Page 29 of Family Ties and Alibis

Elvira swooped down and snatched it up, cackling gleefully as she triumphantly held it up in the air. “Will you look at that?”

Chapter 12

Carlita couldn’t help but notice the glum look on her son’s face. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. The investigators asked for another set of surveillance recordings. Other than that, it looks like Sal’s case is at a standstill.”

Luigi downed the last of his drink and set the empty highball glass on the table. “Demo said people are talkin’.”

“About Sal’s death?”

“They’re sayin’ Tommy offed him.”

Carlita’s head shot up. “Tommy Castellini?”

“My brother did no such thing,” Brittney indignantly replied. “People have been spreading rumors for years, ever since Vinnie took over Treasure Cove. They’re jealous of how well Vinnie and Tommy get along.”

“I ain’t got no beef with my brother-in-law,” Vinnie said. “He runs his casino. I run mine.”

“I’m not sayin’ it is or isn’t true,” Luigi said. “I’m only telling you what I heard.”

“I will not sit here and listen to you repeat lies about my brother. I need to pick Vin up at the kid’s center.” Brittney snatched her handbag from the table and marched off.

“I didn’t mean to get Brittney into a tizzy,” Luigi said.

“She gets a little defensive when it comes to her mother and brother.” Vinnie drummed his fingers on the table. “Tommy and I get along well enough and try not to step on each other’s toes.”

Carlita sipped her water, eyeing her eldest son over the rim. “How is business at his casino?”

“Not as good as here, but not too bad. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten how ticked off he was when Vito offered me a job managing this place. Tommy’s made comments in the past, how he could run both casinos. Vito thought otherwise.” Vinnie shrugged. “It’s water under the bridge. Maybe Tommy took Sal out or had someone else do it if he was causing trouble over there like he was here.”

“Mrs. Castellini seems a little uptight about what went down,” Tony said.

“Francesca has time on her hands. Time to worry about what Brittney and Tommy are up to.”

“More like meddling,” Carlita murmured.

Vinnie grinned. “You never were one to sugarcoat your words, Ma. Like I said before, she can drive me nuts, but I love Brit. She loves her mother, so it’s kind of a package deal.”

“You’re a good husband, Vinnie Garlucci.” Carlita patted his hand.

“Tell everyone what Elvira is up to,” Pete said.

“She was messing around, trying to repair her building and ended up cracking the pawn shop’s wall,” Tony said. “I had my manager send me a video. He forwarded me a copy of the structural engineer’s report. It can be fixed.”

“And Elvira is going to pay for it,” Carlita added.

“Dernice mentioned what happened. Do you have pictures of the damage?” Luigi asked.

“I do.” Carlita tracked down the text and photos Elvira had sent and handed Luigi her phone.

He let out a low whistle. “She even busted out the window.”

“Pete and I agreed it’s a good thing we’ll only be gone for a few days. Who knows what might happen if we leave her unsupervised for too long.”

Paulie craned his neck, glimpsing the cell phone’s screen. “It seems like she gets into a lot of tricky situations.”

“All self-imposed,” Pete said. “She should leave structural repairs to the experts.”