Thanksgiving Pizza Murder Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  THANKSGIVING PIZZA MURDER

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  Thanksgiving

  Pizza

  Murder

  Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  Book Nineteen

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2017 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

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  THANKSGIVING PIZZA

  MURDER

  Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  Book Nineteen

  CHAPTER ONE

  * * *

  The pizzeria’s doors were closed tightly against the pelting rain outside. The sound of the water droplets on the roof was soothing, and Eleanora Pacelli found herself yawning as she read the last few pages of her novel. The pizzeria’s phone rang, and Ellie put her novel down, only a few paragraphs from the end. It had been a slow day for eat-in customers, but the deliveries just kept rolling in. She took the order, then sent it back to the kitchen where Rose would put it in the oven. Once Jacob returned from the delivery he was currently on, he would load it up along with all the other orders and take it straight to the customer’s door.

  She finished her book and put it down with a sigh. She hadn’t brought another one with her, and the pizzeria didn’t close for hours. Pretty soon, she would go and switch places with Rose. The younger employee could at least entertain herself on her phone. Ellie usually asked them to keep their phones put away during their shifts, but she didn’t mind it if they used them on unusually slow days like this.

  Situated on the coast of northern Maine, Kittiport didn’t seem like the ideal town in which to open a business, but Papa Pacelli’s usually did pretty well. It had a steady base of loyal customers that slowly grew as the town expanded, and some days they were positively hopping.

  Still, even on good days, the restaurant never got anywhere near as crowded as the second pizzeria down in Florida did. Ellie had opened the other restaurant not long ago, and was already seeing a return on her investment. The Florida pizzeria was on the outskirts of Miami, and had a never-ending stream of tourists, locals, and visitors in town for business. The manager had already hired two new people, in addition to the two that had been there for the restaurant’s grand opening. Besides a few small road bumps, most of which involved them running low on one ingredient or another, things had been running smoothly, and Ellie couldn’t have been happier.

  The bell at the front of the store jingled, and Ellie jerked out of her stupor. It was her best friend, Shannon Ward. She was carrying an umbrella, but had still gotten soaked from the rain.

  “It’s terrible out there,” her friend said. “I don’t think I would be any wetter if I had fallen into the harbor.”

  “What are you doing out in this weather?” Ellie asked. “It must be impossible to see more than a few feet out there. You should be home.”

  “Ellie, I’m pregnant, not retired. I still have to go to work. I was just on my way back from the paper and thought I’d stop by. Maybe it will clear up a bit by the time I head out from here.”

  “I’m sorry, I just worry about you. Come on and sit down, I’ll join you. Do you want a slice of anything?”

  “Whatever you’ve got in the back would be great. I’m half starved. All I had for breakfast was some toast. Stupid morning sickness. I’m never hungry at the right times anymore.”

  Ellie brought out two slices of pizza and two glasses of ice cold water and joined her friend at the booth. Besides them, the dining area of the restaurant was empty.

  “It’s quiet in here,” Shannon commented. “It’s nice. Peaceful.”

  “It’s slow because of the rain,” Ellie said. “No one’s going to drive through this weather to pick up a pizza, not when they could have it delivered to them. I don’t blame them.”

  “Me either. It’s the perfect day for staying home.” Her friend covered up a yawn. “Which is what I plan on doing for the rest of the evening. I was going to do some grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, but it can wait.”

  At that moment, the door opened again, and a man came through. He didn’t have an umbrella, but wasn’t anywhere near as wet as Shannon was. Ellie got up to take his order.

  “Please tell me it isn’t always this miserable here,” he said.

  “Only during the fall,” she replied. “And the spring. Well, and winter, but then it’s snow and not rain.”

  He chuckled. “I guess I’ll get used to it.”

  “Are you new to town?” she asked.

  “I just moved here. I bought the building next door, in fact. I’m going to be opening up an ice cream parlor come spring.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Ellie said, beaming. “Do you need any help with renovations? I know a great contractor.”

  “I’ve actually already got someone helping me,” he said. “He’s only charging a fraction of what most people do.”

  Ellie thought that skimping wasn’t the thing to do when it came to building regulations, but she kept her mouth shut. If the pizzeria had a new neighbor, then she wanted to stay on good terms with him.

  “Adam Felt, by the way,” he said.

  Ellie shook his hand. He had a good grip, and looked a bit like Russell, though his eyes were a dark brown instead of grey.

  “Eleanora Pacelli,” she said. “But you can call me Ellie. Everyone does.”

  Once his order had been sent to the kitchen and he was settled at a table with a cup of soda, Ellie rejoined Shannon, where they picked up their conversation from where they had left off.

  “Isn’t it a bit early to start preparing food?” she
said. “We’ve still got a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.”

  “I’m planning on making some of the dishes early, and freezing them. It works well for casseroles and pies.”

  “Are you and James having a big dinner? I was going to invite the two of you to my house, I guess I should have mentioned it earlier.”

  “We’re going to my parents’ this year,” she said. “We figured that next year, with the baby, we’ll want to stay at home. I don’t want it to be too much work for my mom, though, so I told her I’d make the side dishes and dessert. What are you doing for the holiday?”

  “Russell and I are just going to have a quiet dinner together at my house,” she said. “With Nonna in Florida, and you and James going to your parents’, I don’t think there’s really anyone else we could invite, unless his parents don’t have plans.”

  “I’m not sure what they’re planning to do. James already told them we’d be out of town. I don’t know if they’ve spoken with Russell at all.”

  Ellie frowned. She liked Russell’s parents, and would be happy to have them over, but if they were planning on visiting Kittiport, she would prefer to know sooner rather than later.

  By the time the pizzeria closed that evening, it was pitch black outside and the rain was still pelting down. It was freezing, and Ellie wished that she had worn more than just a light waterproof jacket. If it was going to be this cold, she would prefer snow to rain. At least snow didn’t drench everything it touched. She knew it was going to be a battle just to get Bunny to go outside later that evening. She didn’t blame her; she wouldn’t want to go outside to potty in the middle of a rainy night either. Maybe she could find her dog’s winter sweater. It might help to keep her warm, even if it would get thoroughly soaked in a matter of minutes, it would be better than nothing.

  She got into her car and cranked the heat. It was at moments like these that she missed her grandmother the most. Just a few months ago, she would have gone home to a friendly smile, and something tasty baking in the oven or sitting on the counter. Now, the house would be empty other than for the animals. She was pretty sure that she had forgotten to turn on the lights beforehand, so she would be going home to a dark house. She had some leftovers in the fridge, and a box of pizza on the seat next to her, but it just wasn’t the same.

  As the car started to warm up inside, she pulled out of the pizzeria’s parking lot. She winced as the wheels spun on the pavement. It seemed as if the rain was beginning to freeze. Even though winter was more than a month away, Maine was already feeling its touch.

  CHAPTER TWO

  * * *

  By the next morning, the rain had stopped. The temperature had dropped well below freezing overnight, and the ground and trees were slick with ice. Ellie stood at the window in the office, wondering if her grandmother had had the right idea. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to get out of state for the winter. She could spend a couple of months down in Florida, helping to run the restaurant and enjoying the sunny beaches.

  Of course, it was just a fantasy. She couldn’t really leave, not with her fiancé here, and a wedding to plan.

  She saw a mail truck pull into the driveway and frowned; she hadn’t ordered any packages recently, except –

  “My dress,” she breathed.

  She hurried to the front door, just in time to meet the delivery man. He was carrying a long package, which he handed over to her. She signed for it and thanked him, apologizing for the icy steps. She would have to buy some salt next time she went into town.

  Once he had made it safely back to his truck, she took the package inside and laid it on the dining room table. Bunny followed her, standing on her hind legs to sniff at the box.

  “It’s not for you,” Ellie said, smiling.

  She grabbed a knife from the kitchen and cut the tape on the box, opening it to reveal her carefully packed wedding dress. The sight of it took her breath away. She had fallen in love with the dress the instant that she had seen it, and it seemed as if it had only grown more beautiful since she had left it with the tailor in Florida. Now to see if it fit her.

  Upstairs, she undressed and slipped into her wedding dress in front of the mirror. Gazing at herself, she smiled. It fit her perfectly. Don’t gain any weight before the wedding, she warned herself. Or lose any, for that matter. She stroked the front of the dress, unable to take her eyes off her image in the mirror. She looked like a different person… a happier person.

  Her first inclination was to call Russell and tell him, but she wanted the dress to be a surprise. She couldn’t wait to see his face when he saw her walking down the aisle in it. She knew that Shannon would want to see it, though. Maybe her friend would be able to come over later that evening, after the pizzeria closed, and Ellie could try it on again for her.

  Carefully, she took the dress off and hung it in her closet. She shut the door, then shooed Bunny out of the bedroom. She didn’t want to risk anything happening to the dress before the wedding.

  Even though she had resolved not to tell Russell about the dress, she still wanted to see him. Thinking about their upcoming wedding made her miss him, even though it had only been a couple of days since they had last had dinner together.

  She left for work early, giving herself time to stop and get coffee for both of them before she had to open the pizzeria. Her favorite coffee shop had been shut down a couple of months ago, so she was left getting coffee from the local diner. It wasn’t anywhere near as good, but they were happy to add extra caramel and whipped cream for her, and the result was at least better than the plain black coffee at the sheriff’s department.

  She was a frequent guest at the Kittiport Sheriff’s Department, and the secretary, Mrs. Lafferre, greeted her warmly.

  “Russell is in his office. Go on back, I will tell him you’re here.” She eyed the drinks in Ellie’s hand. “Do you have a pastry hidden in there somewhere?”

  “Sorry, I got these at the diner,” Ellie said. “Hopefully someone will move in the coffee shop soon. I miss it.”

  “Me too, though my doctor is happy that I’m not eating as many croissants and muffins as I used to.”

  Ellie let herself into the back of the sheriff’s department, heading toward her fiancé’s office. She knocked lightly on Russell’s door before pushing it open. He smiled at her and waved her in, then turned his attention back to the conversation he was having on the phone.

  She set the coffees on the desk and then waited silently as he finished up the conversation. After a minute, he hung up the phone.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “It was just someone concerned about their neighbor’s plans to deep-fry a turkey.”

  “Isn’t that kind of dangerous?”

  “Not if they know what they are doing,” he said. “We just ask that people do it outside. It’s more dangerous when they try to do in the home. No one has burned their house down yet, as far as I know.”

  “Well, I’ll be making mine the old-fashioned way – in the oven. Here, I got you a coffee from the diner.”

  “Thanks,” he said, reaching for it.

  “It’s awful outside. The roads are like sheets of ice.”

  “I know. Hopefully it will melt later today. A couple of power lines were knocked out in the south part of town, thanks to the ice on the trees. I hope this isn’t a sign of what the winter will be like. We could really use a mild season.”

  “It feels like winter, but it’s still fall. I hope we get another couple of warm days, I’m starting to get seriously jealous of my grandmother.”

  He grinned. “Florida is starting to sound pretty nice right about now, isn’t it? Do you want to try to fly down there for Christmas? I could probably get the time off, and I wouldn’t feel too guilty about leaving James and Shannon to visit with my parents, since they will be spending Thanksgiving with us.”

  “What?” she put on her coffee and stared at him. “They’re coming here for Thanksgiving?”

  “Yeah, didn’t I tell you la
st week?”

  She shook her head. “You must have forgotten. I’m sure I would remember if you had.”

  “I’m sorry. I hope it’s not too much trouble. Is it all right if they come over for Thanksgiving dinner at your house? I could have sworn I mentioned it, but I suppose it slipped my mind.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “I just wish I had known sooner. I was looking forward to a nice, quiet holiday with just the two of us. But I’m glad they’re coming. It will be nice for you, and I should probably get to know them better before we get married anyway.”

  “They’ll be staying for a week, so you will have plenty of time for that. I know my mother is looking forward to seeing you again.”

  “I’m glad she and I figured things out before she left last time. It will be nice to see your parents, Russell. I’m sorry, just a surprise. I wasn’t expecting it. I guess I’ve just been getting used to all the solitude, now that Nonna is in Florida.”