Page 51 of Takedown in Savannah
Carlita plopped down and took the phone from him, quietly listening while he showed her his new place. Admittedly, it was just as nice as her unit but with a much larger balcony.
The photo included a smiling Sadie looking up at him. From the angle, she noticed pedestrians strolling along the tree-lined street. “It looks peaceful.”
“But close to the action,” Sam said. “You’ll have to swing by sometime when you’re in the neighborhood to say hi.”
“I most definitely will.” Carlita called Rambo, who had trotted off to the kitchen, and they stepped out into the hall.
Sam stood there in the doorway, his expression a mixture of excitement for what the future held but also a tinge of sadness over leaving his friends behind.
“Take care of yourself, Sam Ivey. We’re gonna miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too.”
Carlita led her pup down the stairs. She didn’t have to look back to know Sam was watching. A chapter in his life had ended, and a new chapter was beginning. She hoped it would lead him to his happily ever after. Not only his, but for Mercedes as well.
Only time would tell.
Chapter 22
“What a pleasant surprise.” Glenda Fox hurried toward Carlita, embracing her in a warm hug. “I was just thinking about you the other day.”
“When you saw Savannah Swag on the evening news?” Carlita returned the hug.
“Actually, I didn’t see the news clip, but I heard something about the local gang and Luigi’s name being mentioned. What happened?” Glenda motioned for her friend to have a seat. “Please tell me Luigi isn’t involved with the San Maris Gang.”
“He isn’t. However, he was working the night the Walton Square Gem and Diamond store was broken into.” Carlita filled her friend in, starting with how Elvira had promoted him to supervisor, he was patrolling their neighborhood and happened upon the break-in at the same time the cops showed up. “They took him downtown for questioning and ran a background check on him. I’m not sure what they found, but it had to have been from a long time ago.”
“Surely they saw his uniform, and the police realized he was working.”
“Based on what we’ve been able to figure out, the San Maris Gang stole uniforms from Uptown Uniform Services. The gang members are posing as security guards when they commit their crimes.”
“A lot of local businesses use Uptown Uniform.”
“Exactly,” Carlita said. “Luigi hasn’t been charged, but he’s not off the hook. Skip Wilson, the lead investigator, was on Elvira’s doorstep wanting to see a copy of his personnel file.”
“They can’t access his records without a search warrant.”
“I believe she eventually gave him access to it.” Carlita glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “After she shredded a bunch of notes she had in his file.”
Glenda’s jaw dropped. “What was she shredding?”
“Who knows with Elvira? The bottom line is she put him on unpaid leave.”
“So, he’ll be back on the job soon.”
Carlita made a double thumbs down. “I wish. The local news story has her freaked out. From what Dernice has said, she’s involved in some sort of questionable project and doesn’t want the investigators looking too closely at her company.”
“Because what she’s involved in is illegal?” Glenda briefly closed her eyes. “To be honest, I’m not surprised.”
“Right? She told Dernice she planned to fire Luigi, using the excuse that he’s too much of a liability. Dernice convinced her to wait a couple of days in the hopes she could clear his name and figure out who’s behind the San Maris Gang.”
“Which is where you come in. Dernice asked you to help her.”
“Yep.” Carlita shared her thoughts about how the gang was pulling off the crimes. “They seem to be focusing the majority of their illegal activities near the river.”
“Using a boat to get away?”
“Possibly a speedboat, cigarette boat, some sort of fast boat. Brad, The Flying Gunner’s manager, and I set up surveillance cameras to record last night. The cameras caught an expensive speedboat hightailing it down the river right around the time Savannah City Bank was hit.”
