Christmas Family Style in Savannah: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Bo by Hope Callaghan (summer reading list txt) 📕

“Wait a minute. Are you sure you want to tamper with potential evidence?” Mercedes asked.

“It won’t be tampering if they don’t touch anything, especially near the scene of the incident,” Vinnie said. “I got some sets of gloves.”

“I dunno…” Carlita was having second thoughts. On the one hand, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a quick look around before the investigators tore the place apart. After all, they knew more about what had happened leading up to the incident than the police did.

On the other hand, Mercedes was right. They could potentially be tampering with crime scene evidence.

“It’s either you go in with gloves, or we wait for Jersey Joe to start his investigation,” Vinnie warned. “There is one other thing I haven’t mentioned yet.”

“Great, more good news,” Carlita muttered.

“Vito treated Roxy like a daughter.” Vinnie told them that a few years back, Roxy’s father was ambushed while assisting Vito during a “job.” He was wounded. Vito raced to the hospital, and right before the mob man died, he made Vito promise to look after Roxy. “Vito takes his vows very seriously and has always been protective of her.”

“Which means he’ll be determined to figure out who did Roxy in,” Paulie shook his head.

“One hundred percent.”

“Well,” Luigi clapped his hands. “It’s time to hustle.”

The plan was for Tony, Carlita, Luigi, Ricco and Mercedes to search the ship with a goal to be in and out within an hour. By then, Vinnie and Pete would be at the police station, explaining what had happened and identifying Roxy.

“I don’t know how much you or the authorities will find. My crew cleaned the entire ship except for the area where Roxy was being detained.” Pete dangled a set of keys. “I told them to steer clear of that.”

“I’ll take those.” Elvira snatched the keys from Pete’s hand.

“You’re not goin’ with us,” Tony said.

“And why not?” Elvira indignantly asked. “I have as much skin in the game as the rest of you, if not more. Besides, investigating is my background. You need me.”

The woman had a point. She had the experience and a certain level of expertise. Plus, Elvira could be ruthless.

“She can go with us,” Carlita said. “What’s it gonna hurt? If nothing else, the more eyes looking around, the better.”

*****

Before leaving, Pete had given them detailed instructions about how to gain access to the pirate ship via the main gangway. Thankfully, because it was still early, there was no crew onboard The Flying Gunner.

It was a short drive from the apartment to the ship. Elvira parked her company van in a nearby parking lot, and they walked the rest of the way.

The group gathered in front of the dock, and Tony held out his hand. “Keys, please.”

“You don’t trust me to open the door?” Elvira asked.

“No, I don’t. Keys,” he repeated as he snapped his fingers.

“I can’t believe this.” Elvira reluctantly handed them to him.

He strode across the dock and unlocked a gray box attached to a cemented pole. A big black button marked “G” was inside the box.

Tony pressed the button, and the gangway silently lowered.

“That’s cool,” Mercedes said. “An electronic gangway.”

Luigi led the way inside the dark main deck. He flicked his lighter, illuminating the interior. “I see a light switch.” He flipped it on. “Now what?”

Tony pointed to himself. “Me, Ricco and Mercedes will search the below-deck area. You three search this main deck, and then we’ll all head to the top deck together.”

Carlita passed out the gloves Vinnie had given her. After they left, she slipped hers on and began poking around the Christmas tree while Luigi headed to the bar off to the side.

“I was gonna start there,” Elvira whined.

“Don’t start on me, Elvira,” Luigi warned. “Find somewhere else to search, or better yet, entertain yourself by playing with the gangway button.”

“Jerk,” Elvira muttered as she stomped off. She found the check-in counter near the gangway and began rummaging around.

Pop. Carlita stumbled back. “What was that?”

“Creaky beams.” Luigi jabbed his finger at the wooden beams overhead.

“This place is snap, crackle and popping worse than a low-level thug cracking his knuckles on the street corner,” Luigi joked. “There’s no way you could get me to sleep on this thing at night. I’d be jumpin’ up every five minutes with my gun drawn, thinkin’ someone was bustin’ in.”

“Me, either, but for different reasons.” Although Carlita wouldn’t, she knew Pete regularly slept in his office hammock. She finished her search and then told Elvira and Luigi she would do a quick check of Pete’s office.

Since he’d told them before they left that he’d spent the night on board the ship, Carlita was certain there wouldn’t be any sort of clue inside, although she remembered Roxy being extremely interested in Pete’s private quarters to the point he had threatened to remove her from them physically.

Gunner’s covered birdcage hung in the corner. She could hear the tap of his claws on the bar and took a quick peek under the blanket. Two beady black eyes peered back.

“Gunner is awake,” he told her.

Carlita carefully removed the blanket. “Good morning, Gunner.”

“Gunner is handsome. Don’t let the pirates steal your booty.”

“We need to work on expanding your vocabulary.” Carlita adjusted her rubber gloves and completed a slow perimeter inspection. She stuck her head inside Pete’s bathroom and could smell the lingering scent of his cologne.

She did a quick inspection of the kitchenette in the corner, including the cabinets and small fridge. Carlita steered clear of his desk area. Although Pete had given them the green light to search his ship, it still felt like an invasion of privacy, so she hurriedly finished.

“Pete’s a pirate,” Gunner strutted along his