Page 13 of Takedown in Savannah
“Again, I don’t have a problem with you looking at my employee’s files. Give me an hour or so.”
Wilson cleared his throat, staring her down. “Now.”
To Elvira’s credit, she met his gaze. “Later.”
“Fine. I’ll be back in an hour.” Wilson stormed across the room, slamming the door behind him on his way out.
Carlita watched him stroll past the front window. “He must be the one blocking the alley out back.”
“More than likely.” Elvira scurried over to the window and peered out. “What happened to the other patrol car cop who was snooping around out front?”
Dernice shrugged. “He’s gotta be around here somewhere.”
“Maybe he’s making his rounds, talking to the other business owners.”
“I doubt they were interrogated like I was.” Elvira slumped down in the chair and closed her eyes. “I knew I should’ve gone with my gut and hired someone else to be in charge of the new security team.”
“Luigi is the perfect person,” Carlita said. “He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Besides, neither of you has anything to hide.”
Elvira snatched a set of keys off the desk and unlocked the cabinet behind her. “Wilson must have some kind of dirt. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be breathing down my neck.”
“Luigi is no choirboy,” Carlita said. “I couldn’t even begin to guess what his previous criminal record looks like.”
“To be honest, it’s pretty clean. Not pristine, but not the worst either.” Elvira removed a stack of file folders from the cabinet. She set them on top of the desk and began sifting through them. “I need to do a better job of organizing.”
“Your filing cabinet looks tidy to me.”
“Nope.” She licked the tip of her finger, flipped the top sheet over and studied the second one. “Also nope.” She flipped the third and fourth sheets over. “Much better.”
“You’re cleaning out Luigi’s personnel folder?”
“Decluttering, getting rid of personal notes.” Elvira craned her neck. “Where’s the shredder?”
“Next to the water cooler.” Dernice jabbed her finger over her shoulder.
“Thanks.” She tucked the papers under her arm and hurried toward the back.
Carlita trailed behind, curious to see what Elvira planned to shred. “You keep a bunch of notes about Luigi in his file?”
“Of course.” Elvira pointed at her eyes. “For my eyes only, not some snoopy cop.”
Years ago, Carlita had stumbled upon a bunch of notes Elvira had created, tidbits of information about the Garlucci family along with others in their neighborhood. “Do you still keep files on me and my children?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered evasively.
“Meaning yes.”
Elvira turned the shredder on and fed a small stack of papers into the slot. Nothing happened. “Is this thing broken?”
“It’s full.” Carlita pointed to the clear panel, showing the bin was full of shredded paper.
“If it’s not one thing it’s another.” Complaining loudly, Elvira removed the cover, pulled the plastic bag out and replaced it with an empty bag. “The cleaning lady needs to do a better job of keeping up on these things.”
“You fired her last month,” Dernice reminded her.
“You’re right. I forgot.” Elvira tied the top of the bag and set it aside. She shoved the stack of papers in the slot, watching as the machine efficiently shredded the handwritten notes. “I really should go through all my files.”
“Are you gonna tell Luigi the cops were here asking questions?” Dernice asked.
