A CRISPY SLICE OF MURDER (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 21) Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  A CRISPY SLICE OF 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

  A Crispy Slice

  of

  Murder

  Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  Book Twenty-One

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2018 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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  A CRISPY SLICE OF

  MURDER

  Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  Book Twenty-One

  CHAPTER ONE

  * * *

  Eleanora Pacelli sprinkled a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese over her latest creation. The thin crust, onion and ham pizza was destined for a small family of three, along with the order of cheesy breadsticks that was already waiting under the warmer. With any luck, this pizza would be one of the last ones she made that day. It had been a long Monday. Earlier that morning, one of her employees had called in sick, and no one else had been available to cover her shift. Even though Iris had offered to come in and work through her illness, Ellie had told her to stay home. The young woman had sounded terrible on the phone, and she didn’t want to put her employee or her customers through that.

  The result was that she had spent the entire day running the pizzeria by herself. She had canceled deliveries for the day, but even so had barely been able to keep up with the orders. She could hardly wait to get home, take a warm bath, and relax. Tomorrow, she would do it all over again, but at least Rose would be there to help out.

  She slid the pizza into the oven so it could finish baking, and began folding up the pizza box it would leave in. She had folded hundreds, if not thousands of the boxes since she had started working at Papa Pacelli’s, and could have done it with her eyes closed.

  Once the box was ready, she had a couple of minutes to spare, which she used to quickly wash a couple of dishes from the pile beside the sink. When the timer beeped, she grabbed her oven mitts. The pizza she took out of the oven was perfect, with bubbly melted cheese that was just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges.

  Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't help but smile as she slipped it into the pizza box. Yet another perfect pizza. She was lucky to have a job that she enjoyed even when she was tired.

  She brought the order out and handed it over to the customer. No one else was in the dining area, and with a small rush of relief, she slipped out from behind the counter to go and lock the front doors.

  She only got halfway across the room when another customer pushed through the very doors that she was about to lock. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile onto her face. One more, she told herself. I can make one more pizza.

  “Welcome to Papa Pacelli’s. What can I get for you, sir?”

  The man pulled at his scruffy black beard as he mulled over the menu. “I’ll take a classic round pizza with bacon and sausage. Make that with extra cheese, too, if you can. And a two-liter of soda.”

  “It will be about a fifteen-minute wait. Feel free to grab your soda out of the fridge. Will that be cash or card?”

  “Cash.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out two tens. Ellie took them and gave him his change, then returned to the kitchen to get started on his order. Once the pizza was in the oven, she went back out front and switched the sign on the door from Open to Closed. She didn’t want to have to worry about another last-minute order on top of this one.

  “Do you know of a good motel in the area?” he asked as she began wiping down the tables.

  “If you follow the main road north of town, then take your first left once you’re out of city limits, you’ll find one. It’s an old building, but I’ve spoken to a couple of people who have stayed there, and they’ve said it’s nice.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Are you new to town?”

  “I used to live here, years ago,” he said. “I’m just visiting right now. I might move back, if I can find a job and a good place to rent.”

  “Well, welcome back. I hope you have a great visit. Hopefully you like the snow.”

  She smiled brightly at him, then returned to the kitchen to check on his pizza. It had just a couple of minutes left. That meant that she had time to do a few more dishes before taking it out of the oven. With any luck, she’d be on her way out the door in the next twenty minutes.

  She had just turned the water on when she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. A quick glance showed her that it was Russell Ward, her fiancé. Worried that they had made plans that she had forgotten about, she racked her mind, but came up blank.

  “Hey,” she said as she answered it. “I’m just finishing up at work now. What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to give you a heads up. Someone we had in custody at the sheriff’s department just escaped. I don’t know where he’s headed, but we’re all out looking for him right now. He’s dangerous, so I’m giving you, James, and Shannon warning calls just in case. I was the one who arrested him, and it’s possible he might try to get revenge. Do you want me to stop by and escort you home?”

  “No, I’ll be fine,” she said. She regretted it the moment the words were out of her mouth. Momentarily, she had forgotten that her grandmother was still in Florida. She would be going home alone to a dark, empty house.

  “If you’re sure,” he said. She could hear the doubt in his voice. “Promise me you’ll be careful, and call me as soon as you get in. Chances are he’s twenty miles away by now, but I’d rather be too cautious tha
n not cautious enough when it comes to you.”

  She hesitated for a moment, but then said, “I’ll be all right. You just go and find him. And you be careful too, Russell. Call me once you’re done for the evening, whether you find him or not, okay?”

  He promised that he would. They said their goodbyes, and she ended the call just as the smell of burning reached her nose. She pushed the thoughts of the escaped prisoner out of her mind and rushed over to the oven. Great, she thought as she looked at the blackened cheese around the pizza’s crust. After all of that, I still have to make another pizza tonight.

  CHAPTER TWO

  * * *

  Ellie apologized profusely to the customer. Thankfully he was understanding when she told him it would be a few minutes longer, and she got the new pizza in the oven quickly. It wasn’t long before it was done, and she boxed it up. With a feeling of relief, she watched him walk out the door. A black-haired woman met him out in front of the restaurant, and the two of them walked away down the sidewalk together.

  After he left, Ellie worked quickly to clean the kitchen and count out the register. It had been a long day, but a satisfying one; they had been doing better all month than they had been doing this time last year. It was a satisfying feeling to know that she had managed to turn the restaurant around after her grandfather’s death — though, of course, she hadn’t done it single-handedly. Her employees had been a huge help, and they deserved the credit just as much as she did.

  After finishing her closing routine, Ellie pulled on her coat and clicked off the lights. It wasn’t until she had her hand on the door that she remembered Russell’s warning about the escaped suspect. Burning the pizza had distracted her badly enough that she hadn’t thought much about her fiancé’s warning. Now, as she was about to step out into the parking lot, she felt her muscles tense. What if someone was waiting for her out there?

  If Russell thought that the escaped prisoner was really going to target me, he would have insisted on coming to escort me home, she told herself. He said that there was just a possibility that the prisoner managed to get his personal information. It’s not certain that he even knows who I am. She took a deep breath, and managed to convince herself that there wasn’t an axe murderer waiting outside the restaurant’s rear entrance. She trusted Russell’s judgment, and knew that he would never risk putting her in danger. If I’m going to marry Kittiport’s sheriff, I can’t let things like this get to me, she thought. With that, she pushed the door open and stepped out into the parking lot.

  The small lot was lit by one lonely street lamp, but there was a nearly full moon overhead, and there were very few shadows that a dangerous criminal could be hiding in. She scanned the area around her, but saw no one. She was completely alone. Still feeling a bit uneasy, but trying to hide it, she turned and locked the employee door. At least she knew that the pizzeria was secure; she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone lying in wait when she got there the next morning.

  Keeping her keys in her hand, she strode across the parking lot to her car. She got inside quickly and hit the button to lock the doors before starting the engine. Suddenly she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle, and she spun around, convinced that she would see somebody sitting in the back seat. She had been so focused on getting into the vehicle, that she had forgotten to check inside it first. The car was empty, but she still felt uneasy. Was it all in her mind, or was someone really watching her?

  Deciding that the best course of action was to get out of there, she buckled her seatbelt and pulled out of the parking lot. The town was quiet, and she didn’t see another vehicle on the road as she drove toward her house. It was eerie, but she told herself that it was for the best. This way, she could be sure that no one was following her. On the dark, empty streets, any headlights behind her would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

  Thankfully she had remembered to turn on the porch light, so the front of her house was well-lit when she pulled into the driveway. She got out of the car and walked straight to the front door, trying not to think of who might be hiding in the shadows just outside of the cone of light. I almost wish Russell hadn’t told me about the man who escaped, she thought as she unlocked the door. I’m going to be a wreck all night.

  She heard a familiar yapping, and opened the door to see her black and white papillon, Bunny, bouncing up and down on the welcome mat. After stepping across the threshold and shutting the door, she bent down to greet the little dog. Even though Bunny wouldn’t be much help against a real threat, she still felt better with the papillon around. At least she wasn’t completely alone, as she had been on the ride home.

  “Hi!”

  The loud, harsh voice made her jump. Her heart-rate ratcheted up even as she realized it was just the greenwing macaw, Marlowe. The bird had belonged to her grandfather before he passed away, and now she supposed Marlowe is hers. Although the bird tolerated Nonna, the two of them had never really bonded. She had spent weeks locked in her cage before Ellie had moved in, and the two of them had quickly built a relationship of mutual trust.

  Ellie hung her coat on the coat tree by the door and walked through the house, flicking on lights. She stopped by the parrot’s cage on her way to the kitchen and opened it, letting the bird climb onto her arm. Marlowe nibbled on her sleeve, her large beak surprisingly gentle. Ellie stroked the bird’s head, enjoying the feel of the soft feathers. She would never have bought a parrot as a pet for herself — the big green and red parrot could live as long as a human, and had close to the intelligence of a young child — but she treasured the unique relationship that she had built with the bird.

  In the kitchen, she let the parrot step off her arm and onto the back of one of the chairs. She flipped on the light for the back porch. She felt better with the house lit up. Now that she wasn’t surrounded by darkness and deep shadows, she was able to focus on the logical side of her brain, which told her that she wasn’t in any danger. Whatever eerie feeling she had gotten was probably just from her overactive imagination. For all she knew, Russell had found the man already and was on his way back to the sheriff’s department with him this instant.

  As if reacting to her thoughts, her phone began to ring. The last of the tension left her when she saw Russell’s name on the screen.

  “Hey,” she said, tucking the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she bent down to pick up Bunny’s water bowl. “Any luck?”

  “No,” her fiancé said. “I was just calling to make sure you got home all right.”

  “I did,” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear the disappointment in her voice. “I was going to call you as soon as I got done taking care of the animals. Do you have any leads at all on where he may have gone?”

  “All we know is that he headed north from the sheriff’s department when he took off. He knocked Bethany down — she’s on her way to the hospital right now; I think she has a concussion — and used her keys to get his cuffs off. He walked right past Ms. Lafferre, who paged me to see if I had released him. The whole thing was a mess.”

  “I can imagine,” Ellie said. “What did he do?”

  “He was caught standing with bloody hands over the body of an old friend of mine. I had just brought him in, so we hadn’t filed charges yet, but he’s going to be indicted for murder.”

  “Wow, I’m sorry,” she breathed. “So, he’s a serious criminal, not just some kid you caught vandalizing something. What does he look like?”

  “Mid-thirties, with a black beard. He was wearing an old olive-green coat.”

  Ellie felt her heart skip a beat. The description matched her last customer of the evening.

  “Ellie?”

  “I think I saw him,” she whispered.

  “Where? No, you know what, I’m coming over. Don’t unlock the door for anyone but me. I’ll be right there.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  * * *

  Ellie paced slowly back and forth across the kitchen floor as she waited for Russell to arrive. She
didn’t know whether she was more frightened, or upset with herself for letting the man get away. She should have asked Russell for a description when he called her the first time.

  What had the escaped prisoner been doing in Papa Pacelli’s? Had he come in there just to hide out from the police, or had he been intending something worse? I’m lucky he didn’t try to rob the place, or take me hostage, she thought. I wonder if he knew that I’m the sheriff’s fiancé?

  She had been in dangerous situations before, but somehow, the fact that she had been so oblivious this time made it worse. Anything could have happened, and she would have been completely unprepared.

  Marlowe squawked, making her jump. She had almost forgotten that the parrot was sitting on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Are you bored? Let’s get you a strawberry, then you can go back into your cage. Russell will be here soon.”

  She took care of the parrot, then fed Bunny. Getting the animals settled made her feel better, and helped pass the time until Russell arrived. It wasn’t long before she heard a car door slam shut from the driveway. She hurried to the front door and peeked out the window. Sure enough, the sheriff’s truck was sitting in her driveway. She opened the door and stepped back so her fiancé could come in, then put her arms around him.