Majoring in Murder

Chapter 3

That Saturday, Paolo stopped the Escalade in front of our dorm at 6:45 PM. It was depressing to step out onto the sidewalk in front of our dorm. Spring Break was over, we left Florida, and we'd soon be back in class. I thanked Carlo and Daniel for inviting me along on their trip to Florida and waved goodbye.

After they left, I went upstairs, gathered my laundry, and piled it and myself into my gray Nissan Sentra.

Although the week in Florida had been leisurely, I have to admit I was glad to be going home and accepted the fact that I had to resume my usual routine. As my family sat at the dining room table that evening, my dad asked if I enjoyed the trip.

"At least you didn't get locked up or anything," he added. That's my dad. Always the realist.

"Well, nothing they couldn't bail me out of." I rolled my eyes to emphasize my sarcasm.

"No, seriously, how was it?" my dad asked.

"It was fun. We went deep-sea fishing on Carlo's boat and spent most of the time sunning ourselves on the pier. Oh," I said, remembering yet another detail. "We shot skeet from the bow of the boat yesterday. Carlo and Paolo—that's Carlo's driver—said they were impressed by my shooting. I did better than they did, hitting seventeen out of twenty targets in a row."

My dad's eyebrows went up. "Wow, that's pretty impressive. Better than you've done before."

I shrugged.

My sister Lisa pointed her fork at me and said, "You got a great tan while you were there. I'm jealous."

My mom asked, "So, Daniel's uncle—what's his name, Carlos?"

"Carlo," I said, correcting her.

"Yeah, Carlo." She waved her hand dismissively. "He's got money?"

"Got money?" I laughed. "He's rich! He has a condo on the water and a huge yacht. Not only that, he's got a private driver, the guy Paolo I mentioned. He drove us down there in Carlo's Escalade."

"Sounds like he's rich, to me," my dad said. "What does this Carlo do for a living?" My dad stabbed a piece of pork chop and put it in his mouth.

"I don't know what he does. I didn't ask. He had to do some business in Tampa while we were down there, though. Whatever he does, he makes a lot of money at it."

"Tampa?" my mom said, suspiciously. "You didn't mention anything about going to Tampa."

I had food in my mouth, so I just shook my head.

"Did you go anywhere other than Clearwater?" my mom asked.

"No. Me and Daniel stayed at the condo while Carlo was away. We were usually both still asleep when he left."

I guess that was enough to satisfy their curiosity because my sister Emily interjected with what her and her friend Lori did that day. My parents didn't ask me any more questions about the trip and that was fine by me. I sure as hell didn't want to tell them about visiting the beach where Carlo invited four girls back to the condo to have a beer with us. Nothing beyond that happened, but my parents wouldn't believe that.

* * *

Two weeks passed before I saw Carlo again. It was late afternoon on a Friday. There was a knock at the door and when I opened it, Carlo was standing in the hall with a small cardboard box in one hand and a friendly smile on his face.

"Hi, Carlo." I extended my hand and he shook it as he entered. "I'm sorry, but Daniel isn't here. He left for home about a half hour ago."

"Oh," Carlo said, his smile diminishing a bit. "I was hoping to catch him to ask if he would deliver this for me." He held the box up so I could see it better. "It's for one of the professors."