Exes and Woes: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Book 14) by Hope Callaghan (good summer reads .TXT) 📗

with the IRS. What if Gibbons planned to use the sale of the property to pay off the family’s debt, but there was a holdout – Elvira?

Hey! There was a commotion coming from the alleyway. Carlita scrambled out of the chair and dashed to the balcony door. She watched as a Savannah police officer escorted a handcuffed Dernice to the other end of the alley.

Chapter 24

Carlita snatched Grayvie up and darted back inside the apartment. She set the cat on the floor and ran out the door, not slowing until she reached the alley.

It was too late. The police car, with Dernice inside, was gone.

Elvira’s back door was ajar. “Hello?” Carlita hollered as she took a tentative step inside. She called out again and could hear someone talking.

Carlita hurried through the apartment to the office where she found Zulilly pacing in front of the picture window, talking on her cell phone. She took one look at Carlita and turned her back.

“…with the evidence. Listen. I have company. I have to go.” Zulilly abruptly ended the call. “Hello.”

“Hello, Zulilly.” Carlita got right to the point. “I watched the police drive off with your aunt in the back of a patrol car. What’s going on?”

“The investigators have evidence linking Aunt D to the Tybee woman’s death.”

“What kind of evidence?”

“They found a rope and a note with the woman’s name and address inside her work van.” Zulilly’s expression grew dark. “I suspected her all along. Aunt D was jealous of my mother.”

“Why would she kill Kim Turbell? What does that have to do with Dernice being jealous of your mother?”

“It’s obvious. To pin it on my mother. Her body was found in Mom’s building. You know what I think?” Zulilly didn’t wait for a reply. “Mom felt sorry for Aunt Dernice after she was released from prison and couldn’t find a job, so she invited her to come to Savannah and help her with the businesses.”

Zulilly proceeded to tell Carlita that after her mother left town, Dernice began concocting a plan. “My aunt knew my mom would be a suspect in the woman’s murder. With Mom out of the picture, she could take over.”

“I don’t know if I buy that. Have you talked to your mother and told her what happened?”

“Not yet. I was getting ready to call her.”

Carlita assumed Zulilly had been talking to Elvira, but apparently, she was already telling someone else. She had a sneaking suspicion that person was Zulilly’s father.

It was possible Zulilly was correct. She knew the family dynamics and personalities better than Carlita. She remembered the other day when Dernice and she visited Coastal’s sales office. After they left the building, Dernice went back inside and talked to the woman. What if she told Turbell she would meet her at the property later and then murdered her?

She dismissed the thought. The woman could have easily told co-workers or others she was meeting Dernice. Unless…Dernice told the woman she would be meeting Elvira.

Thoughts and theories tumbled around in Carlita’s mind. There were too many suspects, too many possibilities. Somewhere in between was the truth.

Zulilly’s cell phone rang, and she glanced at the screen. “I have to take this call. If you’ll excuse me.”

She strode to the front door and held it open, waiting for Carlita to exit.

Carlita could feel the woman’s eyes on her as she walked past the front window. Something wasn’t sitting right. Zulilly knew or was hiding something.

Carlita rounded the corner and collided with Luigi, who was heading in the opposite direction. He reached out to steady her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to plow you over.”

“The police hauled Dernice off to jail. Zulilly seems to think she’s responsible for the Tybee Island woman’s death. I don’t buy it.”

“Dernice called me a little while ago. She said something about the heat was on, and she had a feeling she was gonna take the fall. I was on my way over to check on her.” Luigi nodded in the direction of the building. “What about the daughter? Dernice thought she was up to no good.”

“I was thinking the same thing. She’s been talking to someone on her cell phone and was anxious for me to leave.”

“So maybe it’s her behind all of this,” Luigi said.

“It could be. I don’t trust her.”

“If she’s involved, she’s gonna make a move.”

“Make a move?”

“You know, tip her hand now that Dernice is out of the picture.”

“You’re right. We should keep an eye on her.”

Luigi pulled his car keys from his pocket. “I owe Dernice one. I say we do a little surveillance on Elvira’s dear daughter.”

“A stakeout?”

“In your very own neighborhood.”

“Let me go grab my purse.” Carlita dashed up the stairs. She grabbed her purse and keys before joining Luigi, who was waiting for her at the other end of the alley. “Did she leave?”

“Not yet. Hop in.” Luigi drove around the block and eased his car into a parking spot in front of Annie Dowton’s real estate office, adjacent to their alley.

“Now what?” Carlita asked.

“We wait.”

Carlita grew silent, keeping her eyes trained on the alley. Every few minutes, she glanced at her watch. “What if she doesn’t leave?”

“She will.”

Carlita texted Mercedes to let her know she was running an errand and then dialed Elvira’s cell phone.

“Hey, Carlita. I was getting ready to give you a call. There’s been a change of plans.”

“Dernice is on her way to jail,” Carlita blurted out.

“I heard. Zulilly thinks she’s responsible for Turbell’s death, that she was trying to set me up and take control of my businesses.”

“There’s something fishy going on over here.”

“Yeah. It’s looking like my sister is a conniving criminal and possibly even a killer.”

“But what if it wasn’t Dernice? What