Exes and Woes: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Book 14) Read online

  Exes and Woes

  Made in Savannah

  Cozy Mystery Series Book Fourteen

  Hope Callaghan

  hopecallaghan.com

  Copyright © 2020

  All rights reserved.

  *****

  This book is a work of fiction. Although places mentioned may be real, the characters, names and incidents, and all other details are products of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual organizations, events or persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

  ______________________________

  Visit my website for new releases and special offers: hopecallaghan.com

  Thank you to these wonderful ladies who help make my books shine - Peggy H., Cindi G., Jean P., Wanda D., Barbara W. and Renate P. for taking the time to preview Exes and Woes, for the extra sets of eyes and for catching all of my mistakes.

  Thank you to Alix, my Savannah expert, for sharing your knowledge of this special place.

  A special THANKS to my reader review team:

  Alice, Alta, Amary, Amy, Becky, Brenda, Carolyn, Cassie, Charlene, Christine, Debbie, Denota, Devan, Diann, Grace, Helen, Jo-Ann, Jean M, Judith, Meg, Megan, Linda, Polina, Rebecca, Rita, Theresa, Valerie, Virginia and Vicki.

  CONTENTS

  Join The Fun!

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  More Cozy Fun

  Read More By Hope

  Meet Hope Callaghan

  Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

  Hot Milk Sponge Cake Recipe

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  Cast of Characters

  Carlita Garlucci. The widow of a mafia “made” man, Carlita promised her husband on his deathbed to get their sons out of the “family” business, so she moves from New York to the historic city of Savannah, Georgia. But escaping the family isn’t as easy as she hoped it would be and trouble follows Carlita to her new home.

  Mercedes Garlucci. Carlita’s daughter and the first to move to Savannah with her mother. An aspiring writer, Mercedes has a knack for finding mysteries and adventure and dragging her mother along for the ride.

  Vincent Garlucci, Jr. Carlita’s oldest son and a younger version of his father, Vinnie is deeply entrenched in the family business and not at all interested in leaving New Jersey for the Deep South.

  Tony Garlucci. Carlita’s middle son and the second to follow his mother to Savannah. Tony is protective of both his mother and his sister, which is a good thing since the female Garlucci’s are always in some sort of a predicament.

  Paulie Garlucci. Carlita’s youngest son. Mayor of the small town of Clifton Falls, New York, Paulie never joined the “family business,” content to live his life with his wife and young children away from a life of crime. His wife, Gina, rules the family household with an iron fist.

  Chapter 1

  Carlita’s eyes followed Luigi Baruzzo as he strolled to the other side of the pawn shop and approached the weapon’s case where a customer stood perusing the goods. “How’s it going with Luigi?” she whispered to her son, Tony, who was standing next to her.

  “So-so.” Tony shrugged. “He’s a little rough around the edges.”

  “Rough around the edges as in how?”

  “You’ll see. Just watch.”

  Luigi Baruzzo, a former mafia bodyguard, had made the decision to retire from the “family” while assigned to guarding Carlita’s daughter-in-law, Brittney, during a recent visit to Savannah. He had asked the Garlucci family if he could take up residence with them – renting Carlita’s vacant first-floor efficiency apartment.

  Her initial response was “no,” but after discussing it with her children, Carlita had decided to let him move in – on a temporary basis and provided he promised to give up his life of crime.

  The Garluccis were also helping him by hiring him to work part-time at Ravello’s, Carlita’s Italian restaurant, and Savannah Swag, the family-owned pawn shop.

  She had asked her son about how Luigi was working out and grown concerned with his vague replies. Determined to find out for herself, Carlita decided to drop by the pawn shop during his shift.

  “Hmmm.” She grabbed a bottle of window cleaner, a handful of paper towels and made her way to the jewelry counter, adjacent to the gun case and Luigi.

  She watched as he removed a pistol from the case and turned it over in his hand. “If you’re plannin’ on usin’ this piece to persuade someone to see things your way, this ain’t gonna create a sufficient level of fear. You wanna be able to back up any situation with force.”

  He set the gun on the counter, lifted the lapel of his leather jacket and pulled out a semi-automatic. “This baby, here, the Beretta Nano, can neutralize just about anything.” He trained it on the side of the wall and pretended to fire off a shot.

  The potential customer’s eyes grew wide as he stared at Luigi. “I…I plan to purchase it for home safety. We’ve had a couple of recent robberies in my neighborhood, and I want to keep my family safe.”

  Luigi lowered the weapon, running a light hand over the smooth metal. “Then, this might be a little overkill,” he chuckled. “Get it? Overkill?”

  “It looks like a solid piece. I…think I’m gonna think it over,” the man stammered.

  Luigi leaned an elbow on the counter and lowered his voice. “I might have a friend who can keep an eye on your neighborhood.” He rubbed his thumb across his fingers. “He’s reasonably priced and offers a one hundred percent satisfaction guarantee.”

  Carlita dropped the bottle of cleaner on the counter and hurried over. “I can handle this from here.”

  “No need. I was just leaving.” The man stumbled backward, never taking his eyes off Luigi until he was a safe distance away. He pivoted and dashed out the door.

  Luigi waited until he passed by the front window before turning to Carlita. “Hey, Mrs. G.”

  A heavy sigh escaped Carlita’s lips as she wondered how many other potential customers Luigi had scared off. “Hello, Luigi. How’s the apartment?”

  “It’s great.” Luigi put his gun back and then returned the pawn shop’s gun to the case. “It’s nice and quiet. Almost too quiet. It’s takin’ me some time to adjust. There ain’t much action around here.”

  “Which is a good thing, right?”

  “Yeah. Right.”

  “I thought I wo
uld stop by to invite you to our family’s Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant.”

  “Sure. I would love to come.”

  “Good. I should get going.” Carlita smiled as a customer walked in the door, and Luigi made a beeline for him.

  She cast an anxious glance in his direction and joined her son, who was still standing in the back. “I’m not sure working at a pawn shop is Luigi’s passion.”

  “No.” Tony shook his head. “I’m puttin’ out some feelers to see if anyone in the area is looking for security detail.”

  “Have you checked with Dernice?” Carlita asked. “As far as I know, Elvira is still gone. She might need an extra hand with the security company.”

  “I planned to stop by there but haven’t had time.”

  “I’ll ask her. I’ve been wondering if she’s heard from Elvira.” Carlita patted his arm, watching as Luigi lead the customer to the jewelry case. “He’s trying. We have to give him credit for that.”

  She told her son good-bye and then exited the pawn shop, making her way to Ravello’s where everything was running smoothly. In fact, all of her businesses were running smoothly. Ravello’s was turning a tidy profit. The pawn shop was making money. Carlita’s apartments were all occupied.

  The restaurant had opened for the day, and there were already several diners inside. Carlita greeted a couple who were seated near the entrance on her way to the kitchen, where she checked inventory levels before returning to her apartment.

  Mercedes’ bedroom door was ajar, and Carlita found her daughter seated at her corner desk, squinting at her laptop.

  “Knock. Knock.”

  “Hey, Ma.” Mercedes swiveled around. “You get a chance to check on Luigi?”

  “I did. I’m not sure he’s a good fit for the pawn shop. He’s scarin’ potential customers off.” Carlita told her how he pulled out his semi-automatic and trained the weapon on the wall. “I thought the guy was gonna hit the floor.”

  She pointed at the computer. “How’s the new story going?” Her daughter had recently finished writing her mafia series and was working on a new one, this one set in Savannah and nearby Tybee Island.

  “It’s moving right along. Vinnie gave me a few pointers, but I’m thinking I need to make a trip to Tybee for research.”

  “Our Vinnie?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ve been meaning to call and check on that new grandson of mine.”

  Brittney and Vinnie’s first child, also named Vincent, had arrived on Halloween eve. As soon as they got the news, Carlita and Mercedes had hopped in the car and driven north to New Jersey to meet the newest Garlucci family member.

  During their brief visit, Carlita saw firsthand exactly how deeply her son had become entrenched in the Castellini family business. Despite her misgivings about his choice of employment, Vinnie seemed to love the prestige of his job as the casino’s manager.

  He and Brittney had recently completed renovations on their spacious penthouse, located on the casino’s top floor. Their new home was ultra-modern with high-end finishes, imported Italian marble floors throughout, not to mention every conceivable high-tech security feature.

  Baby Vinnie was the spitting image of her son and deceased husband. The visit flew by, and Carlita was sad the morning they packed their bags to head home.

  Vinnie promised he, along with his wife and new son, would make the trip to Savannah for Christmas, giving his mother something to look forward to.

  “The baby is good,” Mercedes said. “We did a facetime chat. He’s so stinkin’ cute.”

  “Christmas is too far away.” Carlita’s throat clogged as she thought about how much she missed her children and grandchildren.

  “It’s okay, Ma. They’ll be here before you know it. Don’t forget, Paulie and his family are comin’ down too. We’re gonna have a full house.”

  “It will be wonderful to have the family all together again.” Carlita’s cell phone chirped, and she shifted her gaze. It was a text from Pirate Pete, confirming their date for Saturday evening. She tightened her grip on the phone as she tapped out a reply.

  “Who is that?”

  “Pete. He’s confirming our Saturday night date.”

  “Ma’s got a date,” Mercedes sing-songed.

  “Shush.” Carlita waved dismissively. “It’s no big deal.” The phone started to ring. It was Pete calling. “That’s him now.”

  “I wanted to remind you that you’ll need to bring a warm jacket and wear comfortable shoes.”

  “I will. You sure you can’t give me a hint about where we’re going?”

  “And spoil my surprise? You’ll find out soon enough.” Pete changed the subject. “How’s it going with your new tenant?”

  “Okay.” Carlita stepped out of her daughter’s bedroom and wandered into the living room. “I’m not sure having Luigi work as a part-time pawn shop employee is a good fit for him or for us.”

  “I might have a job – a one-time security gig – coming up.” Pete explained that a group of insurance salesmen were in town for a convention and had booked his pirate ship for an evening event. “They’re a wild bunch. Last year, they rented out my restaurant and ended up damaging some furniture. They’re paying good money, but I could use an extra hand keeping ‘em in line.”

  “Luigi has an excellent track record at keeping people in line.”

  “If you have time, why don’t you bring him by the pirate ship later?”

  “That would be great,” Carlita said. “I think a security job would be right up Luigi’s alley.” She thanked Pete and promised to run it by her tenant.

  Carlita ended the call. Her eyes drifted to the balcony doors where she had an unobstructed view of the back of Elvira’s apartment, reminding her she was curious and wanted to find out if Dernice had heard from her troublesome sister.

  Carlita slid her phone in her pocket. She was halfway to the front door when Mercedes emerged from her room. “Hey, Ma. You heading out again?”

  “I want to track down Dernice to see if she might be interested in hiring Luigi.”

  “I need a break. I’ll go with you.” Mercedes pulled the door shut behind them and followed her mother down the stairs.

  “I’m also wondering if she’s heard from Elvira.”

  Elvira, Carlita’s former tenant, had recently become despondent. Despite their best attempts, Dernice and Carlita had been unable to pull her out of her funk. Without warning, she had left town.

  The women rounded the corner, nearly colliding with a police officer who stood blocking EC Investigative Services’ entrance.

  Chapter 2

  A red-faced Dernice was standing in front of the building, motioning wildly, as she spoke to one of the officers.

  “Now what?” Carlita muttered under her breath as she and her daughter eased in behind them.

  “This is a security company,” Dernice snapped. “Of course, I keep the doors locked when no one is here. I also have surveillance cameras, which aren’t catching anything.”

  “There’s no sign of forced entry. My men and I searched the place. As far as we can tell, no crime has been committed.”

  “I’m telling you, someone is messing around here,” Dernice insisted.

  The officer shrugged helplessly. “There’s nothing I can do other than put in a request for some extra patrols.”

  Dernice folded her arms, making a grunting sound as she watched the officers climb into the patrol car and drive off.

  “What happened?” Carlita asked.

  “This is the second time this week that I came back from a job and found the front door wide open. I know for a fact I locked it.” Dernice explained that the first time it happened, she thought she’d been in a hurry and had forgotten to shut it, but now that it had happened a second time, she was sure someone had been inside.

  “They didn’t take anything?” Mercedes asked.

  “Nope. That’s the weird part. I don’t get it.” Dernice placed both hands on
her hips.

  “Maybe it was Elvira,” Carlita suggested.

  “I already thought about that. The surveillance cameras should’ve recorded her or whoever it was. Elvira must’ve gotten the things dirt cheap. They’re nothing but hunks of junk.”

  “What about employees?” Mercedes shaded her eyes and studied the street. “Could it be an employee or ex-employee messing around?”

  “I change the locks every time an employee is terminated or quits.” Dernice turned to Carlita. “Speaking of Elvira, she needs to get her butt back here. I’m swamped with holiday jobs.”

  “As a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. You met Luigi, the man from…up north, my new tenant.”

  “Yeah. Yeah. We’ve chatted a couple of times in the parking lot. He seems like a nice enough guy.”

  “Luigi has been helping us at the restaurant and the pawn shop, but I’m not sure either place is a good fit for him.” Carlita clasped her hands. “I thought EC Security Services might want to consider hiring him. He has experience in security detail as a bodyguard for my daughter-in-law and her family.”

  Dernice brightened. “Hiring someone who has experience would be awesome.” Her smile quickly faded. “Elvira mentioned family ties from up north. He’s not gonna start shootin’ people or shaking them down, is he?”

  “I…” Carlita needed to choose her words carefully, yet be completely honest with Dernice. The last thing she wanted was to cause the woman additional grief. “All I can tell you is he’s trying to stay on the right side of the law.”

  “Good enough for me. I might have a job for him by tomorrow. I could use it as a trial run to see how he works out before offering him full-time employment.”

  “That’s a wise decision. I’ll have him stop by later.” Carlita changed the subject. “Any word from your sister?”

  “I talk to her more now than when we were living under the same roof. Great.” Dernice’s eyes followed a mail delivery truck as it parked near the curb, and the driver got out.