Coffee & Crime (11 page)

I nodded but kept my mouth shut. Marsha let out a hissy sigh and put on a toothy smile. "Okay ladies, time to wrap it up. Go help Adrianne in the great room." She waved us out of the kitchen. "We have to be out of here in less than an hour."

On our way to the great room, my cell phone chirped and Zelda glared at me. "You snuck in your cell phone? I could rat you out to Marsha."

I shushed Zelda and answered the call, keeping an eye out for Marsha. "Hello?...You're kidding?...Now?...We won't be back for an hour...Try to stall them... try, okay?" I turned the phone off and put it in my pocket. "Crap."

Zelda whispered, "Who was that? Stall who?"

Keeping my voice down I said, "Debbie. The other buyer is in the diner. Right now, talking to Manny."

Zelda grabbed me by the arm and rushed me toward the great room. "Okay roomie, chop chop.”

<<>>

The rest of crew were as anxious to go home as we were. And we got everything cleaned and broken down in under an hour. Then we waited. Marsha wanted to settle up with everybody on site so she wouldn't have to go back to her office. But before she paid us she wanted a word with Maggie Manston.

The other servers sat in the back of the van bitching and moaning while I stood on the parking pad, shivering. Better to be cold than squashed. I sighed and groaned as I watched Maggie and Marsha chatting it up in the solarium. They were in no hurry.

Zelda climbed out of the van and followed my gaze. "What's taking so long?"

I hugged myself against the cold. "You know Marsha. She's probably setting up the next ten events in Maggie Manston's calendar."

"We're going to miss the secret buyer."

I puckered my lips. “He or she is long gone by now."

Though it was barely five o'clock, it was already dark and the temperature had dropped ten degrees. More rain was coming too because the clouds gathered overhead and the air smelled of ozone. I checked Marsha and Maggie and saw them hovering at the door. For a few seconds I was hopeful, then Marsha pulled out her phone and started scrolling through it.

The sound of a slow moving vehicle turned my attention back to the parking pad. A red Mini Cooper pulled in front of the van and parked.

Lily got out of the sports car and smiled. "Well, hello."

Now she recognized us?

I shuffled my feet to keep the blood circulating. "Hi."

Her expensive dress was too skimpy for the weather but she seemed comfortable and in no hurry to get inside. "Have you been here the entire time?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. We worked the entire event."

Lily smacked her forehead. "So that was you?" She giggled. "I wasn't sure and I didn't want to say anything." Her eyes flitted to the solarium where Maggie still chatted with Marcia. "Hmmm."

Zelda was dying to make a crack, but I cautioned her with a look. "Well, thanks," I said.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're here," Lily prattled on like we'd run into her at a favorite cafe. "I wanted to talk to you the other night, but well, inappropriate, right?" I nodded but said nothing. Lily smiled sweetly. "I was wondering what you're going to do now?"

"We're going to leave as soon as Marsha gets the lead out," Zelda said.

"No, not that." Lily leaned in and lowered her voice. "George told me your plans. But I guess you're kind of stuck now that George is gone, huh? It's a shame. It sounded like you had great ideas for the place."

Zelda joined the huddle and smiled. "You think so?"

Lily nodded. "I do."

"Then maybe you could talk to your step mother. Ask her to help Scotti because it's what your father George would’ve wanted."

Lily laughed like Zelda had told her a great joke. "If you think Maggie values my opinion, think again." She made a sad kitten face. "With George gone, I wouldn't be surprised if Maggie kicked me out tomorrow. I might be asking you for a job soon."

I couldn't decipher what Lily's game was, but I didn't believe for a second that Maggie would throw her out. I shrugged. "I suppose anything's possible."

Zelda rolled her eyes and climbed into the back of the van.

I glanced at the solarium and saw Marsha and Maggie shake hands. I hooked my head toward the solarium. "Looks like we're finished here. Nice talking to you." I turned to get into the back of the van.

"No, wait," Lily said.

Sighing I turned back to her. "Yes?"

"You shouldn't believe everything people tell you."

"What people?"

Lily whispered. "They don't like me." Her eyes shifted toward Maggie in the solarium for a second. "They're pissed off that I showed up here and messed up their perfect little life." She touched my arm shyly. "I'm not as bad as they say."

I shrugged. "What difference does my opinion of you make?"

Lily held my gaze and the concern in her eyes seemed genuine. "I don't know. I don't like people bad-mouthing me. I had enough of that shit when I was a kid." Her eyes flashed, then she reined it in. "Sorry. Maybe I'm over-reacting. I always got blamed for stuff that I didn’t do when I was a kid."

I understood how it felt to be blamed for crap you didn't do. When you're the foster, you get blamed for anything that goes wrong. In her shoes I'd probably be defensive too. "Not to worry Lily, nobody bad-mouthed you. Not to us, anyway."

Lily relaxed. "Really?" She smiled. "After the way you two looked at me, I was sure they gave you an earful."

I shook my head. "Nope, not a word."

Lily bowed her head as though receiving an unexpected grace. "Thanks. Good night."

I watched as she turned, walked slowly to the back of the lot and disappeared around the box hedges. "Strange girl." I got into the van, sat next to Zelda and rubbed my arms. "Crap, it's cold."

"What did she want?"

I watched for any sign of Marsha. "Weren't you listening?"

"Of course I was listening. But what does she care what we think? Or what anybody said to us?"

I stared out the open back door of the van. "I don't know, but that girl is a mess."

Then Marsha appeared all smiles and kisses. "Great job, everybody." She passed out envelopes to everyone. "I'm sure you'll discover it was worth the wait."

Zelda and I smiled and waved our envelopes. "Bonus."

The driver dropped us at Marsha's office parking lot twenty minutes later. Trying to avoid being soaked, we scurried out of the van and into my Camry. The drizzle had turned into a shower and it was slow going on the wet streets toward Sunland.

I leaned forward with my nose an inch from my windshield. Armed with napkins, Zelda wiped the fog away constantly. But it was still like driving with a plastic bag over my head. When I turned left onto Foothill instead going straight on Tujunga Canyon, Zelda frowned. "Where are we going?"

"To the diner. We need to talk to Debbie."

Zelda groaned. "Can't we go home?"

"Not until we find out who this mystery buyer is." I glanced at her. "It won't take long."

Zelda sighed. "I'm hungry."

"We can eat at the diner." Then I hit a patch of water and Zelda yelped as I skidded toward a dumpster and a bank of parked cars, but I maneuvered around them and righted the car. "Calm down, we're fine."

"I hate it when you drive."

I eased into a parking space and idled in front of Manny's suddenly not so hot on going inside. I peered through the windshield trying to see who was inside.

Zelda released her seatbelt. "What are we waiting for?"

Turning off the engine I said, "Nothing. Let's go find out what there is to know."

The only people in the place were Debbie and Chewie. Debbie hunched over a booth wiping it down with a bar towel
—
a bucket of sudsy water at her feet. Chewie sprawled at the counter talking dirty to his mamasita on the phone. He mumbled in Spanish but I recognized the tone and sleepy smirk.

Sweat shine on her face and hair springing in all directions, Debbie looked up. "Oh, thank God."

Zelda pulled off her jacket and put it over the back of a chair. "Gee Debs, you sound happy to see us."

Debbie waved her wet bar towel. "You bet, I can use the help."

Zelda parked her butt on a chair. "We're not here to clean."

Debbie wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her chubby hand and shrugged. "Whatever." She continued scrubbing the tabletop, grunting with every stroke. She was a good waitress but side work and cleaning challenged her. "Never get any help around this place anyways."

I took off my jacket and slung it on the back of a chair, then pushed the wet hair out of my eyes. "Where's Manny?"

"Gone."

"And this buyer person?" Zelda prodded.

"Long gone." Debbie threw the bar towel into the bucket. "I give up, these tables won't get clean." She stood back and admired her work. "I did the best I could. Time for pie."

She ambled past us to the pie case. Pulling out a cherry pie she asked, "When's pie day? We're running low here."

Zelda got out of her chair and moved to the counter. "What's the matter, not enough variety for you?"

I went behind the counter and poured us each a coffee then sat next to Zelda. "When did Manny leave?"

Chewie frowned at all the sudden activity and slinked back to the kitchen.

Debbie took her generous piece of pie to the ice cream freezer and scooped a mound of vanilla ice cream on top. As an afterthought, she squirted a big whipped cream hat on top of it and grinned. "Now, that's what I call a reward. Big ol' piece of cheery pie la mode." She plunked down at the counter next to us and dug in. "Mmm mmm."

Zelda eyed Debbie's plate. "You going for heart attack of the month club president?"

I elbowed Zelda and shook my head. "Tell me about this mystery buyer, Debs."

"Not much to tell." She looked up from her pie. "Not like Manny introduced me or nothing." She shook her head and forked a big bite of pie. "I get no respect around this place."

"Man or woman?"

"Lady."

Zelda rolled her eyes at Debbie. "How old?"

"I dunno. Not super old, like not a granny.” Debbie looked up from her pie but her gaze didn't land anywhere. "A lady, dressed nice like she was going out to dinner or coming back from a hot date."

I sighed. Prying information out of Debbie was never an easy task. I put my hand on her shoulder. "What made you think she was the other buyer? Did Manny say anything? Did she say anything? Did they say anything about signing papers or contracts?"

Debbie stabbed her fork in the air. "Whoa, so many questions. Slow down Scotti, the night is young."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, one question; what made you think she was the buyer?"

Debbie stopped eating, looked up to her thinking place and deliberated for a minute. "I can't put my finger on it, but something one of them said made me think it was the other buyer. Then they went in the back. They were in there a long time, so I figured they were talking turkey." She took another bite of pie. "Scotti, you make the best pie ever, girlfriend! Can I come over on pie day and help?" She smiled sweetly at me.

"I really want to see how you do it."

Zelda snapped at her. "No, you can't. Because on pie day we make pie, we don't eat pie."

Debbie chuckled and shook her head. "Oh Zelda."

I stood and hooked my head toward the back. Zelda frowned but she followed me into the kitchen. We picked our way through the unpacked produce boxes that Chewie was too lazy to put away. I glanced at him – still whispering to his girlfriend on the phone.

Zelda glared at him. "Are we the only ones who work in this place?"

I grabbed her arm and pulled her along to Manny's office door. Checking to make sure Chewie had his back to us, I tried to open it. "It's locked, damn it."

Zelda nudged me out of the way and tried the door. "What does he keep in there? Gold bouillon?"

I stared at the locked door. "Can we use a steak knife to open it?"

Zelda's stare informed me of the stupidity of the question. She tugged at my arm. "Screw it. Let's get out of here."

"But..."

"Tomorrow's another day. We'll come up with a plan."

I sighed and followed her. As we rounded the corner, we ran straight into Debbie. We bounced off her like we'd hit a big slab of foam rubber but she caught us before we landed on our asses.

Zelda was impressed. "Wow, good reflexes."

"Cops are here for you." Then she turned back and walked back to the dining room.

Zelda cracked the door and peeked out to the dining room. "We could duck out the back."

"And have them follow us home? No thanks." I rubbed my itchy eyes and sighed. "Let's see what they want. Then we can get cheeseburgers on the way home."

Daniels and Davis bickered at their usual booth. I wondered if they ever agreed on anything. Daniels spotted me and sketched a wave. "Hey, can we get some service over here?"