Read Pepperoni Pizza Can Be Murder for Free Online Page B

here.”
    “Josh, you can’t do that.”
    I looked at him and saw that he was laughing. “Relax. I just let them know we were closing, and invited them back some other time.”
    “What else did you say to them, Josh?”
    He shrugged. “Maybe I implied that the city was towing cars in the parking lot, but if they thought I meant their car, it’s not my fault, is it?”
    “In the future, we’ll have to figure out a better way to handle it,” I said.
    “Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” He grabbed the twenty, then handed it to me. “Looks like a nice tip.”
    “Don’t kid yourself. It will barely cover their tab,” I said.
    “Sorry about that. I won’t do it again.” Then he hit me with that puppy-dog look that had worked so well for his father. It was just too bad for him that I was immune to it by now.
    I swatted him with my dish towel, and then said, “No more stunts like that, or you’ll be back on the unemployment line. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said contritely. I hated being called “ma’am,” but I couldn’t very well correct him, so I let it slide.
    He looked around the pizzeria, and then asked, “What kind of jobs do you have for me when you’re gone?”
    “You can take out the garbage, and then hose down the inside trash cans. After that, there are a few cases that need to be unloaded, and the storeroom could use a good mopping.”
    “Wow, that all sounds too much like work.”
    “Then don’t do it, Josh.”
    “I was just kidding,” he said in protest.
    “Too bad I’m not in the mood for it today. I’ve changed my mind. Don’t bother signing in.”
    “You’re firing me on my first day back?” His expression had turned from light and playful to full-on despair in an instant.
    “No, you can come back at three when we reopen.” The relief was evident in his face, until I added, “But you’ve got to take this job seriously. I’m not in the mood for your antics.”
    “I’m sorry, Eleanor. I guess I’m just a little giddy being back at work.”
    The boy was starting to drive me as crazy as his father did. “Forget I said that. I don’t need any robots working for me, so don’t start, understand?”
    “I do.” He looked suitably contrite as he added, “Dad told me what happened last night. I should have realized you’d still be shook up by it.”
    “Anybody would,” I said, just a little mollified by his new attitude. “It’s not pleasant being robbed at gunpoint.”
    “I’m sure it’s not.” He looked around the dining room, then added, “Are you sure I can’t get to work on those trash cans now?”
    “I’m sure,” I said. “Go on, take off.”
    Josh shrugged, and as he headed for the door, he called out, “I’ll see you at three, then.”
    Maddy came out a second later and saw Josh retreating. “Did he decide not to work, after all? I thought Josh wanted to come back to work here.”
    “He does, but I told him to take off until three. That’s when he’s supposed to be out of school anyway, so it shouldn’t be any kind of hardship for him. I thought about giving Josh some of Greg’s work, but he’s paying his way through college, not saving up to buy a pickup truck.”
    “What happened to his MINI Cooper?” she asked.
    “Marybeth took it away from him so he couldn’t run away again.”
    “Why am I not surprised,” Mandy said. “If I were Josh, I’d never drive that car again.”
    “Funny, that’s exactly what he told me.”
    Maddy smiled. “Great minds think alike, what can I say? I took care of the kitchen, so we’re free for an hour. More like fifty-seven minutes,” she added as she glanced at the clock. “What did Josh say to our customers, anyway?”
    “You saw that?”
    “I was peeking from the kitchen.”
    “He implied that they were towing cars in the lot, and that our customers were in imminent danger of losing their transportation.”
    “At least they’re gone,” Maddy said. “So, what are you going to