do other than put in a request for some extra patrols.”
Dernice folded her arms, making a grunting sound as she watched the officers climb into the patrol car and drive off.
“What happened?” Carlita asked.
“This is the second time this week that I came back from a job and found the front door wide open. I know for a fact I locked it.” Dernice explained that the first time it happened, she thought she’d been in a hurry and had forgotten to shut it, but now that it had happened a second time, she was sure someone had been inside.
“They didn’t take anything?” Mercedes asked.
“Nope. That’s the weird part. I don’t get it.” Dernice placed both hands on her hips.
“Maybe it was Elvira,” Carlita suggested.
“I already thought about that. The surveillance cameras should’ve recorded her or whoever it was. Elvira must’ve gotten the things dirt cheap. They’re nothing but hunks of junk.”
“What about employees?” Mercedes shaded her eyes and studied the street. “Could it be an employee or ex-employee messing around?”
“I change the locks every time an employee is terminated or quits.” Dernice turned to Carlita. “Speaking of Elvira, she needs to get her butt back here. I’m swamped with holiday jobs.”
“As a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. You met Luigi, the man from…up north, my new tenant.”
“Yeah. Yeah. We’ve chatted a couple of times in the parking lot. He seems like a nice enough guy.”
“Luigi has been helping us at the restaurant and the pawn shop, but I’m not sure either place is a good fit for him.” Carlita clasped her hands. “I thought EC Security Services might want to consider hiring him. He has experience in security detail as a bodyguard for my daughter-in-law and her family.”
Dernice brightened. “Hiring someone who has experience would be awesome.” Her smile quickly faded. “Elvira mentioned family ties from up north. He’s not gonna start shootin’ people or shaking them down, is he?”
“I…” Carlita needed to choose her words carefully, yet be completely honest with Dernice. The last thing she wanted was to cause the woman additional grief. “All I can tell you is he’s trying to stay on the right side of the law.”
“Good enough for me. I might have a job for him by tomorrow. I could use it as a trial run to see how he works out before offering him full-time employment.”
“That’s a wise decision. I’ll have him stop by later.” Carlita changed the subject. “Any word from your sister?”
“I talk to her more now than when we were living under the same roof. Great.” Dernice’s eyes followed a mail delivery truck as it parked near the curb, and the driver got out.
The mailman joined them on the sidewalk, carrying a small stack of mail.
“Back again?” Dernice asked.
“I am. Are you going to sign for a certified letter today?”
“Maybe tomorrow. Unless you wanna give it to me without a signature.” Dernice leaned forward. “Is it the same one from yesterday, from the same law firm?”
“It is. I can’t give it to you until you sign.”
“What happens if I don’t sign?”
“After the third attempt, we return it to the sender.”
“Hang on.” Dernice ran into the building and came back, waving her phone. “Can I take a picture of it? I want to send it to my sister.”
The mailman paused for a moment and then shrugged. “Sure. No law says you can’t take a picture.”
Dernice snapped a picture of the envelope. “Come back tomorrow, and maybe I’ll take it.”
“Tomorrow will be my final delivery attempt.”
“Gotcha.” Dernice took the rest of the mail from him.
Carlita waited until he returned to his delivery truck. “What’s that all about?”
Dernice
