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“Do you have to leave so soon?” Carlita hugged Vinnie tightly, reluctantly releasing her grip. “It seems like you just got here.”

“I’m sorry, Ma. We gotta get back to Jersey.” Vinnie picked up his small son, who stood tugging on his pant leg. “The good news is you get to look forward to the Garlucci-Taylor family road trip to Jersey.”

“Which isn’t too far off,” Brittney said. “I’ve already reserved suites at the casino’s hotel, enough rooms for everyone. It’ll be fun.”

“Even with Elvira there?” Carlita arched her eyebrow. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourselves into.”

“Into a fun family adventure,” Paulie joked. “I wonder what sort of trouble we’ll find.”

“Not too much.” Carlita playfully wagged her finger at her children. “No mafia hits, illegal activity, or bodies popping up.”

“Or burglaries taking place,” Tony interrupted.

“Speaking of burglaries, what happened to Lindsay and Tracy Sterling?” Paisley asked.

“The investigators were able to match the fingerprint found on Elvira’s ductwork to Tracy Sterling’s fingerprint from the donut shop’s glass.”

Mercedes picked up. “When questioned, Russell Sterling admitted he had hired EC Investigative Services to find out why his business was coming up short and missing money. Dernice, who was working undercover, had been able to tie some of the transactions to specific employee identification numbers.”

“And when exactly did Sterling find out about the investigation’s findings?” Pete wondered aloud.

“The day before Elvira left for Alaska. She submitted her report with proof of the siphoned funds and links to the employee accounts.”

“Which, thanks to Dernice getting permission to use Elvira’s handy dandy backdoor system for tracking down almost any company information, we discovered those ID numbers belong to Sterling’s daughters, who were employed by Sterling Automotive Group.”

“With one of them being in charge of financing.” Dernice rubbed her fingers together. “Lindsay Sterling had the perfect position to steal…from her own father, no less.”

“To make it look a little more random, they also vandalized the pawn shop and broke into Colby’s Corner Store. Meanwhile, the real goal was to break into Elvira’s office and steal the report,” Mercedes said. “Although some of them were electronic files, which meant they would have had to crack into her online filing system to locate the information.”

Dernice shook her head. “I have to say they were two of the most bumbling burglars I’ve ever seen.”

“I don’t think they put a lot of thought into it,” Steve said. “I remember talking to Sterling at the fundraiser. He was with a young woman. Next thing I know, they took off.”

“Because the daughter was only there to make sure the coast was clear to start burglarizing our businesses,” Carlita said. “The cat burglar, the one who did the actual breaking in was Tracy, the more athletic sibling.”

“She’s a former gymnast who started working for her father after she took a hard fall and was forced to quit competing,” Dernice explained. “I found that little tidbit of information online yesterday.”

“I’m guessing when Pete and I showed up on Russell Sterling’s doorstep, telling him about the burglaries, he put two and two together and realized it was his daughters,” Carlita said.

“You’re absolutely correct,” Sam said. “I learned from my buddy down at the precinct that Sterling confessed he’d planned to confront his daughters about the missing money and break-in at his place. Before he was able to, Lindsay and Tracy discovered their father had hired Elvira’s firm. They were afraid they were about to be found out and decided to steal her records.”

“Not knowing it was already too late,” Dernice said. “Officer Jonkers went over to Sterling’s place after finding out there might be a connection. He didn’t want to see them end up in jail, so he lied to her about his incident to cover for his kids.”

“Which makes him an accessory to a crime,” Sam said.

“I’m curious about the piece of fabric we found inside the air vent,” Carlita said.

“It was a big fat nothing burger,” Dernice said. “Lindsay and Tracy are insisting it didn’t belong to them, although I have my doubts. There’s no way to link it which means I wasted my time crawling in there to collect potential evidence.”

“What do you think will happen to them—all three of them?” Mercedes asked.

Sam shrugged. “First offense with no previous records? Most likely a slap on the wrist, especially if Elvira, Ken Colby and Carlita don’t press charges.”

Dernice gave them two thumbs down. “Elvira might not be on board to let it slide. Every time I talk to her, she’s complaining about the cost of repairing the ductwork.”

“I’m sure Mr. Sterling and she can work out an arrangement,” Carlita said.

“Even if he doesn’t, I have this.” Dernice triumphantly waved a piece of paper in the air. “I’ll have the extra cash-ola to pay for the repairs. Elvira has a prime project she wants me to take on. We cut a deal, and she’s agreed to cover the ductwork repair.”

Tony tapped his mother’s shoulder. “What about you, Ma? Are you going to press charges?”

Carlita thought about it, how she would feel if she were in Russell Sterling’s shoes. Although she knew very little about his daughters, reading between the lines, they were indulged, spoiled and entitled children. If he continued to cover for them, to excuse their behavior and not allow them to learn from their mistakes, something told her history would repeat itself.

In other words, Sterling would get what he deserved. “We all make mistakes. Something tells me they won’t return to Walton Square. Besides, they didn’t do anything other than break my window and damage a drainpipe. I’m not sure what Ken plans to do. That’s entirely up to him.” Carlita cast a glance toward the door. “Autumn should be here any minute. She said she was right around the corner and had an update on the case. Some sort of breaking news.”

The pawn shop’s front door flew open. Autumn appeared. “Sorry if I kept you waiting.”

“No worries. We were just talking about the Sterlings, wondering what would happen to them.”

“Wonder no more. The father and daughters are in hot water.” Autumn pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “Channel Eleven got a hot tip about breaking news at Sterling’s dealership. Wes was the cameraman on scene and just sent me some footage you gotta see.”

“We can watch it right here.” Tony grabbed a remote and turned the nearby television on.

Autumn forwarded the recording and he cast it to the screen. Everyone grew quiet as Sterling Automotive Group’s building popped up. One of the station’s reporters appeared, claiming a prominent local businessman was being taken into custody for threatening investigators who were there to question his daughters.

“We were told by bystanders there was some sort of standoff and now we’re waiting to see what happens.” The reporter continued to talk. She abruptly stopped and shifted to the side. “I believe the authorities are exiting the building now.”

The camera zoomed in on the front door. A flurry of officers emerged. In their midst was a handcuffed Russell Sterling, his head down as he was escorted from the building. Walking only steps behind them were Lindsay and Tracy Sterling, their faces red and appearing visibly shaken.

Carlita watched as the trio were placed inside patrol cars. The cars left and the camera returned to the reporter. “We’ve been told this may be linked to a recent string of burglaries in the Walton Square area. We will update you as soon as we get more information.”

The screen switched to a commercial and Tony turned the television off. “Well…I guess we know the women aren’t going to get away with it after all.”

Steve clapped his hands. “Justice is, or will be, served. I feel much better now.”

“Because the good deeds of our neighbors didn’t backfire and we don’t have to worry about thugs breaking in and stealing from us?”

“Yep. Paisley and I are now caught up on our mortgage, have some emergency funds set aside, and bookings are on the rise. Not only did the fundraiser bring in money, but helped rustle up new customers.”

“We have several first time clients booked out for the next month,” Paisley beamed.

“I love it when a plan comes together.” Carlita pressed her hand to her chest. “Friends helping friends. It’s what Walton Square and Savannah are all about.”

The end.