Page 27 of Family Ties and Alibis

Tink.

Carlita clicked on the attachment and tapped the screen to enlarge it. She swiped to the right, studying each of the photos showing the damage. Admittedly, the crack was small. Shards and chunks of glass littered the alley where the window had broken.

“I’ve seen the photos. Please forward the engineer’s report and quote.”

“On the way after we hang up. I’ll also email a copy. It’ll take a minute to get the ball rolling and schedule the actual repairs. I’m sure you’ll be home before the work is done.”

“Which is probably a good thing. Is there anything else I should know about? Perhaps a freak flood or spontaneous combustion that is threatening to take out my properties?”

Elvira chuckled. “I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor. I promise I’ll make things right.”

“And you’ll be paying for it.”

“But…”

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you caused the crack, which means you will pay to have it fixed.”

“Fine. I figured you would stick me with the entire bill,” Elvira sighed. “Maybe you can chip in a couple hundred bucks for me taking care of Rambo.”

“We’ll negotiate the details when I get home.”

“I’ll check in later, when you’re calmer.”

“Don’t forget to forward the report and the quote.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Carlita ended the call and set her phone on the counter. “It’s a good thing we’ll only be gone for a few days.”

Pete patted her arm. “Any longer and you might not have a property to come home to.”

Chapter 11

“The call went better than expected.” Elvira pressed the end call button.

“You think so?” Dernice asked. “Carlita sounds ticked.”

“Eh.” Her sister waved dismissively. “She was in shock. Once the shock wore off, I think she took it rather well.”

“You promised to send her the quote.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” Elvira pulled up the quote and forwarded it, along with a few additional photos she’d taken. “I’ll admit the busted-out window looks a little rough, and the fact that the crack goes all the way to the ground isn’t ideal, but all in all, it could’ve been a lot worse.”

“A lot.” Dernice followed her sister through the house to the storage closet near the breezeway. She grew quiet, watching her rummage around inside.

Elvira pulled out her kit of excavating tools and set them on the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to head back over to Pete’s restaurant to do some digging while they’re gone.”

“You better stick to the area he gave you,” Dernice warned.

“I don’t plan on breaking my promise; however, I’ll start working on Pete when he gets back. I figured he could give me another foot in each direction and it wouldn’t affect his customers one bit.” Elvira carried the tools to her van parked in the alley and returned for her handheld metal detector.

“This looks like a full-fledged dig,” her sister said.

“I need to be prepared in the event I finally find something.” Elvira tested the batteries. “Did I tell you I got a hit last time I was over there? This thing went off like I was leaving a department store with a theft-deterrent tag still attached to my merchandise.” She continued adding items to the stack.