Unholy Matrimony (17 page)

One or two of the mothers gave Frankie a funny look as he sat there with Lucille’s red purse in his lap, but Lucille squeezed his arm for encouragement, and he sighed and settled back in his seat.

Finally a nurse called them back to one of the examining rooms.

“I’ll be fine, Lu,” Frankie said as he handed her the purse. “You wait out here. No telling what kind of germs they got back there.”

Lucille, not being overly fond of hospitals, was more than happy to oblige.

The nurse gave Frankie a startled look as she led him through a pair of swinging doors.

Lucille picked up a year-old copy of
Star
magazine and settled contentedly in her seat. They had an article on John Travolta, who Lucille had always liked, and apparently there was some new secret that had been dug up about ole blue eyes. She hoped Frankie didn’t come out before she’d had the chance to finish flipping through the magazine.

Lucille was deep into the piece on Travolta when the door to the emergency room whooshed open and two women came in. One of them had a black eye and what looked like a split lip. There were spatters of blood on her white T-shirt, and the hair at her temple was dark red and matted.

“He could have killed you,” her companion hissed loudly. She was a little older, although not much. The two of them looked like sisters.

The girl looked familiar to Lucille—the one with the black eye. She tried not to stare at her, but when they took the seat opposite, she was able to observe them over the edge of her magazine.

She had it! The girl with the black eye was Natalie Romescu, Donna’s former maid. What on earth had happened to her?

The girl’s companion got up from her seat. “I’m going outside for a smoke. You going to be okay?”

Natalie nodded her head without looking up. “Yeah, sure.”

Lucille decided to get up for a drink of water. She tossed her magazine on the end table next to her row of plastic chairs and made her way to the water fountain. There was a piece of bright orange gum floating in the water that had backed up from the clogged drain.

Never mind. She just wanted an excuse to stand up. She strolled over to where Natalie was sitting and sat down one seat away from her. Natalie had her head down and had a tissue pressed to her bleeding lip.

Lucille leaned forward and grabbed the box of tissues off one of the tables. “Here, take one of these.” She held it out toward Natalie.

Natalie snaked out a hand and grabbed half a dozen without looking up.

“You worked for the Grabowskis, didn’t you?” Lucille asked.

Natalie nodded and raised her head to look at Lucille.

Lucille put her hand over Natalie’s. “What happened?”

“The man came from nowhere and hit my car. The—what do you call it—air bag popped out and hit me in the face.” She gestured toward her black eye and cut lip. “How am I going to get my car fixed? The Grabowskis are dead. I’ll never get my back pay now.”

“Maybe their lawyer will arrange something?”

Natalie snorted. “Yeah, sure. How is he going to do that? There’s no money left.”

Lucille frowned. “I thought they had plenty of dough. Donna had all that jewelry, they drove a fancy car and lived in a big house. They spent a fortune on the rehearsal dinner. The Pantagis Renaissance, can you imagine?”

“Throwing their money around.” Natalie sniffed. “And they expect me to work for free. Alex promised me—”

“Promised you what?” Lucille said as offhandedly as possible.

“We were going to go away together. To some island. But then he lost all his money. He said he had plenty on this island he wanted me to go to, but I didn’t believe him.” She blew her nose in the bloody tissue. “Besides, he wanted me to pay my own way. I said no.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I stayed at their house thinking Alex would come back, but he didn’t. Instead these two men came. They scared me.” She shivered.

“What did they look like?”

“Their clothes, they were all black, and the one had a scar”—she pointed at her temple—“right here. It went all the way around to the back of his head. I could see it through his hair.”

“What did they want?” Lucille asked, although she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

Natalie shrugged. “Money, I guess. They thought I knew where Alex was, but I didn’t. He did not tell me where he was going so I could not help them.”

“But what happened to all the money, I wonder?”

“That’s what I wish to know. He said something about the price of stocks that I did not understand.” She stared at Lucille. “All I want is my back pay.”

A nurse hustled Natalie into one of the examination rooms and Lucille was left with her magazine. Although she wasn’t really reading it, just staring at the print. She was trying to make sense of what Natalie had told her. The Grabowskis losing all their money? And Alex wanting Natalie to run away with him to some island? If that was true, then it would make sense if Alex had killed Donna. But then who killed Alex?

Thinking about it was giving Lucille a headache, and she was relieved when Frankie came into the waiting room. He smiled when he saw Lucille.

“All taken care of.”

“Thank goodness for that. I was real worried there.”

“Doctor said it’s a rare reaction. I may have to lay off them pills.”

“That’s okay,” Lucille said. She thought about the pink Total Romance bag hidden in the back of her closet. “I’m sure things will work out.”

Chapter 17

It was almost time for lunch when they got back home.

“You want me to fix you a sandwich? I got some nice capicola at the deli the other day.”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds great.”

They were heading toward the kitchen when they heard a voice.

“Yeah, baby. Yeah, baby,” it said.

Frank whirled around. “Lucille. You’ve got to get rid of that damn bird.”

“Okay, Frankie, okay. Take it easy. Let’s have a bite to eat first, and then I’ll drive by the owner’s house and see if they’re back yet.”

The whole time she was putting together the sandwiches, Lucille wondered what on earth she was going to do with the parrot. The owners weren’t never coming back. Then again, maybe Taylor had reappeared and she could hand it over to him.

Lucille finished eating, put the dishes in the dishwasher and tidied up the kitchen.

“There’s capicola in the fridge,” she yelled down the stairs to Louis and Millie. Hopefully they could handle making their own lunch, seeing as how it didn’t involve turning on the stove.

Lucille wrestled the birdcage into the Olds and got in. She popped in her tape of “Lucille,” turned up the volume, and shot down the driveway.

“Yeah, baby. Yeah, baby,” the parrot continued to chant from the backseat.

Lucille gritted her teeth and drove on.

She was relieved when she turned onto Pine Way. Mowers hummed up and down the block and a local landscaping company’s truck was parked down the street from the Grabowskis’.

Lucille pulled into their driveway and parked. The house looked the same as it had the day before. There was an air of emptiness about it, but Lucille went down the path to the front door anyway.

She heard the bell ringing inside the house loud and clear so there wasn’t nothing wrong with it. If anyone was home, they couldn’t miss it.

She waited a couple of minutes, running a hand across the back of her neck. Sheesh, it was hot standing there.

Finally, it was obvious. No one was home. Now Lucille began to sweat in earnest. What was she going to tell Frankie, and what on earth was she going to do with the parrot?

Lucille was heading back to her car when a sign on the neighbor’s lawn caught her eye. It was a large
For Sale
sign. She was pretty sure it hadn’t been there yesterday.

“They’re selling,” a voice said behind her.

Lucille turned around. A woman with bleached blonde hair and a dark tan was standing there. She was wearing those skintight capris people wore to work out in. Lucille didn’t even want to think about how she would look in those.

“They’re selling,” she said again, pointing toward the Bianchis’ house. “It’s a shame.”

“They’re moving?”

The woman shook her head. “Downsizing,” she said with a look that clearly said she would have none of that herself. “Had to. Lost almost all their money.”

“What happened?”

The woman tilted her head toward the Grabowskis’ house. “They put all their money in Alex Grabowski’s hands. He promised them millions.” She snorted. “He promised everyone that. He tried to get everyone to use his company. My husband and I”—she sniffed contemptuously —“turned down his offer to look after our investments. And thank goodness. It was all some sort of Ponzi scheme.”

Lucille didn’t know who this guy Ponzi was, but that wasn’t the first time she’d heard his name. He sure had a lot to answer for.

Lucille had begun to suspect that Alex Grabowski was up to something, and now she knew for sure. She was glad she and Frankie kept their money at the credit union. Not that there was much of anything to invest. Most of the time they lived paycheck to paycheck, and no matter how hard Lucille tried to economize at the grocery store, it didn’t do much good.

“What a shame,” Lucille said.

The woman was doing some weird kind of stretch. “I’ve got to go. Trying to get a run in before my manicure.”

“Sure, sure. Nice meeting you.” Lucille watched as the woman took off at a slow trot.

Maybe she ought to take up running? It might make this diet thing go faster. Meanwhile, she had to figure out what to do with the parrot. It was calling to her from the backseat.

As Lucille was backing down the driveway, she had a thought. Maybe she could take the parrot to the vet’s office? She had a neighbor once who came home with a new kitten. Said she’d gotten it at the vets. And if the vet took in kittens, why not parrots?

The only vet Lucille knew was on Springfield Avenue in Berkley Heights. She headed in that direction, fingers crossed that this was going to work out. She nearly went through the red light at the corner of Springfield Avenue and South Street and had to slam on the brakes.

“Be careful. Be careful,” the parrot admonished from the backseat.

Lucille wished she’d thought to put the cover over the cage. That would shut him up.

The vet’s parking lot was full when Lucille arrived. She carried the birdcage into the waiting room, hoping the bird wasn’t going to say nothing bad. There was a sign on the reception counter offering kittens up for adoption. Lucille could see them in their crates behind the desk. So this vet took in kittens at least.

Most people were holding cats or dogs, but one couple had something in a box. Was it already dead? Lucille wondered.

She sat down next to them and put the birdcage on the floor. The receptionist was busy so Lucille figured she’d wait until she was finished.

“Looks like you got a box there,” she said to the couple next to her. “What’s in there?” she asked, hoping it wasn’t a snake. She didn’t like snakes.

“It’s our bird,” the woman replied. “It’s come in to have its nails and beak trimmed.”

“That’s great,” Lucille said. “Great.” Looks like the vet did take care of birds. She’d come to the right place. She just needed a chance to talk to the receptionist.

Lucille picked up a magazine from the end table and flipped through the pages, glancing frequently in the direction of the reception area. Finally the receptionist had dealt with everyone waiting. Lucille threw down her magazine, picked up the parrot cage and bolted toward the desk.

The receptionist was a middle-aged woman with mousy brown hair and a kindly face. Lucille hoped that was a good omen.

“I’ve got this here parrot,” Lucille said, holding up the cage so the woman could see it.

“Do you have an appointment? Has your parrot been here before?” Her hands hovered over the keys of her computer.

“Not exactly.”

The woman looked up with a smile on her face. “Do you want to make an appointment then? The doctor is quite busy today, but . . .” She checked the computer screen. “I could fit you in next Tuesday. Would you prefer morning or afternoon?”

“I don’t exactly want an appointment.”

The woman looked puzzled. “What exactly do you want then?”

“It’s like this.” Lucille leaned on the counter and got comfortable. She had the feeling this was going to take some explaining. “The parrot’s owners are dead.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that, but I don’t see how we can—”

“I was kind of watching the bird for them while they were away, but they never came back.” Lucille crossed her fingers behind her back.

“Oh, my, was it an accident?”

“Not exactly. They was both murdered.”

The woman gasped and put a hand to her chest. “No!”

Lucille nodded. “Yes, very unfortunate. Maybe you read about it in the papers? The Grabowskis? Donna and Alex Grabowski? She used to be Donna DeLucca but then she got married and changed her name.”

“No!” the woman said again. “Not Donna DeLucca? Her sister was in my class in high school. I haven’t seen her in a while. As a matter of fact, I’ve been meaning to call her.” She shook her head. “I just can’t believe it. Maria must be devastated. Not that they were all that close. Especially not after what happened.”

Lucille’s ears perked up. She put down the birdcage and leaned further over the counter. “What happened?”

“It happened a long time ago, but I think it still bothered Maria. She was working in this Grabowski’s office, and they were sort of dating. Nothing serious—the occasional drink after work—but Maria was convinced that it was going to go somewhere. Not that the guy gave her much encouragement, mind you.”

She sounded as delusional as Flo, Lucille thought.

“Then Donna graduated secretarial school and was looking for a job. There was an opening where Maria was working, and she told her sister about it. It would give her some experience, Maria thought. Donna got the job.”

The phone rang, and the woman put up a hand, telling Lucille to wait.

This was getting interesting, Lucille thought. She hoped the lady wasn’t going to take too long on the phone.