My ma sent me to Sal’s Supermarket with a mile long list of groceries. We’d just finished Sunday brunch, yet she was already planning a five-course meal to take Chloe’s mind off her troubles. The poor woman was distraught over the family heirloom necklace getting stolen from Rockwell Jewelers. She blamed herself for having it appraised. She never planned on selling it, so what was the point in knowing how much it was worth? The only thing that did was put them all in danger and the necklace in jeopardy of greedy people.
Now it was gone, never to be handed down to her grandchildren.
Detective Stevens and Detective Matheson were both working together on the case, and Detective Johnson was helping as well. The first person they planned to question was Benny Balboa. If anyone knew anything about missing jewelry, it would be him.
“Hi, Sal,” I said, stepping up to the office window.
Salvatore Stallone had bought the old grocery store ten years ago, renovating it into Sal’s Supermarket, which had quickly become a town favorite. Each section was skillfully arranged and neatly stocked, the floors sparkling clean, with pleasant music filtering through the sound system. Good lighting and wide aisles made shopping a breeze, and the shopping carts were sanitized regularly. The deli might not be as good as my cousins Kosmos and Silas Diner Delights, but his produce was second to none.
“Hey, Kalli,” Sal responded with a grave look on his smooth round cheeks. “I heard what happened to the Pagonis family heirloom necklace. That’s such a shame.” He shook his thick head of dark hair. “Clearview used to be a place I was proud to raise my kids in, but I’m afraid to let them loose these days.”
“I don’t know what’s going on around here with all these burglaries and people dying. This is turning out to be one scary summer.”
“Hang on a minute?” He pushed away from his computer and stepped down out of the office to stand next to me in his dockers, dress shirt, and tie. “There, that’s better. Sitting up high in that office is fine when I’m working, but I don’t like talking through that window. It’s so impersonal. Now, then, is there anything I can do to help?”
I handed him my ma’s list. “Ma sent me to get all of these things. Honestly, I don’t even know what half of these items are or where to look for them. Let’s just say I don’t take after my parents in the cooking department.”
“No problem. I’ll get these for you, and you can browse around for anything else you might like.”
“Thanks, Sal.”
He grabbed a shopping cart and my list, then headed toward the produce and meat departments. Meanwhile, I started roaming the aisles, looking for anything I thought Chloe might like. I normally only shopped in the health food section, but I figured today might call for a little comfort food.
I was reading the label on a box of snack mix, shuddering over words I couldn’t pronounce and the thought of what they could do to my insides, when I heard voices one aisle over. Curious, I rounded the corner and stopped short.
“Oh, hi, you two,” I said, feeling as awkward as Rex at the moment. I smoothed my sundress, still wearing the clothes I’d worn to church and brunch, yet squirming as if I’d been caught sinning.
Gary and Lisa jumped apart, looking red-faced and guilty.
“We were just—”
“This isn’t what—”
They spoke at once.
I held up a hand. “Honestly, it’s none of my business what you two do together, really. I’m happy for you both.” I was thrilled to see his interests had turned elsewhere. Lisa was a pretty brunette and more his age. They actually made a cute couple.
“You are?” Lisa asked, looking doubtful.
“Yes,” I reassured her. “Gary and I are just friends, right, Gary?”
“Absolutely,” Gary said. “Lisa and I really clicked, and it just kind of happened. You and I didn’t have the same spark. Besides, I knew you still had a thing for Detective Stevens, even if you refuse to admit it.”
“I’m not in a position to date anyone right now,” I said, neither confirming nor denying my feelings for Nik, though my pink cheeks were probably giving me away.
Sal came around the corner with a full cart. “There you are, Kalli.” He nodded to Gary and Lisa. “And here are all the things on your mother’s list.”
“You’re a life saver, Sal.” I took the cart from him.
“No problem. My daughter will ring you up at the front. Give your family my best, and Detective Steven’s family, too.”
“I will,” I said, then waved goodbye to Gary and Lisa.
Ten minutes later, I headed out back to the parking lot to load my car with my grocery bags. Wilma’s Wine and Spirits was right next door. I locked my car and walked around to the front to enter the liquor store.
Wilma Merryweather stood behind the counter, somehow pulling off her snow-white hair buzzed close to her head. The woman put the fabulous in fifty, looking stunning with her intricate tattoos, nose ring and ear piercings. I envied her confidence, which was something I lacked but was working hard on correcting. I was hoping the self-defense class we were supposed to take later this week would help.
I walked up behind a tall, willowy woman who was checking out. When the woman turned around, I blinked in surprise. “Thalia, what are you doing here?” Not that she didn’t have a right to be there, I was just surprised to run into her at that moment.
She held up a bottle of Ouzo and chardonnay.
“Ma?”
“How’d you guess.” She laughed.
“That’s what I was coming in for, but seeing as how you just bought them, I’ll get the groceries over to the restaurant before they spoil. You know how Ma gets if anything is left out of the fridge for more than a minute.”
“My ma is the same way. Aunt Chloe, too. We waste more food because it touched the air for too long.” She shook her chic bobbed hairdo, which really did suit her face better than the long hair had, and laughed. Everyone except me had ended up with the perfect hairstyle, yet mine was still deflating.
“Thanks for your help, Thalia. I appreciate it, and so does Ma.” She squeezed my shoulder, and I suddenly had the strongest sense that Thalia was in danger. “Hey, be careful, okay?”
“Of course. I always am.” She looked at me a little funny. “And you’re welcome. I’m sure I’ll see you at your parents’ restaurant later when they insist on feeding us again.” She carried her box of alcohol and left the store with a nod as she headed to her car parked out front on the street.
I followed her out and started to walk back to my car in the grocery store parking lot when I realized I’d dropped my keys in the liquor store. Turning around with a sigh, I went back for them. Ma was going to have a spell if I was late. I saw Thalia pull away from the curb as I went into the store. Spotting my car keys on the floor, I bent down to pick them up. When I stood back up, a movement caught my eye.
Through the window, I saw Baldy pull away from the curb in a black car. Baldy as in Antonio Tedesco, Scary Mob Guy. Running outside before he disappeared completely, I watched where he went. Way down the street was Nik’s cousin’s car with Baldy not far behind.
If I wasn’t mistaken, he was following Thalia.
I ran back to the parking lot, jumped in my Prius, and pulled around front as quickly as I could. By the time I drove onto the street, they were gone.
“Baldy’s after Thalia,” I blurted into my phone as I raced down the road to my parents’ restaurant.
“What are you talking about?” Nik asked through the other end of the line.
“I saw him follow her after she left the liquor store.”
“Who is Baldy?”
“Sorry, Antonio Tedesco.”
A pause filled the line. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’ll let Detective Matheson and Detective Johnson know. We’ll split up and see what we can find. Hang on.” He made a call I could hear in the background. “Okay, they’re on it. We just got done talking to Benny Balboa, who claims he doesn’t know anything about the theft of the necklace. Said he was at the Clearview Motel, sleeping off the night before at Flannigan’s Pub. I checked with Michael Flannigan and with Larry Miller. His story checks out.” Nik let out a sigh, and I could hear the exhaustion in his voice.
“That doesn’t mean Baldy, I mean Tedesco, couldn’t have stolen it. We know they’re working together on pawning the fakes. Who’s to say they wouldn’t gladly welcome the real deal.”
“I don’t trust either of them,” Nik agreed. “I know Thalia said she met with Benny in secret to warn him off, but you don’t have lunch with someone you’re warning off. I just hope that whatever she’s hiding is something she can handle on her own because she’s clearly not talking to me or asking for my help.”
“I agree,” I said. I believed she really didn’t like Benny and wanted him to stay away from her friends and family because I’d heard her thoughts, but there was more to her story, and I still didn’t know what I have to finish this meant.
“Gotta go. I think I see his car.” Nik hung up.
The line went dead, and my overactive imagination started spinning out of control. My heart started racing as I drove to Aphrodite’s to drop off the groceries for my ma. What if Baldy had Thalia in the trunk of his car? What if he was going to finish her off before she could finish whatever this was? Wasn’t that what the mob did? Take people out? Off them? Was I next?
I could feel my blood pump furiously through my veins. What if the blood was coursing through my veins too fast, and my veins burst before I could stop the car? All of Ma’s groceries would spoil, and Chloe would never get her comfort meal. Who would comfort Ma when I was gone? My chest felt heavy, like an elephant was sitting on it. Stars swam before my eyes as I pulled into the parking lot of my parents’ restaurant.
Was I having a heart attack?
I reached into the glove box and pulled out the emergency paper bag I kept in there. Putting it to my mouth, I closed my eyes as I slowly breathed in and out over and over until I could feel my pulse return to normal. I knew what this was, I thought, as my reasoning returned. I hadn’t had a full-blown panic attack in ages.
A knock on my window made me jump out of my skin.
I rolled it down. “Hi, Ma.”
“Kalli, what’s wrong? Why are you late? What happened? You look pale.” She felt my forehead. And my groceries are spoiling in this heat. What did I do to deserve drama drama drama with this one?
I brushed her hand aside. “It’s Thalia,” I finally said. “She’s in trouble. Baldy. Bad guy. Chased her.”
“Bow to your partner, bow to your foe, let’s chase Baldy, here we go.” Frona skipped around my car, making me dizzy.
“Thalia’s not in trouble, Kalli.” She eyed me as I climbed out of my car. I fanned my face, needing air. She waved for her employees to unload the groceries. “I’m calling Doc LaLone again. I think your cussed brain has gotten worse.”
“It’s not my head, Ma.” I followed her inside the restaurant’s back door to the kitchen. “I’m telling you; I went to the grocery store like you asked me to. Sal was so nice to get all the things you had on your list, by the way.” I tended to ramble when I was frazzled, and today I’d had was enough to frazzle even the calmest person. “Then I went to the liquor store to get the alcohol, but Thalia was there and had already gotten it.”
“Because I asked her to. If I’d wanted you to get the alcohol, I would have added it to your list. When are you going to listen to your mama?”
“I know, I know, Ma. So, I left, but realized I’d dropped my keys. So, I went back to get my keys, and I saw Baldy follow her.”
“Baldy? Who’s Baldy?”
“Ugh, the mob guy. Antonio Tedesco of the Tedesco Family. I called Detective Stevens, and he saw Baldy’s car while we were on the phone, which sent me into a panic all over again. I nearly had a heart attack imaging what was going on, then I realized it was just a panic attack, and well, now I’m here with semi-spoiled groceries.”
“Ah, well why didn’t you say so. That makes more sense. Many men are bald. I mean, you really need to start using your words, Kalliope. Baldy could be anyone.” She shook her head. “You’re fine. Let’s eat.”
“Ma, are you hearing what I’m saying?”
“Hearing, yes.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Understanding you, not so much. And now you give me the frown lines. I should tox the bow like your Aunt Tasoula is always trying to get me to do.”
“I repeat. Thalia is in trouble.”
“I am?” Thalia asked from the doorway, and that was all it took.
I burst into tears and sat on the floor.
Frona sang Duck Duck Goose and skipped to the lou around me.
Thalia called Nik.
And Ma called Doc LaLone.