Chapter 33
The smell of skunkweed hit Dernice full in the face the second she stepped into Madison Square Smoke Shop, where several customers milled about.
“Do you see her?” Luigi asked.
“Not yet.” She veered right, casually perusing the display case. E-cigarettes, flavored liquids, disposable vapes. The next case held even more smoking paraphernalia—loose leaf tobacco along with an assortment of pipes, while a third case offered an array of CBD products.
“They got a little of everything,” Dernice said.
“You looking for a smoke?” Luigi joked.
“Not on your life. I have enough questionable habits.” She nudged him with her elbow. “I see Courtney over there.”
Courtney stood in the far corner, stocking a display rack and chatting with another employee.
The couple made their way over, waiting for her to notice them.
She did a double take. “Hey, Dernice, Luigi.”
“Hey, Courtney. I…uh…Luigi and I were wondering if we could talk to you for a minute.”
“Sure.” She finished placing the boxes of vapes on the rack. “Are you looking to purchase something?”
“Actually, the reason we’re here is to ask you about Sonny.”
“What about Sonny?”
“You and he were…close.”
“I’ll be blunt. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I couldn’t stand the guy.”
“Do you mind telling us why?”
“He was a snake.”
Quickly deciding that a direct approach and catching Courtney off guard might work best, Dernice blurted out her question. “Was he taking money from you?”
The color drained from her face. “Sonny was scamming you too?”
“Not us.” Luigi hurried on. “We know your brother Stephen owed back taxes. We think Sonny, who was in charge of the county’s property tax auctions, planned to auction off his property. He approached you, ready to make a deal.”
Courtney’s shoulders slumped. “I was a fool. Stephen paid Sonny money he didn’t have, a couple thousand bucks…to make the past-due tax bills go away.”
Dernice lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. “What else did Sonny want?”
Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. “After he took Stephen’s money, he told me the only way the tax bill would go away was if I slept with him.
” The woman’s lower lip started to tremble.
“You can’t tell Paul. He would be furious.
It’s bad enough how Sonny leered at me, making comments when he was around, as if he wanted to throw it in Paul’s face.
I know how people were talking, saying we were having a fling. I hated him.”
“We’re not here to judge you. We’re trying to figure out who killed Sonny and how they pulled it off. It wasn’t the fettuccine served at our engagement party,” Dernice said. “Do you know of anyone else in the group Sonny may have been taking payments from?”
Courtney looked away.
“Is it Reyna?”
“I…don’t know. What I do know is that Reyna hated Sonny too. She hated his guts.”
Luigi stepped closer. “Was Rocky involved?”
Courtney nervously licked her lips. “I’m not sure, but I think so.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?” Dernice asked.
“Because Reyna, if she took Sonny out, did us all a favor. My brother still owes taxes. Sonny lied. He used us, promising to help and lied.”
“But did he deserve to die?”
“All I know is that I didn’t kill him.” Courtney’s eyes darted around the store. “Look, I've gotta get back to work. Sonny Skidz was a scumbag. If Rocky was in on taking money from people, then he’s a scumbag too.”
Dernice thanked her and followed Luigi out of the smoke shop. “I don’t disagree that what Sonny did was despicable. He took people’s money and made promises he couldn’t keep.”
“Looks like we need to swing by the police department and let them know what’s going on.”