Lobster Pizza Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 22) Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  LOBSTER 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

  EPILOGUE

  Lobster

  Pizza

  Murder

  Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  Book Twenty-Two

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2018 Summer Prescott Books

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  **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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  LOBSTER PIZZA

  MURDER

  Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  Book Twenty-Two

  CHAPTER ONE

  *

  Eleanora Pacelli moved to the side, giving her laptop’s webcam a clear view through the window in the study. The yard outside was covered in a deep layer of snow, and flurries were falling from the gray sky. The limbs of the tall pine tree out front were bowed with the weight of the snow.

  “I never thought I’d say this, but I think I miss the snow.” Her grandmother’s voice was slightly tinny over the computer’s speakers, but Ellie could hear the wistfulness in her tone.

  “Trust me,” Ellie said, rolling her chair over so she was in front of the laptop again. “You don’t. It’s pretty for the first few weeks, but by now it’s just miserable. I’m always cold, and slush gets tracked in everywhere. The salt hurts Bunny’s paws, so we haven’t taken a real walk in weeks. I can’t wait for spring. I’m so envious of you. It looks beautiful there.”

  “We had that cold snap a couple of weeks ago, but other than that it certainly has been nice.”

  Ellie’s grandmother had moved to Florida in October to start a six-month lease on a condo in a retirement community near Miami. She would be coming back for the summer in April, and would also be visiting for the week preceding Ellie’s wedding to Kittiport’s sheriff; Russell Ward. This upcoming visit was the reason for their video call that afternoon, but as usual, the two women had gotten sidetracked.

  “Hopefully I’ll be able to visit more next winter. I could use a week or two of sun and palm trees.”

  “Come visit me for a week in April before I come back,” Nonna offered. “Take a vacation. You’ve earned one.”

  “I’d like to. I’ll have to see how things are going at the pizzeria up here. And, of course, I’ll have to talk to Russell about it.”

  “Of course he’s invited too, but I know how hard it will be for him to get away from town. I’ll understand if you don’t want to go away without your new husband.”

  “Oh, yeah, we were supposed to be talking about the wedding. I want to schedule your flight soon. Do you know yet what day you want to come out?”

  “How about Monday? It really depends on when is the best time for you, dear. I know you’ll be busy that week. If another day would be better, just let me know.”

  “Monday is fine. It will be nice to see you again. How have you been since Darlene left? I feel bad thinking about you being all alone down there.”

  “I’m surrounded by friends. Don’t worry about me. I’m just hoping she’ll be all right. The poor girl has been through a lot.”

  Ellie’s cousin, Darlene, had left her husband after she discovered his infidelity. Not long after she left, he had been murdered. To make matters worse, she had been one of the suspects in his case. She’d spent the past month in Florida recovering from the double emotional hit, and had only recently left for home, where she would begin trying to pick up the pieces of her life and make a plan for the future.

  “I think she’ll be okay,” Ellie said. “She’s a strong woman, and she knows that she can always come to one of us if she needs help.”

  “I hope so.” Her grandmother sighed. Ellie was still struck by how different she looked after spending the past few months under the Florida sun. She was tanner than Ellie had ever seen her, and seemed to smile easier than before, even when she was worried about her other granddaughter. Florida had been good for her.

  “I can’t wait to see you. I’m so glad you’ll be here to help me get ready for the wedding. I’m already starting to get butterflies.”

  “Do you know yet when your mother will be coming?”

  “No,” Ellie said. “I didn’t ask her to come early. As far as I know, she’ll just be there for the ceremony.”

  Her relationship with her mother was tense, but had begun to improve. She was glad that the woman who had birthed her and raised her would be there for her wedding to Russell, but the person who would be her most important fountain of emotional support was looking at her from her laptop’s screen.

  “I’m glad she’ll be there.” Nonna smiled at her. “I’m so happy for you. You are marrying a wonderful man, and you’ve really blossomed while running the pizzerias. I can’t wait for my visit, but I’ll let you get going now. It’s almost lunch time, and I’m supposed to meet one of my friends soon. Take care, all right, sweetie?”

  “You too, Nonna. I love you. I’ll buy your ticket today, and I’ll let you know the time of the flight once it’s settled.”

  She blew her grandmother a kiss, then ended the video call. It was hard to believe that the older woman still had another three months on her lease. Ellie felt as if Nonna had already been gone for a year. It still felt odd sometimes to come home to an empty house late in the evening after work.

  Of course, after the wedding, she and Russell would begin living together. She still wasn’t sure what they would do long term. Would they be happy living with her grandmother during the summer months, or would it be better for their marriage if they bought their own home together? It was a quandary that had kept her up late many nights. Th
e only real solution she had come up with was to wait and see how things went.

  A jingling from the floor made her look down. Her black and white papillon, Bunny, was scratching an itch behind her ear. The little dog had been curled up in her bed next to the large desk while Ellie was on the video call. It was a Sunday, which for Ellie, meant a day off from the usual routine of work. There was no question that she enjoyed her job, but it was still nice to have a couple of days off every week.

  “Well, Bunny, that’s the last thing I had to do today. What shall we do for fun?”

  The dog stopped scratching and looked up at her, her tail whipping back and forth. Ellie bent over to pet her. If the temperature had been less extreme, she might have put a sweater on the dog and ventured into the state park for a walk on the trails, but it was cold enough out that she knew she would simply end up carrying Bunny most of the way.

  Seeing Russell wasn’t an option; he would be out of town at a conference until late Wednesday evening. She already had lunch plans with her best friend, Shannon, the next day, and didn’t feel like going into town for anything anyway. It was an odd feeling to have zero commitments, and she realized that she wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself for the rest of the day.

  “I guess I could finally start figuring out what color I want to paint the upstairs,” she said to herself. She had gotten paint swatches from the local hardware store weeks ago, but hadn’t gotten around to going through them yet. She was running out of time if she wanted to have the upstairs rooms renovated by the time Russell moved in. With a full bathroom and a couple of spare rooms, it would be much like having their own apartment.

  She stood up, and, as if she had been waiting for that signal, Bunny took off running toward the study door. The little dog scratched at it and barked. When Ellie opened it, she dashed through and made a beeline for the front door.

  “Do you have to go outside?”

  Bunny’s high-pitched yap was all the answer she needed. Ellie slipped on the overly large pair of winter boots she kept by the door and opened it up, letting the dog go out first and then following her. The sunlight reflected off the snow, making her squint as she watched the dog sniff along the edge of the shoveled-out walkway. Ellie wrapped her arms around herself, glad that she was wearing a sweater.

  “Hurry up,” she said. “It’s cold out here.”

  Bunny picked her head up, her large ears pricked. She wasn’t looking at Ellie; her attention was focused down the road. Ellie frowned; now that she was paying attention, she could hear it too; faint honking, coming closer.

  The honking got louder, and suddenly, a dark gray car came flying around the corner. Ellie barely had time to register what was about to happen when the car slammed full speed into the large pine tree in her front yard.

  The car’s engine gave one last choke, then died. There was a moment of stunned silence, then Bunny took off barking toward the wreck.

  CHAPTER TWO

  *

  Ellie ran after the dog, heart racing as her brain struggled to process what had just happened. The front of the car was crumpled, and the lower branches of the pine tree were broken. Needles littered the snow around the tree and car.

  She scooped up the dog halfway to the wreck and tucked her under her arm. Ellie could hear the car ticking as it began to rapidly cool down. Her heart was in her throat. Was it possible that someone had survived an accident like that?

  Making sure she had a secure grip on Bunny, she began to approach the car. She could see a form slouched over the steering wheel past the shattered windshield.

  “Are you okay?” she called out. It was a stupid question, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask if they were alive.

  No one answered. She took a few more steps toward the car, not sure if it was the right thing to do. Would the vehicle explode? Would it be better for her to run back inside and call the police? She didn’t know much beyond basic first aid, and she doubted she would be able to help the person in the car by herself.

  She saw the form move, and her doubts vanished. Knowing that whoever was inside the vehicle was alive, she couldn’t just turn and go back into the house, even if it was to call the police.

  Ellie ran the rest of the distance to the car and bent down to peer in the window. A man was sitting in the driver’s seat, and Ellie could tell just from a glance that his injuries were serious. The steering wheel had been pushed back by the impact, and he had a bloody gash on his head. From what she could see, the airbag hadn’t deployed.

  “Oh, my goodness,” she breathed. At the sound of her voice, the man’s eyelids fluttered open.

  “Help,” he whispered. “Please…”

  “Hold on,” she said. “I need to go back to the house to get my phone. You need an ambulance.”

  “No… don’t leave. I need you —” He broke off, coughing.

  Ellie heard a shout from behind her. She turned to see her neighbor running across her lawn.

  “I saw the accident,” he shouted. “Do I need to call the cops?”

  “Call nine-one-one,” she shouted back. “He needs an ambulance.”

  She was relieved when her neighbor nodded, and she saw him pull a cell phone out of his pocket.

  “Help is on the way,” she said to the man in the car. “Can you tell me your name?”

  “Noah,” he said. “Noah Spencer.”

  “Okay, Noah. An ambulance will be here for you soon. You’ve had a terrible accident, but it will be okay.”

  “Not an accident,” he said, his voice not much more than a whisper.

  “What?” she leaned closer, Bunny grasped tightly in her arms.

  “Someone did this… tried to kill me…”

  Her eyes widened. “Who was it?”

  He opened his mouth, but no words came out. His breathing was getting more and more shallow.

  “Just hold on,” she said. “Help will be here soon.”

  “Take care… of Sawyer,” he managed to whisper. His eyes closed.

  “No,” Ellie said. She reached through the window and put her hand on his shoulder, but was afraid to shake him in case it hurt him more. “Open your eyes. Keep talking. You just need to hold on for a little while longer. Who’s Sawyer?”

  He didn’t answer. Ellie could no longer tell if he was breathing. She withdrew her hand and looked around behind her. Her neighbor was still on the phone. No one else was around. She didn’t know what to do. Should she try to open the door and get him out? Wasn’t it dangerous to move someone who might have spine or neck injuries? She just didn’t know, and couldn’t focus over the panic that was gradually tightening around her chest.

  She heard a small whimpering noise from the car. Whipping her head back around, she peered inside. The driver was still unresponsive. When she heard the noise again, she realized it was coming from the back seat. Her heart swooped. She hadn’t even thought to check the rest of the car. What if an injured child was back there? He said to take care of Sawyer, she thought. What if that’s his kid?

  She pressed her face against the window to the back seat. There were no car seats or booster seats that might indicate a young child had been in the vehicle, but she could see something moving around on the floor. Driven by concern, she reached for the handle and pulled, but the car was locked. Trying to keep her panic under control, she returned to the front window and reached through the broken glass. It took her a second, but she managed to find the door lock button. When she saw the locks move up, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  When she finally managed to get the back door open, it took her a moment to realize what she was seeing. It was a puppy; a black puppy, barely visible against the car’s dark floor. Bunny began to squirm even more, and Ellie knew she wouldn’t be able to hold both animals.

  “I’ll be right back,” she promised, though she didn’t know whether she was talking to the man or the dog.

  She shut the car door and ran back toward her house and opened the front door, dumping B
unny unceremoniously inside. After a moment’s thought, she grabbed a leash before closing the door and returning to the car, slipping and sliding in the snow in her hurry. Pulling the car door open for a second time, she carefully picked up the puppy. It was already much bigger than Bunny; she thought it was probably about three or four months old. It looked like a black lab, though she couldn’t be sure.

  “There, there,” she said as the puppy whimpered again. “It’s okay.”

  She could hear sirens in the distance. It wouldn’t be long until help was there. She could smell gasoline, and hoped that nothing caught fire. The man inside would be helpless; she had no idea how to get him out safely.

  The puppy squirmed. She clipped Bunny’s leash to its collar and put it on the ground, not sure what to do next. She heard footsteps in the snow behind her and turned to see her neighbor approaching.

  “Is the driver still alive?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “He was talking when I first got to the car, but I think he passed out.”

  “Was there anyone else in the car?”

  “Just the dog,” she said. She looked down at the puppy and noticed that it was holding one of its front paws up off the ground. Had it gotten hurt in the crash? “I think the car is leaking fuel. I don’t know if we should go near it.”

  “I have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. I’ll go grab it, just in case something does happen.”

  Ellie was left to stand alone near the car. The smell of gasoline was growing stronger by the second, but thankfully the sirens were drawing nearer. The little lab puppy, who she was guessing was the Sawyer the man had asked her to take care of, tugged on the leash and whined. He was shivering, so Ellie picked him up again even though he weighed much more than Bunny did.

  “It’s all right, little guy. The paramedics will take care of your owner, and we’ll find someone to take care of you too.”