Jalapeno Pizza Murder Read online

  Jalapeno Pizza Murder

  The Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series Book 30

  Patti Benning

  Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Copyright 2019 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.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  Also by Patti Benning

  Author’s Note

  Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Chapter One

  Papa Pacelli’s pizzeria wasn’t the only restaurant in Kittiport with its Christmas lights still up, but it was the only one with a gigantic inflatable pizza topped with a Santa hat next to its front doors. Eleanora Ward, the restaurant’s owner, and been putting off taking down the decorations, mainly because the enormous pizza out front had brought in more customers than she cared to count. A smaller part of her was just happy to put off spending the hours outside, bundled up against the cold while her fingers froze as she took down lights.

  The new year had ushered in a snowstorm that had covered northern Maine in over two feet of snow, knocking out power to half the town, and giving the snow plow drivers more work than they could handle. The temperatures were still well below freezing, so even though the storm had blown over more than a week ago, there were still snowdrifts taller than Ellie was along the roads and in parking lots.

  All in all, it had been a relatively normal Maine winter, and the pizzeria owner wasn’t complaining. She had chosen to live there, after all, and there was breathtaking beauty in the wilderness and unmarked snow outside of town. The holidays had been great for the pizzeria, and the continuing cold brought in droves of people who wanted an escape from the weather and something warm to fill their bellies. Still, part of her envied her grandmother, who was currently living in a condo on Florida’s coast, near the bustling city of Miami.

  She was thinking of palm trees and sunshine when the pizzeria’s front door opened, letting in a gust of cold air, along with the town’s sheriff. Russell Ward pushed the door shut behind him and stomped his boots off on the mat in front of the door before making his way to the counter.

  “I didn’t know you were going to stop in,” Ellie said, leaning across the counter to give her husband a peck on the lips. “You should have called. I would have gotten your slices ready for you.”

  “I was going to grab lunch with Liam, but he got dispatched to the scene of a minor car crash between here and Benton Harbor. I was about a block away from here when he called to let me know, so I decided to swing in and surprise you,” he said.

  “Well, it’s a nice surprise. Do you want to come into the kitchen? It’s about time for Iris and me to switch out anyway. You can grab a slice, and I’ll pour us coffee.”

  “Sure. I need to talk to you about something, anyway.”

  Ellie raised an eyebrow. Her husband didn’t look concerned, so it probably wasn’t about anything bad, but being married to a law enforcement officer had taught her that nothing was ever certain.

  “All right. Come on, I’ll go get Iris.”

  Russell walked around the counter and followed her into the kitchen, where a young woman with brightly colored red and green hair was taking a pizza out of the oven. Iris glanced up when they came in, and called out a quick greeting as she put the pizza down on the cooling rack on the counter and shut the oven.

  “Would you mind watching the counter for a bit?” Ellie asked her. “I’m going to have lunch with my husband. I’ll take care of the orders.”

  “Sure,” the young woman said. “It’s nice to see you, Mr. Ward.”

  “You too, Iris.”

  They waited until the younger woman had washed her hands, taken off her apron, and slipped through the door that led to the dining area, then Ellie bustled over to the warming rack where they kept pizzas that they served hot, by the slice.

  “What do you want?” she asked her husband. “We’ve got pepperoni and cheese pizzas, as usual, and the week’s special; spicy shrimp Alfredo on a thin crust.”

  “I’ll have a couple slices of the special,” Russell said. “That sounds perfect for a chilly day like this.”

  Ellie put two slices of the spicy shrimp Alfredo pizza on a plate for her husband, then after a moment’s hesitation, got herself a slice as well. She had already grabbed a slice not too long ago and knew she needed to watch her figure — the holidays hadn’t helped in that aspect at all — but the temptation to sit down with the man she loved and enjoy a hot slice of pizza was too great to resist.

  While she got the food ready, her husband had poured them both glasses of water. She set the plates down, then boxed up the pizza Iris had taken out of the oven and put it in a thermal bag for Jacob to take out when he got back from his current delivery. At last, she was free to enjoy the moment with her husband.

  They both dug in without saying anything for a few moments. At last, Russell put his slice down and wiped his mouth, taking a sip of water before saying, “So, how would you feel about having a house guest next week?”

  Ellie didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t that. She raised her eyebrows and looked up at her husband.

  “Who would be staying with us?” His parents had come to visit over the holiday, so she doubted it was them, however she wasn’t sure who else it could be.

  “A cousin of mine, Bea Cox. She’s a few years older than me, and graduated from high school here. She used to babysit me when I was younger. She emailed James and me this morning. Last time she came to stay, she stayed with James and Shannon, but apparently Shannon vetoed that because of the baby. Bea can be… exuberant, so I can understand them not wanting to host her for a week. The poor kid would never be able to sleep.”

  Ellie drummed her fingers on the table, looking at her husband in amusement. “She’d be staying for a week? Would we get any sleep? Just how ‘exuberant’ is she?”

  “She’s not that bad…” Russel trailed off. “Last time she visited, like I said, she stayed with James and Shannon, and according to him, she usually got in at about two in the morning, woke up around seven, played music while she made breakfast in the morning and when she showered at night, and on the nights she didn’t go out, she had friends over. She’s used to living alone, and I don’t think she really has an idea of how her actions affect people. I’m sure if we asked her to keep it down, she would make an effort at least. She’s a nice woman, don’t get me wrong. I think you’d like her.”

  “If you want her to come stay with us, I’m fine with it,” she said after a moment. “I can’t say I’m thrilled that we’re going to have an unexpected house guest who I’ve never met stay for a week, but I trust your judgment, and I’m always happy to meet more of your family. Plus, you lived with my grandmother for six months.” She grinned. “I think I owe you.”

  He laughed. “You know I love Nonna. But thanks, Ellie. I promise, this will be fun. Bea is great. I know she’s my cousin, but she always felt more like th
e fun aunt. She only visits once every couple of years, so this won’t be a regular thing.”

  “I’ll have to remember to make sure the guest bedroom is made up,” Ellie said. “And you should text me a list of what she likes to eat. I’ll go grocery shopping this weekend.”

  “Thank you.” He leaned over the small table they were sitting at and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m going to see if I can take a day or two off of work while she’s with us. I can’t wait for her to meet you. We should get together with Shannon and James while she’s here and go do something fun as a family.”

  She smiled. “I’d like that.” My family keeps growing, she thought. I never thought I’d have so many people to care about. Moving to Kittiport was the best decision I’ve ever made.

  Chapter Two

  Ellie juggled work and house cleaning in preparation for their guest, and time seemed to fly by. Before she knew it, it was Sunday evening and Russell had left for Portland, to pick his cousin up at the airport. There was a roast in the oven, a pecan pie cooling on the counter, and a bottle of champagne ready to be opened in the fridge.

  Taking a final look around the kitchen, Ellie untied her apron and hung it in the pantry, feeling pleasantly tired. She had completed everything on her to-do list and then some, and the feeling of having nothing left on her plate was a good one. She had a precious couple of hours before Russell and Bea arrived, and she planned on using those for some much needed self-care.

  She wasn’t nervous about meeting Bea, not exactly, but as she got out of the shower and started drying and styling her hair, she felt a rush of butterflies. Even after all this time, she still occasionally felt like an outsider, both in Kittiport and in the Ward family. Her own family had never been close. Her father had been a deadbeat, and her mother had moved them out of Kittiport all the way to Chicago when she was still a teenager. There, she had been left mostly to her own devices while her single mother worked.

  Family, for her, had been pretty much non-existent for much of her life, and she still had moments where she felt like an intruder in her own life; silly moments of self-doubt that popped up as she wondered if she was doing it right, and even sillier fears that if her husband’s family didn’t like her, then he might stop liking her too. Meeting Russell’s parents had been stressful, and the thought of meeting Bea definitely couldn’t compare to that, but it was obvious how much he liked his cousin. If she and Bea didn’t hit it off, she knew that he would be disappointed, even if he didn’t say anything.

  So she took special care as she did her hair and makeup, and she dressed in her favorite wine-red sweater dress with a new pair of black leggings on underneath and a spritz of the perfume Russell had gotten her for Christmas. When she was done, she took a final walk through the house, making sure that everything was all set. She stopped by Marlowe’s cage, which she had cleaned earlier that day, and gave the green wing macaw an almond.

  “Be good when Bea gets here, okay?” she murmured to the bird in a low voice. “I know you don’t like strangers, but no screaming, all right? She’s family too.”

  Her next stop was the guest bedroom. She had washed the linens earlier that week, and the bed was freshly made up. There was an empty chest of drawers, a very realistic fake lily on the nightstand, and a gorgeous antique lamp she had found at one of the antique shops in town. She and Russell had had a lot of fun furnishing their new house, and she loved knowing that everything in it was theirs. It was different from renting furnished apartments, which she had done in the past, or even from living with her grandmother and using the older woman’s furniture. Even though they hadn’t bought the most expensive items in the world, there was a certain pride in knowing that every single thing in the house was something either she or her husband had chosen.

  Satisfied that Bea’s room was ready, she then went to check on the dogs, who were both currently behind a baby gate in the room she was using as a mix of office and library. She smiled when she saw Sawyer, the rowdy black lab, and Bunny, her loyal papillon, curled up together in the larger of the two dog beds. They, unlike Marlowe, would be thrilled to have a visitor, but she wanted to give Bea a chance to settle in before letting the dogs loose. Russell had assured her his cousin liked animals, but Sawyer especially could be a bit overwhelming. He was still young and sometimes forgot his manners.

  Everything’s perfect, she told herself. I’ve checked the house ten times by now, at least. It’s time to relax. Taking a deep breath, she tried to follow her own advice, making her way to the living room and picking up the book she was in the middle of reading, tucking herself under the gorgeous afghan that Shannon had given her for Christmas.

  The familiar sound of her husband’s truck pulling into the driveway tore her away from the novel a short while later. She put the book down and rose from the couch, smoothing out her sweater dress before making her way to the front door. She heard the sound of the car doors closing, and mentally counted a couple of seconds before opening the door, greeting her husband and his cousin with a smile.

  She could tell right away that Bea was the sort of person she would describe as bubbly. She had shoulder length, dark brown hair, colorful eye makeup, bright green eyes that had to have been contacts, and was wearing a tan suede coat. Her clothes and makeup made her look younger than she actually was, and Ellie guessed that she probably dyed her hair to cover up any grey strands, since she was older than both her and Russell.

  “Hi!” the other woman exclaimed. “You must be Ellie. Russell has told me so much about you. I was so happy when I heard he remarried. I wanted to go to your wedding, but I had to be in France for business. Come here!”

  Bea pulled Ellie into a tight hug, giving her an extra squeeze before letting her go. The pizzeria owner laughed.

  “It’s nice to meet you too. Russell speaks highly of you. Come on in. I can take your bag for you; your room’s on the first floor, down the hall.”

  A few minutes later, after a flurry of activity while Bea and Russell stomped the snow off their boots, put away their outerwear, and Ellie put Bea’s bags in her room, the three of them met in the kitchen where Russell poured three cups of coffee.

  “Dinner smells great,” Bea said. “I bet you cook a lot. You own a pizzeria, right?”

  “I do,” Ellie said, smiling. “But we won’t be having pizza tonight. I made a pot roast.”

  “It smells heavenly. I can’t wait to eat.” She accepted her coffee from Russell and sat down on one of the stools at the island, looking eagerly around the kitchen. “I love your new house, Russ. It’s got so much more space than the old one. It would be perfect for hosting a party. You know what? We should have a dinner party while I’m here! We could invite James and Shannon, and some of my old friends, and everyone could catch up. It would be great. You’d love Georgie and Daphne. Georgie’s a janitor, but she used to be a wedding planner. A friend gave her the janitor job when the business she worked for closed down. She’s really smart and funny, and Daphne’s husband works for a lab. He always had such neat stories to tell.”

  Russell met Ellie’s eyes, a silent question in his gaze. She shrugged, grinning at him. Bea talked a mile a minute, and was just as exuberant as he had warned, but she already liked the other woman.

  “If you’ll help me cook and get the house ready, I don’t mind having a dinner party. It will put the dining room to good use. Russell and I usually just eat in the kitchen, since it’s only the two of us.”

  Bea’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “This is going to be so much fun. Thank you for letting me stay with you. I love New York, but sometimes I miss Kittiport. I only lived here for a couple of years, while I was in high school, but it really feels like home, you know?”

  “I do,” Ellie said. “I lived here when I was younger as well, and it was great to move back. What year did you graduate from high school? We might have passed each other in the halls.”

  “Oh, I doubt it. I graduated two years before Russ here started high
school. I used to watch him when he was a kid.” She chuckled. “And I can tell you, he was a troublemaker when he was five. I never would have guessed he’d grow up to be a cop.”

  “I want lots of stories,” Ellie replied, grinning.

  “Well, there was this one time he decided to make cookies for his mom and —”

  “Okay, okay, that’s enough you two,” Russell interrupted. “At least wait until I’m out of the room before you embarrass me, Bea. You’re lucky Ellie’s stuck with me, or I’d ban you from the house altogether.”

  All three of them laughed. Ellie felt herself relaxing for the first time that day. Russell had been right; she did like Bea. For the first time since her husband had asked if she could stay with them, she was beginning to look forward to the coming week. It would be fun to host a dinner party in their new house, and getting to know Bea seemed like it would be an adventure of its own.