Death of the Family Recipe (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 3) (3 page)

After they walked out I went to the window and watched them leave. I turned back to Zelda. "Okay, they’re gone."

Zelda shrugged. "We’re back together. And whatever you said to him, thanks."

I gawked at her. "That’s it? Where’s Henry?"

She inspected her legs for scratches and bug bites. "With his cows I guess." Bored with her injuries, she stood and stretched. "Damn, I’m thirsty."

I followed her into the kitchen. "Zee!"

She poured a couple of glasses of iced tea and brought them to the butcher- block. She spooned sugar into her tea, clanging the spoon as she stirred. "Not much to tell." She stared hard at her iced tea. "Just sort of petered out."

I snorted. "Are you kidding? You were going to marry him!"

Zelda looked at me like I was crazy. "Marry him? Are you nuts? Don’t you remember what he did to me?"

I pulled my hands through my hair and groaned. "You almost moved out because we fought about Henry. And last thing I heard was you were maybe moving to Nebraska." I glared at her. "Now you’re back with Eric? You better start explaining."

Zelda stirred her iced tea again, closely studying the sugar granules swirling. "Don’t be pissed." She looked up. "Okay?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Pissed? Why would I…" Then I glared at her. "You lied to me? You put me through all that crap for a lie?"

Zelda covered her ears with her hands. "If you don’t stop screeching you’re going to break the glasses." I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. Talking fast Zelda said, "You know all that on again off again bullshit that Eric was pulling? I was sick of it so I signed up at one of those dating sites."

I nodded. "Go on."

"And who emails me? Henry. I couldn’t believe it. That bastard had the nerve to act like we were old friends and hinted our breakup was a mistake." She rolled her eyes. "Like I was just sitting around for five years pining for him. What a prick." She blew out a sigh. "I was so mad I couldn’t answer. But I kept it because I figured when I cooled down I’d tell the bastard off. Finally."

She glanced at the doorway then lowered her voice. "But the next day, I had a problem with my computer and took it to Eric’s. When he gave it back he said he’d accidentally opened my email." She smirked. "Then he asked about Henry." Her dark eyes danced and she grinned. "Then it all came together — I could use Henry’s email to teach Eric a lesson. So, I answered Henry’s email like I was thrilled to hear from him — really laid it on thick so Eric would freak out."

I reared back. "You showed Eric the email?"

Zelda laughed and shook her head. "Nah didn’t need to. Eric hacks into my email whenever he feels like it."

My eyes popped open. "What?"

Zelda sighed. "It’s how men are. You better believe Ted reads your emails."

I scoffed. "Ted would never do that."

Zelda chortled and slapped the counter. "Right, that’s why he has that tracking app on your phone."

"App? What are you talking about?"

She slurped her iced tea. "An app you download onto your phone and your target’s phone and you get real time GPS. You can see where they are every minute of the day."

I shook my head. "Ted would’ve told me if he’d put something on my phone."

Zelda laughed like I was cute. "Yeah like he told you when he put that GPS tracker on your car last winter?" She sat back and smiled. "Ted, who has ‘a guy’ for everything, not keep tabs on you? Please."

I flapped a hand at her. "Whatever. Back to Eric hacking your emails."

"Right. So he read my email to Henry, and it did the trick. All of a sudden, he’s calling and wanting to see me all the time. But I figured I’d let him suffer a little. Just kept telling him I was busy so he’d draw his own conclusions." She laughed. "And man did he ever."

I shook my head in disbelief. "And making me suffer was part of your plan too?"

She grabbed my hand. "No, absolutely not. I didn’t plan the fight, but when the opportunity presented itself, I knew it would really convince Eric."

I rubbed my forehead. "So you used me to get back at your boyfriend?"

Zelda sighed and slumped on the countertop. "I’m sorry Scotti. I know I hurt your feelings. You know I didn’t mean any of that right?"

I nodded. "I guess I do now." I sighed. "So you stayed in a motel and pretended you were with Henry? Weren’t you afraid Eric would hack your email again and see it was a fake out?"

Zelda giggled. "Nah. I have a software program to keep him out of my emails." She waved a hand at my confused look. "It’s a whole techie thing – the long and the short of it is that he can read my emails when I want him to and he can’t when I don’t."

I rubbed my face and shook my head.

"Okay, I’m a shit, and I admit it. But I knew you’d say something to Eric. Try to knock some sense into him. And you did."

I frowned. "But I didn’t say anything to him until after you came back."

Zelda shrugged. "So? I didn’t need to stay away anymore, he was already convinced he’d lost me. He called and begged me not to marry Henry —promised if I gave him another chance, I wouldn’t regret it." She smirked. "I waited a day, then told him I’d chosen him." She shrieked with laughter. "That night? Best sex of my life."

I stared at her. "I can’t believe you."

"I know, brilliant right?"

"What part? The part about using your best friend to get back at your boyfriend? Or the part about building your whole relationship on a lie?"

Zelda frowned and shook her head. "Not a lie. More like inspiration to get Eric to commit or walk away. Don’t judge. You would’ve done the same thing to get Ted off the fence. Besides, I love Eric. It’s not like I’m using him." She squeezed my hand. "I am sorry about hurting you though. Swear to God, I’ll never do anything like that to you again." She gave me the sad eyes. "Forgive me?"

I smacked her hand away. "Damn it, Zee. You really made me think that you hated me and that our friendship was over." Just thinking about it made me weepy. "Do you have any idea how heartbroken I was?"

She stared at me for a moment, then slid off her stool and fetched a wooden spoon. She handed me the spoon and bent over. "You’re right, I deserve a serious spanking. Go for it."

I gripped the spoon and raised my arm and Zelda jumped back and gasped. Wide eyed, she said. "You’re really going to do it?"

I pitched the spoon across the kitchen into the sink and laughed. "No, you big idiot." I cackled and pointed at her. "You should see the look on your face." She stuck out her tongue and sat on her stool. "Lucky for you I hate Henry so much." I shrugged. "It worked, so I guess, good for you."

"What worked?" Eric asked. He and Ted stood in the kitchen doorway, arms loaded with takeout bags.

"Did you get the cannoli?" Zelda asked.

<<>>

As we lay in bed, I studied Ted’s profile, frowning. He turned to me. "What’s with the face?"

"Did you put a tracking app on my phone?"

Ted chuckled like he’d been goosed. "Ah, yeah I did."

I bolted up and stared at him. "Why? Don’t you trust me?" He reached for me, but I scooted away. "Oh no mister, you answer the question."

He puckered his lips. "It’s not about trust. It’s about your talent for getting jammed up."

I frowned. "Why didn’t you tell me then?"

Ted propped against the headboard and sighed. "Because I knew you’d get up in arms about it." He smirked. "Like you are now."

I cocked my head. "So you lied to me, so I wouldn’t get upset? Is that your story?"

He puckered his lips. "I’ll take the app off your phone. Okay?" He threw back the covers and his big feet hit the floor with a thud. "I’ll do it now."

There was a certain wisdom to having the app on my phone because I did tend to attract trouble sometimes. I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Wait. Do you track me every minute of the day?"

He glanced at me over his shoulder. "No. Just when you’re running late. Things like that." He got back under the covers and stroked my arm with his finger. "You have the same app for my phone on yours. So it’s an equal opportunity tracking thing."

That information had a certain appeal. I tilted my head and smiled. "Really?"

He laughed and pinched my butt. "Oh, you like that?"

I straddled him and held down his arms. "First thing tomorrow, you’re showing me how to use it."

"I can show you now."

I switched off the light. "It can wait. Right now, I have other plans for you, mister."

The next morning, I was too preoccupied with pie day to remember about the phone app. We sent Eric and Ted away and baked our little hearts out. We finished by mid-afternoon, stocked the food truck for Monday morning and had the rest of the day free. Zelda showered, then went off to meet up with Eric. I put six blueberry muffins in a container and paid a visit to Joe Enders.

Joe is a former homicide cop who retired from Mississippi to California and hung out his shingle as a private investigator. In addition to our food truck business, Zelda and I were working under Joe’s tutelage to get our own P.I. licenses.

Joe runs his business out of the lower unit of a three-plex he owns. A little unorthodox, I guess, but in L.A., people work in their pajamas, so maybe not so much. He sat at his big desk muttering, as he read through a document. His reading glasses were perched on his generous nose, and his belly butted up against the desk.

From the front door I said, "What are you doing, trying to figure out the solution to world peace?"

Joe looked up from his paperwork and peered over his reading glasses. "Well howdy, Miss Scotti. What brings you here on a fine Sunday afternoon?"

I took my usual chair in front of his desk and offered the container of muffins. "We just finished pie day, and I thought I’d bring you these. Blueberry, your favorite."

Joe opened the container, took a deep breath and smiled. "Like heaven in a box." Then he squinted at me. "You in a pickle?"

I shook my head and smiled. "No."

Joe leaned an elbow on the desk and rested his chin on his hand. "Then why are you sitting here with an old man instead of out with handsome Ted?"

I put on my happy face. "I have things two tell you, and two things to ask you."

Joe peeled back the paper on a muffin. "Do tell?"

I raised my hand and pointed to my engagement ring. "First, Ted proposed.

With a mouthful of muffin Joe said, "About time you stopped torturing that boy."

I smirked. "Well congratulations, Scotti. Are you happy? You look mighty happy."

"I am Joe, I’m as happy as a monkey at a banana convention. Well, that’s fine. Mighty fine."

Joe rolled his eyes and waved his muffin at me. "I was getting to that. Can’t a man have a second to catch his breath?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Or eat a muffin, right?"

Joe scooched to the edge of his seat and wiggled his fingers. "Let me see that rock." I offered him my hand. He whistled. "Ain’t she a beauty? My, my, my." He looked back to me and grinned. "Well best wishes to the bride to be and the lucky fellow who snagged her." Joe gave me back my hand, grabbed another muffin and leaned back in his chair like the wily investigator he was and said, "What else?"

I cradled my stomach and giggled. "I’m going to have a baby. Can you believe it? Me, a mommy?"

Joe’s mouth dropped open. Then he dropped the muffin and rushed around the desk to me. "Oh my, little girl!" He pulled me to my feet and hugged me. Patting my back he said, "Isn’t that wonderful?" He held me by the shoulders gave me the once over. "You’re glowing like firebug." I got weepy, and Joe offered me a hankie. "Now, now, little girl. Why the tears?"

I laughed. "Hormones — can’t keep the waterworks under control."

Joe patted my hand. "You’ll be a fine, mama. And won’t that baby be prettier than a summer morning on the Delta? Probably win the Gerber baby contest."

I frowned. "The what?"

Joe rolled his eyes. "Oh never mind." He leaned against his desk. "All righty then, by my count, we got two more things to go."

I wiped my face and blew my nose. "Right. I was wondering if you’d…you know, walk me down the aisle?" My voiced cracked. "Because like it or not Gramps, you’re the closest thing I’ve got to a father."

Joe lit up like a fire bug himself and tipped an imaginary hat. "Why Miss Scotti, it would be my honor."

"Really, Joe? Because I don’t want you to feel obligated."

"Oh hush, child. Ain’t nothing make me happier than giving you away to handsome Ted." We shared a moment of true affection and grinned at each other like a couple of goofballs. Then I sighed and fiddled with my engagement ring. "What is it, child?"

Feeling wobbly, I sat down again. "The baby is a secret for now. I told you so you’d understand what I’m about to ask." I squirmed and blushed and had a hard time looking at him. "If I hired you to look into something for me, you couldn’t tell anyone else, right?"

Joe furrowed his brow. "If you were a client, I couldn’t tell anyone without your permission. That’s right." He peered into my face. "What kind of trouble are you in?"