“Possibly.”
“Sonny was a city employee and a regular on my route.”
Carlita’s heart skipped a beat. “You knew Sonny?”
“I wouldn’t say we were best buds, but he would sit up front and chat with me. We even talked at the engagement party.It must’ve been before he got sick.” Reese tapped her lower lip. “You know what? Now that I think about it, I remember something he said that might be worth looking into.”
Chapter 17
“Sonny said something to you at the party,” Carlita repeated.
“Not at the party, but the other day. We got to talking about his riding club. He told me he almost wrecked his motorcycle a week ago. He mentioned an issue with the brake cable not working properly,” Reese said.
“Did he say why it wasn’t working properly? I mean, did he find the reason, like maybe it came loose or was corroded?”
“No, and I didn’t think to ask,” Reese said. “He mentioned Creed’s accident, which is how we got on the subject.”
Carlita made a mental note to ask Luigi and Dernice about Sonny’s brakes.
The final passengers boarded, and Reese left to continue her route. Meanwhile, Carlita backtracked to Ravello’s and found Mercedes waiting for her. “How’s Reese?”
“Gearing up for Christmas.” Carlita told her what her friend had said. “Sonny mentioned having issues with his motorcycle’s brakes.”
“Meaning they might have been tampered with?”
“It’s possible.”
A car pulled up to the curb. A group of women, dressed in business attire, climbed out and entered the restaurant.
“At least we still have customers,” Mercedes said. “I gotta get to work.”
“I’m gonna check on Bubba to see how he’s settling in.” Carlita ran inside the restaurant long enough to collect her purseand keys, along with the welcome to the neighborhood greeting card she’d picked up for her new tenant, and exited through the back.
Stepping into the alley, she noticed an EC Security Services van parked at the corner. As she drew closer, Carlita spotted a familiar figure standing on the hood, fiddling with the gutter. “Now what is she up to?”
Circling around to the front of the van, she stopped a few feet away. “What are you doing?”
Elvira jerked back, nearly losing her balance. “What the…”
“Sorry.”
“You scared the daylights out of me.”
“I thought you saw me.”
“While I’m staring up?” Elvira wiped her hands on her jeans. “Since you’re here, I could use some help.”
“Doing what?”
“I need the red pliers in the toolbox next to the front tire.”
Carlita plucked the pliers from the toolbox and handed them to her. “What are you doing?” she repeated.
“Replacing my old security camera.”
“I thought you upgraded the cameras earlier this year.”
“Technology advances every day. These are much better. Better quality, better optics, more energy efficient.”
