Chapter 11

Mercedes stepped off the curb, her hands on her hips, watching Elvira scurry along the sidewalk. “I was beginning to think you packed your bags and fled Savannah to escape our punishment.”

“Nah. I took Snitch to your mother’s place this morning so she could spend some time with Gunner. She asked me to drop Cool Bones’ bookie journal off at the visitor’s center for him.”

“How cute. Snitch and Gunner are having a date day.”

“Dernice is filling in for me, which means Snitch would have been home alone. She was geeked when she saw Gunner.”

“Parrots in love.” Mercedes sucked in a breath, eyeing the front of the police station. “I’m ready to get this trash-picking project over with. I’m hoping to be home by five so I can get ready for Shelby’s baby shower.”

“You and me both.” Elvira reached for the door handle. “We’ll suck it up and get the job done.”

“It is kind of funny if you think about it. Besides, how bad can it be?” Mercedes stepped inside and followed the arrow for community service attendees.

The hall zigged and zagged, turning left and then sharply to the right. A sign stand pointed left. As she and Elvira drew closer, Mercedes could hear muffled voices.

Stepping into a large open room, they found a check-in desk surrounded by floor-to-ceiling metal lockers, the kind you found in elementary schools. What appeared to be changing rooms lined the far wall.

Mercedes, with Elvira by her side, joined the back of the line, furtively studying the people ahead of her. A young kid who couldn’t have been more than sixteen. A woman covered in tattoos, sporting black and purple-colored hair, stood behind him.

The line moved at a brisk pace. As they drew closer, she noticed the clerk handing out orange outfits. Mercedes nudged Elvira. “She’s handing out orange jumpsuits,” she whispered.

“Great.” Elvira rolled her eyes. “Orange is my least favorite color, not to mention it washes out my skin tone and makes me look sick.”

“We might not have a choice.”

They reached the front of the line. Mercedes offered the woman a half-hearted smile. “Good morning. Mercedes Garlucci reporting for cleanup.”

“Mercedes Garlucci.” The woman ran her pen along the list. “I don’t see your name.”

“Seriously?” She leaned in. “Maybe the judge changed his mind.”

Elvira nudged her aside. “Check for me. Elvira Cobb.”

“Elvira Cobb. Yes. I see you here. What size jumpsuit do you need?” The woman lifted her gaze, sizing Elvira up. “Triple XL?”

“Triple XL?” Elvira gasped. “No way. I’m an XL all day long.”

The clerk grabbed an orange outfit from the rack. “The dressing rooms are over there. After you’ve changed, place your belongings in a locker. Don’t lose the key. There’s a twenty-five dollar charge if you lose it.”

Elvira snatched the jumpsuit off the counter and shifted to the side. “What about her?” She jabbed her finger at Mercedes. “She’s the reason I’m in this pickle. If she’s skating out of community service, so am I.”

“If you walk out of here, the judge will issue a warrant for your arrest and put you back in jail,” the clerk warned.

“This is so unfair,” Elvira mumbled under her breath.

“Let me check again.” The clerk cleared her throat, slowly running her finger down the list. “There you are. At the very bottom. Mercedes Garlucci. What size do you need, honey? You look like you could fit into a small.”

“Maybe. To be safe, give me a medium, just in case.”

“You got it.” Humming under her breath, the woman took a medium outfit from the shelf and set it on the counter. “Good luck.”

Mercedes thanked her and followed Elvira to the dressing rooms. “She was nice.”

“To you. ‘Good luck,’” she mimicked. “The woman needs customer/client training.”

Mercedes gave her the side eye. “She wasn’t mean to you. She was just being honest and told you what would happen if you skipped out.”

“It didn’t sound like a threat? Because it sure sounded like a threat to me. Oh well. I’m not here to make friends.” Elvira disappeared into an empty changing room while Mercedes found another empty one two doors down.

She undressed and carefully folded her clothes before slipping the jumpsuit on. Critically eyeing her reflection, she tugged on the baggy waistline. Not wanting to bother the clerk and swap it out for a smaller size, Mercedes rolled the pant legs up, exited the changing room, and trekked over to the lockers.

Elvira had already finished storing her belongings and stood waiting for her near the door. “We better get a move on. I heard someone say the bus is already out front waiting for us.”

“Bus?”

“Prison bus I’m guessing.” Elvira shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

Moving at a brisk clip, the women exited the building. A guard stood near the door. He directed them to the other side of the parking lot where an old yellow school bus sat idling.

Emblazoned on the side in bold black letters was Savannah-Burnham Corrections Department .

Mercedes shaded her eyes. “I can check riding on a prison bus off my bucket list.”

“Seriously?” Elvira coughed loudly. “Who puts riding on a prison bus on their bucket list? What’s next…armed robbery?”

“Kidding. I’m kidding.” Mercedes reluctantly reached for the handrail and climbed the steps. The front row seats were already occupied. Midway back, she found an available seat and settled in.

Elvira dropped down across from her. “I wonder where they’re taking us.”

“The judge mentioned the streets and squares, so I’m pretty sure we’re staying downtown.”

Finally, the last prisoner…err…community service attendee boarded and off they went. The bus jostled out of the parking lot and onto the street.

Although the windows were tinted, Mercedes could see they were heading toward the riverfront district. Passing by familiar blocks, they cruised past the Parrot House Restaurant and turned onto Bay Street before pulling into Morrell Park’s parking lot.

“We could have walked here,” Elvira muttered.

“Right?” Mercedes noticed pedestrians…joggers, walkers and tourists congregating off to the side, watching the bus grind to a halt. “Great. We have an audience.”

“I hope no one recognizes us,” Elvira said.

“How embarrassing would it be to run into a Ravello’s customer?”

Whoosh. Engaging the air brakes, the driver shut the engine off and slid the door open. The uniformed officer seated at the front was the first to exit. He stood near the bottom step.

“Time to go, folks,” the driver announced.

Mercedes followed the others along the narrow aisle, making her way to the front of the bus and down the steps.

The uniformed officer waited until the final passenger appeared. Standing ramrod straight, he spoke. “My name is Officer Kean! You will address me as such at all times! You are here to work and work…you…will!”

With hands folded behind his back, he strode in front of them. “If you even so much as look at me wrong, I will report your misconduct to the judge. Even though you are only here for the day, keep in mind I have the power to have you thrown back in jail. Do I make myself clear?”

Stunned silence ensued, followed by a few half-hearted, “Yes, sir.”

Keane walked the length of the lineup, staring each of his wards down. “I said…do I make myself clear?”

Elvira snapped to attention and saluted him. “Yes, sir!” she belted out.

The officer’s eyes narrowed. “Are you mocking me?”

“N-no.” Her eyes grew round as saucers. “I would never do that, your excellency.”

Mercedes groaned inwardly, silently urging Elvira to shut up.

Much to her relief, Kean appeared not to take offense. “Now get your sorry butts to work and don’t let me hear a peep out of any of you.”

The driver handed out clear plastic garbage bags and rubber gloves. “We’ll be splitting up into groups. The first group will cover the far end of the park. A second group will remove trash from the center while the final group will clean the area over by the ferry dock.”

Kean picked up. “I anticipate finishing early, which means we’ll return to the bus and head over to the squares. In other words, each of you will put in a full eight hours of community service.”

As luck would have it, Kean was in charge of Mercedes and Elvira’s group. He directed them to the swanky high-rise hotel on the east end.

Mercedes swooped down and grabbed an empty water bottle. She found the missing cap a few feet away. A crumpled soda can and fast food wrapper were nearby. “This reminds me of the inside of your van,” she joked.

“What’s wrong with my van?”

“Nothing other than it looks like you live in it.”

“Very funny.” Elvira lagged behind, swooping and scooping at a much slower speed. At one point, their group leader must’ve noticed her lollygagging and told her to pick up the pace.

Her cheeks turned beet red. For a second, Mercedes thought she was going to snap back. Instead, she wisely kept her mouth shut.

The cool morning air gave way to the scorching summer sun. Beads of sweat formed on Mercedes’ brow. She swiped at them, trying not to focus on the fact that the cotton jumpsuit was clinging to her body in some extremely awkward spots.

“This is brutal.”

She glanced over her shoulder and found Elvira hunched over, making a gagging sound.

Dropping her garbage bag on the ground, she rushed over. “Are you okay?”

“This has to be the most disgusting job on the planet.”

“Don’t think about it and keep moving.” Mercedes said.

Officer Kean must’ve noticed the workers struggling. He called for a bathroom and a water break. As soon as they finished, they began working their way toward the bus, picking up a few scraps of trash they had missed on the first sweep.

The second group was already there, while the third and final group caught up with them a short time later.

Mercedes hung back, letting the others board first. Already overheated, the longer she put off boarding the sweltering bus, the better.

Which worked out fine until she discovered her former seat was occupied. Not a fan of the “back of the bus,” she opted for the seat adjacent to Officer Kean, directly behind the driver.

“Where are we heading next, boss?” the driver asked.

“City Market and the surrounding squares. A festival is starting this weekend. We want it to look clean and pretty for the visitors.”

“You got it.” The driver revved up the engine and the bus rumbled off down the road.

Mercedes leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. Her punishment would soon be over. At least she wasn’t Cool Bones, stuck in jail with a murder charge hanging over his head.

“…Thirsty Crow.”

She perked up when she heard Officer Kean mention the bar.

“…tough deal,” he said. “I’ve heard Cool Bones and the Jazz Boys. They’re good, one of the best bands around.”

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. “Our new cold case detective is on it. Heard they got something solid on Cool Bones.”

“Eh.” Kean shrugged. “I’m not so sure it’s a slam dunk. They might not be done digging up bodies, at least that’s what I’m hearing.”

“You mean Cool Bones might not be the one?”

“It’s possible.” Kean shot Mercedes a side glance, realizing she was listening in. He abruptly changed the subject.

Before she could think of something to say, to keep the conversation going, they reached their destination, Freedom Square, which was smack-dab in the center of Savannah’s tourist district.

Officer Kean exited the bus and waited for them to assemble on the sidewalk. He repeated his previous instructions…wash, rinse, and repeat. In other words, grab a trash bag and start swooping and scooping.

Elvira worked her way toward Mercedes, who was picking up trash around the square’s perimeter. “I noticed you cozying up to the cop on the way over here.”

“I wasn’t cozying up.” Mercedes filled her in on the conversation. “We drove by Thirsty Crow and he and the driver started talking about Cool Bones’ arrest. We need to get the scoop.”

“How?”

“I have an idea. It’ll have to wait until we’re on our way back.” Mercedes gathered up a handful of trash surrounding the trash bin. “How lazy is this? They couldn’t be bothered to toss the trash in the can.”

“Pigs.” Elvira shook her head in disgust. “You know what I found over by the Waving Girl statue?”

“Hard telling.”

“Used toilet paper.”

Mercedes’ eyes widened in horror. “Gross.”

“Right? It made me gag.”

“I figured it was the heat.” Mercedes dropped a crumpled water bottle in her bag. “The good news is we’ll be done in a few hours.”

Elvira abruptly stopped. “Great. Don’t look now, but we have company.”