The Focaccia Fatality Page 6

“That won’t be necessary. I promise this will be a calmer conversation. We do need to talk. I’ll see you there.” I straightened the cooking area, checked that the ovens were off, and grabbed my jacket as I left by the front door.

  On the short walk to the corner, I checked everyone else’s window displays. Charlie Franklin’s collectibles were holiday related and richly colored. He’d dressed the windows with some sort of white spray that gave the viewer the impression winter had arrived and the Victorian village inside had recently gotten a snowstorm. It was beautiful and undoubtedly drew customers in without a second’s hesitation.

  I’d moved on to Helena Bentwood’s The Crafty Cupcake Shop and admired the luscious delights in the window. All her fall decorations were now replaced by those reminiscent of Christmas in days gone by. Ornaments were suspended at various levels from the top of the window casing to mid-way down the wide glass pane. A wide variety of cupcakes nestled on silver platters and tiered cake holders that were dusted with artificial snowflakes. When I’d asked Helena if she replaced the cupcakes everyday with new ones, she laughed and said they weren’t real, but made of Styrofoam for display purposes. Each day she moved the cakes around to make it appear as if they were new and fresh.

  George Carly’s shop looked much the same as it usually did, other than the twinkling lights he’d put around the bay windows. The colors danced merrily and brought attention to his shop. I wondered if I’d better add some decorations to my own place and gave it some thought as I entered Mack & Mutt’s.

  An empty corner table suited my purposes perfectly. I could watch for Aidan’s arrival, enjoy the comings and goings of the neighborhood, and still be able to see what went on in the pizzeria. I’d shrugged out of my coat and draped it on the back of my chair when Aidan strolled into view. He’d parked across the street from the restaurant and hurried as quickly as he could, to reach my side of Wickendon Street before the light changed and traffic charged forward.

  I waved when he caught sight of me in the window. His smile lit his entire face and hiked my pulse. BettyJo had made a good call when she’d said I was smitten with Aidan Sinclair. He’d entered the building and taken a seat across from me as Bill approached, his smile wide and knowing.

  “Can I get you a menu or do you know what you want?” Bill said as he stared meaningfully at me.

  I chuckled lightly, said I’d have a meatball and pepper sandwich. Aidan placed his order of a spinach calzone and ordered a couple bottles of beer to go with our food. Bill nodded, scribbled on his pad, and gave me a wink as he walked away.

  “What was that about?” Aidan asked.

  “No idea,” I said with a slight shake of my head.

  His gaze held my own as he asked, “You’re not angry any longer, that’s good, yeah?”

  I dipped my head in agreement and said, “It’s been a tough couple of days. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I should have listened when you wanted to talk. I apologize for that. If you’re still interested in explaining, I promise not to interrupt.”

  His soft laughter filled my heart with warmth. Maybe it wasn’t too late for me to find out what had happened to him those months ago, when he’d disappeared so suddenly without a word.

  “It would take more than your anger and disappointment to keep me away, lass. I wanted to give you some time to cool off before attempting another explanation.”

  He looked up as Bill brought plates filled with steaming sandwiches and glasses for the two bottles of beer. “Thanks, Bill,” Aidan said.

  Alone again, Aidan poured beer into the glasses. He handed me one and held his glass toward mine. “Cheers, lass. Slàinte mhòr agad!”

  I gawked for a moment, waited for him to drink, and then asked, “Would you translate that for me?”

  With a nod and a chuckle, Aidan said, “It means good health to you.”

  I sat back and mulled his Scottish words over in my mind. “Thank you, now can you spell it?”

  He spelled it and I gasped. “It doesn’t sound anything like that.” Instead, it was as if he’d uttered words that sounded more like slanj’-uh vorr’ ah’-kut.

  His mouth full of food, he merely nodded. My hunger and good humor had returned. I made short work of my sandwich. When we’d both eaten half our meal, Aidan spoke of his broken promise of returning to propose marriage.

  I toyed with my glass while he said, “In the wee hours that morning, I got a call from Scotland. My housekeeper had been taken to the hospital. There’d been a fire in my kitchen, which had quickly gotten out of control as she tried in vain to put it out. She is elderly, as you know, and she couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work properly. That wasn’t bad enough. She nearly succumbed to smoke inhalation prior to the rescue workers’ arrival. When I found out how severe her situation was, along with the damage to the house, I caught the next plane from Boston and headed home. My intention was to call you as soon as I’d landed. Unfortunately for us, things didn’t go as planned.”

  He took another swallow of beer, pointed to my sandwich, and said, “Eat.”

  His next words astounded me. I dropped my sandwich onto the plate and wiped my mouth.

  “On the way from Edinburgh to the estate, I went off the road to avoid a lorry that had taken the center as if he owned it. I broke several bones as the car flipped over. By the time I was admitted to the hospital, I was unconscious and didn’t gain consciousness for three weeks. The damage wasn’t life threatening, I just didn’t wake up. At least, that’s what I’m told.” Aidan sipped his beer.

  “When I regained consciousness, I’d undergone two operations and pins were holding my hip and leg together.” He pointed to the cane. “Hence, the cane. At first, I was in a wheelchair, then I moved on to one of those walker things, and then I got well enough to use the cane. Soon, I won’t need that either, but until I gain full control of my leg and hip, it’s part of my attire.”

  I reached across the table and laid my hand over his. “I’m sorry, I wish I’d known. Why didn’t you contact me after you were better?”

  “I thought for sure I’d be wheelchair bound forever. The doctors couldn’t guarantee that I’d walk again. My body had rejected the first pins they’d inserted and the second set wasn’t much better. I didn’t want you to see me that way or live with me if I was an invalid, either.” He pushed his dish away and downed the rest of his beer.

  “I see. Is your housekeeper all right?”

  “She is. I’ve encouraged her to retire and she’s agreed. Right now, she’s training a new housekeeper to take her place.”

  “I’m glad you’ve told me this, Aidan. I wasn’t sure what had happened to make you stay away and out of touch. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

  “Maybe, but I should have been less pigheaded about it all. I ought to have trusted that you’d handle the news with the same sensible attitude you use for everything else in your life. I shouldn’t have procrastinated in telling you.”

  I snorted and then laughed. If he’d seen me a few hours before, he’d have changed his mind. My sensible attitude had been blown away by the wind as far as I was concerned. Vincent Gallagher made sure of that. I was certain there’d be a hard time ahead for me, possibly by their ability to wield power like an ax.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “It’s my turn to share with you,” I said. Two more beers and a while later, I’d given Aidan the scoop on my issues with Gallagher and Joshua Hardin.

  His dark brows furrowed as his eyes took on a cold gleam. Aidan said, “That’s what was going on at the party and accounts for your abrupt departure?”

  “That’s it. The end result here is, I might be in for a bit of trouble from those two. Rhode Island is a small state, where everyone knows someone who knows, or is related to, someone else. It doesn’t bode well for me if these idiots decide to put pressure on me and my business.”

  With a look of disbelief, Aidan shook his head. “I doubt there’ll be any trouble. The
politicians I know in Scotland would do anything to avoid scandal, which means they usually keep their mouths shut and watch what they’re doing.”

  “Well, that’s Scotland. Our country has a different mindset altogether. These people wield power like a sword, cutting a path anywhere they darn well please without regard for who gets hurt. They often use stealthy methods to eliminate what might be seen as a problem, as well.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Aidan murmured as his gaze flicked toward the door.

  I turned in my seat and stared. A mean-looking biker dude had entered Mack & Mutts. He gave the shop a narrow-eyed once-over before he settled a cold-eyed stare on me and sauntered over.

  “You Melina Cameron?” he asked.

  Shaking in my shoes, I gave a slight nod. Who would send this type of person to find me? “How c-can I help you?” I stammered.

  “Your gran sent me. She’s in trouble. You better follow me,” he said with a hasty glance at Aidan.

  I gasped. “Seanmhair? She sent you to find me?”

  When he nodded, his long, greasy hair fell forward and grossed me out like I hadn’t been in ages. My skin crawled as I took stock of this badass. His worn jeans were covered in leather chaps that had seen better days, just as he had. Shoulder-length, scraggy brown hair lay thin across his scalp. The jacket he wore had patches of leather missing and was a sad, faded black. The dude looked mangy. I’d noted his teeth were as much a mess as the rest of him. One front tooth was missing, and the others were stained as though he chewed tobacco and had little use for a toothbrush or dentist.

  “How do you know Sean?” I asked as Aidan and I stood.

  “She’s my BFF on Facebook,” he said with a smile that sent shockwaves from my head to my toes.

  “Really?” I asked and gave him a look of disbelief with a raised brow.

  “She’s been trying to call you, and got worried when you didn’t answer,” he said with a nod. “I think she seriously needs you now. You comin’ or what?”

  I gave Aidan a glance and then slipped my jacket on. Billy Badass led the way. We left the pizzeria after Aidan tossed enough money on the table to cover the bill. The lawless looking dude loped in long strides toward a stripped-down Harley Davidson, and I hurried to keep pace.

  “Why did she call you, and what did she say?” I asked.

  Over his shoulder, Billy Badass replied, “She didn’t explain what the problem was. She just said to bring you to her. Her voice is all wobbly and she sounded kinda hysterical.”

  Aidan’s hand clamped onto my wrist. I glanced up and saw his headshake. “We would ask you to wait a moment,” he said to the man.

  The guy stopped, turned on his heel, and stepped closer to us, though his attention was solely on Aidan. “What did you just say?”

  “I said we want you to wait a moment,” Aidan repeated succinctly.

  The words came out as ‘aye sayed we won’ted you to wheat a moomaint,’ and I smiled.

  At the look on the stranger’s face, I stepped between the two men. “We’d like you to wait so we can ask you more questions,” I said and gave Aidan a wink. He appeared affronted by the fact that Billy Badass hadn’t understood him. With a narrowed glare, Aidan looked him straight in the eye and nodded.

  “Well, why didn’t you say so?” the dude answered.

  I interrupted before Aidan could utter a word and asked, “Exactly where is Sean?”

  “She’s hiding in an alley off Water Place Park. I wanted to pick her up, but she insisted I come find you. Good thing you hadn’t gone too far from the bakery.”

  I nodded. We began hurrying toward the motorcycle again and I asked, “What’s she doing there?”

  “Spying,” he spit the word out.

  “On who?” I asked.

  Abruptly, the dreadful man stopped short, gave us both a look of disgust, and barked, “How the hell do I know? She’s a wild one, that one, and it does no good to ask questions. You oughtta know that by now.”

  “Where on Water Place Park?” Aidan asked.

  “Up a ways from the courthouse.”

  I stumbled on the pavement, and Aidan grabbed my arm before I hit the ground. Holy crap, my worst fears were realized. Seanmhair was up to her armpits in no good. Hells bells, this was the last thing I needed, or wanted. Sean, known for her spirit and feisty attitude, had, on occasion, been in more than one tight place. She’d now found herself in that same spot once again. At the thought, I puffed like a dragon and tilted my head toward Aidan’s car.

  “We’ll follow you, just wait, okay?” I instructed Billy Badass.

  A nod and grunt were his answer as the dude swung his leg over the motorcycle seat and started the engine. It rumbled to life and he waited at the curb until Aidan and I were ready to roll. Billy Badass swung the bike into traffic and motioned for us to follow him. We took Benefit Street, wove through a few side streets and shortly hit South Main Street. The motorcycle slowed and the dude pointed to the alley where Sean supposedly hid.

  I held my breath as Aidan pulled to the curb. With a backhanded wave, Billy Badass roared away on his Harley. We left the car, walked slowly toward the alley, and heard Seanmhair’s voice. Her fear lay in the sound of her words.

  “You get out of here, right now. I’ve no business with the likes of you,” Sean said in a worried tone.

  “Give me your bag, old lady, and you can go on your way.”

  “I’ll do no such thing,” she answered.

  The crash of metal and a sudden oomph brought me to a run. I yelled, “Sean, where are you?”

  Footsteps pounded the hard surface of the alley’s pavement, echoing off the brick walls. When I didn’t hear Sean, I groped around for her. Though the alley wasn’t completely dark because of the street lights, Sean lay in shadow. My fear mounted as I reached her. Aidan held his phone near Sean while the small light from the instrument showed she was alive and shaking.

  She grasped my arms and said, “I thought you’d never get here, Melina. Eddie said he’d find you for me.”

  “Sean, can you get up?” Aidan asked as he hovered awkwardly over us.

  “I can, I was just frightened.”

  “I’ll help you up,” I said and hauled the plump little woman to her feet.

  As she tried to stand, she yelped in pain, and I quickly put my arm around her. “She needs to go to the emergency room, Aidan. Help me get her to the car.”

  We’d set her in the front seat and I rode in the back as Aidan wended through traffic to the hospital. While I prepared to rush inside to get an orderly to help Seanmhair, Aidan spoke softly to her. Grateful for his ability to calm us both, I hurried indoors and returned with a young man in a white uniform, pushing a wheelchair.

  We’d gotten Sean out of the car and into the wheelchair without causing her much duress when Aidan said, “Sean’s either got a bad sprain or she broke something. I think she might be happier if you stay with her until she’s been seen by the doctor.”

  “I think you’re right. Are you coming in?” I asked him.

  Aidan assured me with a sweet smile and a nod. “After I park the car. I’ll be in the waiting area should you need me.”

  I left him to handle that and followed the orderly through the automatic doors. He’d gotten Seanmhair into a curtained cubicle and was assisting her onto a gurney while I watched. Adroit at his handling of the sick and elderly, the man knew his stuff, and I smiled in thanks when he said we’d be seen shortly.

  The wait seemed to take forever, but as triage is handled, Sean’s injury wasn’t life-threatening, just painful for her. I stood next to her as she lay waiting and asked softly, “What were you doing in that alley?”

  Her look was one of pleading. Clearly, Sean didn’t want me to be angry.

  “I’m not upset, I’m worried. Now, tell me what you were doing there.”

  “I was on my way home from a card game and remembered I’d forgotten to pick up a gift I’d ordered for you. When I parked ne
ar Miss Esposito’s shop, I saw two men walking up the street and into a pub. One of them was that Mr. Gallagher fellow. I followed and watched from the alley across the street. They sat in the window, so I got a good look at what was going on.”

  I sighed and asked, “What was going on?”

  “They were arguing. Mr. Gallagher seemed to be making a demand and the other man kept shaking his head ‘no’. What do you think it was about?”

  With a mental eye-roll, I whispered, “I don’t have the slightest idea. Don’t you think it would have been wiser to go about your business instead of putting yourself in a dangerous position?”

  A shiver shook her stout body as Sean nodded. “That man was a beggar. He tried to rob me, imagine that? I wasn’t giving him my purse or anything else. He can get a job like the rest of us, and make do the best he can,” Sean said with a sniff.

  Before I could make a remark, a nurse stepped into the cubicle and asked Sean a slew of questions, scribbled the answers on a sheaf of papers, and then said, “Right. Let’s talk about how your ankle is feeling.”

  Sean tried to move her foot and grimaced with pain. I laid my hand on her arm to soothe her.

  The nurse gave me a glance and said, “Don’t worry, the doctor will take care of this momentarily.”

  No sooner had she said so when the curtain was thrust aside and a man in a white coat, with a stethoscope around his neck, strode to Sean’s bedside. He took the chart the nurse handed him, perused it briefly, and then set it aside in order to check Sean’s ankle. He twisted and turned the foot, pressed the bones and flexed Sean’s toes. Her face grew bright red and then darker red as he continued to cause her excruciating pain.

  “Is that necessary?” I asked.

  The doctor gave me a glance, turned back to Sean, and said, “I’ll order an x-ray and then we’ll determine how to handle this ankle.” He turned and dismissed me with, “You can wait in the waiting room until we’re done with this patient.”

  My mouth fell open and I gaped at him. A colder man, I’d never met. So much for caring about the people he’d taken an oath to help. In a snit, I marched toward the waiting area as Sean was wheeled toward the x-ray department.