Read Online Diners, Drive-Ins, and Death: A Comfort Food Mystery by Christine Wenger - Free Book Online

his throat. “I’m sorry, Antoinette Chloe. I know you wanted to tell him first. But the matter came up in the course of my conversation with Sal.”
    Liar, liar, jeans on fire!
I knew he had wanted to beat ACB to Sal all along.
    She quickly pulled her hand away from Sal. “I want to know about his final wishes, Sal. Did he ever tell you anything as to what he wanted for his arrangements?”
    “Didn’t he tell
you
, Antoinette Chloe? I hear that you and my brother were quite the hot biker duo. How could you do that to me? My own brother!”
    “You can’t tell me what to do anymore, Sal. We’re divorced, remember? I didn’t cheat on you, like you cheated on me with that bimbo.”
    “It’s the biggest regret of my life, babe.”
    I jumped out of my chair, outraged. “What about the man you poisoned, pal? The bimbo’s boyfriend. And what about the fact that you tried to kill me and ACB? Don’t you regret any of that?”
    I felt Ty’s hand on my sleeve, tugging me back into my seat. “Hey, let’s not rehash old crimes. Trixie, you should sit down before the two stooges bust in here.”
    Antoinette Chloe sighed. “Sal, what would you like me to do with Nick?”
    He shrugged. “The cemetery out in the country—what’s the name of it?”
    “Restful Souls. We have a double plot there. Remember?”
    “Can you add on a plot for Nick?”
    “I’m not going to be buried next to you, Sal. Not anymore!” She shook her head. “My soul will never be able to rest.”
    “Okay, then give my plot to Nicky. You and my brother can share a dirt nap together.”
    Ty must have seen it coming, because he caught ACB’s fist just inches before it connected to Sal’s unshaven jaw.
    “Antoinette Chloe, you sit over there.” He pointed to the chair farthest away from Sal. “Trixie, why don’t you join her?”
    I gave Sal a dirty look and joined ACB.
    He leaned over like he was sharing a joke with Ty. “What a woman!”
    Ty nodded. “I can’t argue with you there, but how about answering Antoinette Chloe’s question like the gentleman I know you are?”
    Sal hung his head. “It’s hard to remember what I was like before.”
    “You’ve only been in here five months,” Ty pointed out.
    Sal pushed up his short sleeves. “Are you kidding me? Just look at this amateur clink ink. I’d never put up with this bad ink on the outside.”
    “I recognize the crest of the Double R. It’s not a bad ink job, Sal,” ACB said from across the room. “Of course, I can barely see it from way back here.”
    To me, it looked like a big rubber tire with two
R
’s inside it. Not a difficult design for even a clink ink artist.
    “I don’t recognize the insignia,” Ty said.
    “Me and Nicky belonged to the Roving Rubbers, a rough bunch of upstate New York chefs,” Sal said, flexing his biceps. I saw Ty perk up at that.
    “‘Where the rubber meets the road—’”ACB sang.
    “‘We will rove!’” Sal and ACB finished together.
    “You know, the Rubbers accepted me as one of their own, Sal. After all, I’m a chef now,” Antoinette Chloe said.
    “The hell you are!”
    “I sure am. Who do you think is running
my
restaurant these days?” ACB said.
    Uh, probably Fingers, her new cook!
    “Uh, let’s not start anything,” Ty interrupted. “Out of curiosity, just how tough are the Roving Rubbers?”
    I knew what Ty was going for. Sal could have used a fellow Rubber to wipe out Nick.
    ACB laughed. “I know the RR code. For instance, we swear that we’ll always use real butter instead of margarine. Oh, and we don’t use cookware or utensils that aren’t made in the United States.”
    “Probably the toughest is our leader, Toxic Waste,” Sal said. “He owns Bill’s Bavarian Restaurant up in Ogdensburg, but he’s anxious to open an additional restaurant. And, yeah, he’s tough. He’s done some time.”
    “State time?” Ty asked.
    “Community-service time. In one of the parks up there.”
    “Oh, I’m absolutely