Grilled Cheese Murder: Book 4 in The Darling Deli Series (3 page)

“Just a couple of months,” Moira said. He had worked for her since shortly after she’d lost another employee . “I’m sorry to say I don’t really know him that well. He’s a very private person, but I never got the feeling that he was dangerous. He’s been nothing but helpful at the deli, and I’ve been able to rely on him to show up on time and put a hundred and one percent into his work.”

“Do you know where he moved here from?” the detective asked.

“No, I don’t,” she admitted. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” he told her. “We’re just trying to get a feel for him right now. Do you know of any family or friends that he might have been in contact with?”

“Other than my other employees, whom he was friendly with, no,” she said. “Like I said, he was a private guy.”

“All right. If you do think of anything else, don’t hesitate to give me a call.” He stood up and gave her a sympathetic grimace. “It’s getting late, so I’ll let you two get going. If you hear from Dante, or see him, please let me know immediately.”

“I will,” she promised.

Still feeling shaky, she got up and followed the detective back down the hallway. David trailed behind them, handing the blue folder back to the detective before gently guiding Moira out of the police station and into the chilly car.

“I’ll take you home,” he said as he started the engine. “I’m sorry about Dante. I hope he’s all right.”

“Me too. I’m really worried about him.” She hesitated. “What do you think happened?”

“Well, if I didn’t know him—and you—I’d say that it looks like he killed that boy and then took off.”

“But you do know him,” she pointed out. “You don’t really think that he would do that… do you?”

“I don’t know what to think,” he said. “You can see what things look like, Moira. What do you think happened? That the other guy showed up at Dante’s apartment and then shot himself in the chest?” Remembering the gruesome image in the blue folder, the deli owner shuddered.

“Well, no,” she said. “I know that isn’t very likely. But even if Dante
did
shoot him, couldn’t it have been in self-defense? What if the guy attacked him?”

“If he was justified in shooting him, then why would he run?” David asked.

“Because he’s probably
scared
,” Moira said quietly. “He’s just a kid. He doesn’t have any family in town. I mean, he put
me
as his emergency contact. He obviously doesn’t have anyone he can go to for help.”

“Maybe you’re right,” the private investigator said. “I’m not saying I’m convinced that he murdered that guy, but we have to be prepared for the possibility that he’s guilty.” He paused, keeping his eyes on the road. “There is another possibility, you know.”

“What?” she asked, feeling ill. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to hear more.

“What if there was a third person there? Maybe this third person and the dead guy were working together, maybe not, but I can’t imagine that it bodes well for Dante either way. This could be a kidnapping gone wrong, or maybe some sort of old family feud. I think you should prepare yourself for the possibility that he might not be alive,” he said.

Moira was silent, at a loss for what to say. When she had gotten the phone call earlier at the restaurant, she had gone into the police station expecting to identify her employee’s body. The relief that she had felt when it wasn’t had been unparalleled. She didn’t want to think that the next time she went in, it might actually be him.

“I don’t want to just give up on him,” she said at last. They were driving slowly through town, the orange streetlights reflecting off of the icy sidewalks. Something occurred to her. “Did Detective Jefferson say anything about whether Dante’s car was still in the parking lot?” she asked. “If it is, then that might mean that he has been kidnapped and maybe they could put out some sort of alert.”

“I don’t think he said anything about it,” he told her. “But even if his car is there, he could have fled on foot. Or if he was working with someone, they might have given him a ride.”

“Can we go check?” she asked, convinced that seeing the scene of the crime would help her put things together. “We could just drive through the parking lot. I know what his car looks like. The apartment complex is only a few minutes away.”

“All right,” David agreed, giving her a quick, unreadable look. “We’ll just drive through and see if the car is there. But after that, I think we should just let the police do their jobs. And you should keep an eye out for him. You’re one of the few people that he knows in town; if he needs help, he’ll likely try to contact you, Candice, or Darrin. And just keep in mind, we don’t know yet whether he is guilty or innocent.”

They drove through the parking lot twice, and Moira kept her eyes peeled for her employee’s car. She saw it parked in the deli’s lot most days, and was certain that she wouldn’t have trouble spotting it if it was there. She didn’t know whether the fact that the car was gone was good or bad. She supposed that it meant it was more likely that Dante was alive, but it also made it seem more likely that he was guilty of killing the young man who had been shot in his apartment.

“Thanks,” she said to David when they pulled into her driveway. It was late, but her mind was racing too quickly for her to feel very tired. “And I’m sorry that our date ended the way that it did.”

“We can try it again sometime,” he said, giving her a quick smile to reassure her that he wasn’t upset. “After we find your missing employee.” A light in her house flickered on, and Moira knew that it meant that her daughter was still up, waiting to hear a report of the date. She wasn’t looking forward to the ensuing conversation; Candice would be worried about Dante, and would ask her mother many questions that she just didn’t have the answers to.

“I really hope he’s okay.” She sighed. “I’d better go in and get this over with.”

“Good luck. Do you want me to stop by the deli tomorrow? I’ll see if I can dig anything up on Dante, or at least get some leads as to who the dead guy is,” he offered.

“Sure.” Despite herself, she found a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Somehow David still wanted to be around her, even though trouble seemed to follow her like a hungry dog. “See you tomorrow.”

She let herself out of the car and walked the short distance to her porch. As soon as her foot touched the first step to the porch, her front door opened and Candice stood silhouetted against the warm glow from inside. She rushed her mother inside, her eyes gleaming as she eagerly waited to hear Moira’s story of the date. Her expectant expression faded slowly as she got a better look at her mother’s face.

“Oh, no,” she said. “What happened?”

Moira told her daughter the story over a mug of hot chocolate. Her brightly painted kitchen seemed far too cheery for such a grim tale. She was purposely vague when she described the photograph, not wanting to have to go into grisly detail.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Candice said when she was done. “I mean, I’m glad that Dante isn’t the one who got shot, but… it’s almost worse if he’s the one that killed the other guy, you know?”

“Do you really think that Dante would murder someone?” she asked her daughter. She had been trying to assume the best of her missing employee, but both David and her daughter seemed ready to throw him under the bus, so to speak.

“Not really, but neither of us has been too great at spotting killers recently,” the young woman said pointedly. Moira frowned, hurt. She’d met several killers in the past few months and hated remembering their crimes; she hadn’t ever felt so betrayed by anyone before, not even when she had found out that her husband was cheating on her. She didn’t want to let the experience damage her trust in people’s good nature, but maybe her daughter and David had a point. Most of the time, the simplest solution was the right one. When you start out with two young men, and one is found dead and the other is missing, there was only one probable answer.

“Did he ever tell you anything about where he came from, or his family or anything?” Moira asked, trying to leave the subject of Dante’s innocence or guilt. Either way, what was important right then was finding him.

“I don’t think so…” her daughter trailed off, biting her lower lip as she thought back. “I asked him once why he moved to Maple Creek, and he just said because he liked the town, and he didn’t really have anywhere else to go. I didn’t pry.”

“I never pushed him for answers either, but now I wish I did.” She sighed. “Apparently the police don’t even have any information about where he’s from or where his family is. Did you ever meet any of his friends?”

“Besides me and Darrin, he never really seemed to hang out with anybody,” her daughter said. “He seemed pretty used to just doing his own thing.”

“The poor young man.” Moira frowned. “It must be terrible not to have anyone to rely on.”

“He relied on you,” Candice pointed out. “You told me that the police said that he put you as his emergency contact in his cell phone. He must have known that you would do what it took to help him if he was ever in an accident or something. Maybe he’ll come to you if he needs help.”

“I hope so. As long as he isn’t a danger to you—or me—then I’d be happy to help him however I can. Will you let me know if you hear from him?” she asked her daughter.

“Of course,” the young woman agreed. “Are you going to tell Darrin what’s going on?”

“I think I need to,” she replied after thinking about it for a moment. “He and Dante are pretty close, and he should know that his friend’s in trouble. Plus, word gets around this town quickly and I think it’s better if he hears it from us than from the news.” She closed her eyes, her hands cupped around the warm mug. She was beginning to feel tired, and it was looking like she would have a lot to do tomorrow.

Darrin came in early to work while she was dicing onions for the creamy spinach and orzo soup that would be the soup of the day. She took a moment to dump the onions in the pot, and then turned to greet him.

“Thanks for coming in so early,” she said. “You might want to take a seat, there’s something I need to tell you…”

His reaction, once he got past the initial shock, was similar to Candice’s, though he sided with Moira when it came to the subject of whether or not he thought Dante had murdered the young man who looked so like him.

“He just doesn’t seem the type,” he said. “I mean, obviously, anyone can be the type, but Dante… is so easygoing. Why would he want to kill someone? It just doesn’t seem like something he’d do.”

“I’m glad
you
at least agree with me,” Moira said. “I just wish Candice and David did also. When’s the last time you heard from him?”

“A couple of days ago, when he called the deli to double-check his schedule for the week,” her employee told her. “He sounded totally normal, and we made plans to hang out this weekend.”

“Will you let me know if you hear from him again?” she asked. “I don’t even know if he’s still around, but if he is he might try to find one of us. Candice thinks we’re pretty much the only people he knows in town.”

“Yeah, no problem. I hope he turns up and everything ends up being fine. I like the guy.”

“Me too,” Moira said. “I just wish I felt like I could trust my judgment.”

* * *

She was relieved when none of her customers mentioned anything about Dante. It seemed that the news of his mysterious disappearance hadn’t yet been spread beyond the police station. She didn’t know how many more crimes her little deli could be associated with and still stay in business.

While she served soup, made sandwiches, and rang up orders, she kept a careful eye on the street outside. She realized that she was half expecting to see Dante’s car drive by. She didn’t know what she’d do if she
did
see it. Run outside and chase it down? It ended up not mattering; she didn’t so much as glimpse a car of the same make of his.

David came in shortly before the dinner rush. He had his leather bag with him, and waited until the deli was empty to set it on the glass counter and pull out a manila folder.

“I found some interesting stuff about our missing friend,” he told her. “Remember how I told you I was going to run a background check on him a couple of months ago?” he asked. She nodded. “Well, the basic check didn’t really turn much up. And by that, I mean there just wasn’t much on it. At all. No employment history, no nothing. So I had my guy dig a little deeper, and then forgot to check up on his progress once things started to get chaotic again.” He handed her the folder. “Go ahead and take a look. Let me know if anything jogs your memory.”

Feeling a bit guilty at the thought of reading secrets that Dante wouldn’t have wanted her to know, Moira took a seat on the stool behind the register and began reading. The files mentioned a town that Dante had never mentioned, but the picture that was attached was definitely his. There were records of the high school that he had graduated from, and the phone number of a diner that he had worked for. Moira frowned and handed the folder back to David.

“He never talked about any of that,” she told David. “How did you find all of this?”

“My guy did a search using his first name and date of birth. What’s really odd is that he had a different last name up until about a year ago,” he told her. “I’m still looking into it. It’s like one day he changed his name, got a different social security number, packed his bags, and left his hometown.”

“Do you think he’ll go back there?” she asked. “If that’s where his family is, maybe he’s going to them for help.”

“He lived in a foster home, actually,” he said. “From age ten onward. I still haven’t found anything out about his birth parents.”

“This keeps getting stranger and stranger.” She tapped her fingers on the counter, thinking. “It’s like he was running from something.”

“And whatever he was running from caught up with him,” said David in a grim voice.

David stayed at the deli, helping out for the last few hours before close. Moira was glad to find that they could work side by side without awkwardness, despite the fact that they had gone on a date and had yet to really talk about any feelings that they had for each other. She sent Darrin home early, with strict instructions to keep an eye out for his missing friend.