“I do recall he makes decent money, enough to afford the apartment.”
Elvira stared at her in disbelief. “You didn’t check his work references?”
“No. He paid his first and last month’s rent plus his deposit. His credit and background checks were both clean.”
“What if he runs an illegal business from his home?”
Carlita placed her hand on Elvira’s forehead. “Are you suffering from paranoia?”
She swatted her hand away. “Go ahead and make fun of me, but when the bodies start piling up or the cops are kicking down your door, I’ll be the first to say I told you so.”
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll find out what line of work Bubba is in and let you know.”
“Don’t bother. I’m gonna run my own check on him. You can never be too careful,” Elvira said.
“Not to change the subject, but how is Yvonne?”
“She showed up for work today, whining about how she’s still afraid to eat, but at least she’s not talking about hiring an attorney. To be honest, she probably already did, and they told her she didn’t have a case.”
“I hope so.”
“Any fallout from the Channel 2 story?” Elvira asked.
“We’ve gotten several holiday party cancellations this morning. The health department sent a woman to the restaurant for a surprise inspection.”
“Did you give her food samples? Because unless it’s a cop and they have a search warrant, you don’t have to provide anyone with samples.”
“Paisley emptied the pans and gave the leftovers to the animal feed place last night.” Carlita told her she was still waiting to hear from the lab. “How well do you know the riders in Dernice and Luigi’s riding club?”
“I see them around. She mentions them in passing. Based on what we’re finding out, it’s probably a good thing.”
Carlita told her about chatting with Reese and Reese’s conversation with Sonny. “What if someone tampered with Sonny’s brake cable?”
“If he had an enemy, someone who wanted to take him out, then I guess it should be looked into,” Elvira said. “You saw Dernice’s photos. She and Luigi are convinced Creed wasn’t the rider who was supposed to crash. Maybe someone messed with Sonny’s brake cable. That didn’t work, so they tried causing a wreck. Causing him to wreck backfired, so they decided to poison him at the party.”
“Poisoning didn’t kill him, so they took him out in the hospital,” Carlita said. “All leading back to figuring out who visited Sonny the night of his death.”
Elvira’s cell phone chimed. “I’m late for a meeting with a potential client. Let me know when you get the lab results.”
“Hopefully, with good news.” Carlita stood off to the side, watching as Elvira hopped into her work van. Loose gravel flew from the back tires as she hit the gas a little too hard and sped off.
Stepping into the alley, Carlita studied the camera, still angled in a way that allowed her a partial view of anyone who entered or exited the apartment.
“Not enough, Elvira,” Carlita muttered. “If you wanna spy on my tenants and family, you’re gonna have to try a little harder.”
Chapter 18
Carlita strode into the pawn shop and tracked her son down.
“Hey, Ma.”
“Hello, Son. You got a minute?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Elvira and her antics.”
“Uh-oh. What and where?”
