The Goddaughter by Melodie Campbell Page A

Then Vince phoning. Then Paulo, Luca…Angelo at the door with more coffee. Then Aunt Miriam. Brrrr…I shivered at Aunt Miriam. Did I want to deal with a corpse or Aunt Miriam?
    Sometimes decisions come easy. I said, “Okay, where are we meeting?”
    He told me, and I hung up.
    Pete rolled over. “What was that all about?”
    â€œNothing. I just have to go steal a body.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    F irst I had to peel Pete off the ceiling.
    Then I made him coffee.
    â€œSimple, really,” I lied. “We get the body from the morgue and then we take it to Buffalo.”
    â€œWhat—on a shopping trip?”
    This was going to take more explaining than I thought. Which was a problem.
    â€œSo I haven’t worked out the details yet. But how much trouble can it be to smuggle one body over the border? I mean, really. People smuggle things all the time. Cigarettes…illegal handguns. We smuggled a house-worth of jewels just the other day.”
    â€œAnd look where that got us!” Pete sounded a tad upset.
    â€œYou might say it got us into bed.”
    Pete didn’t seem to see the humor.
    I put my coffee cup down on the kitchen table. “It’s okay, really. I’ve got a plan.”
    He stared at me and started shaking his head. “Oh no. Not another one of your ‘plans.’”
    â€œNo, really! It’s a very cunning plan.” And it was.
    I picked up the phone and punched numbers.
    â€œSammy, did Tony have his passport on him?”
    Once I had the info, I spilled the details to Pete.
    When I was done, he shook his head. “I must be nuts.”
    â€œIt’ll work!” I insisted. “We just have to act fast.”
    We were at the hospital by 5:00 am. Hospitals never sleep, but morgues do. So do their occupants. Angelo was there to meet us, and he hustled us in.
    â€œI got him good and cold,” Angelo said. He swung open the compartment door and showed us the body.
    â€œThank God you dressed it! Angelo, you’re a prince.” A frozen wiener was the last thing I wanted to see. Especially a dead one.
    â€œHere’s a gurney,” Angelo said. “I figure, we put him on the gurney, and then I help you get him to the car.”
    Pete looked skeptical. “Not that I want to throw water on this very clever plan, but what if he melts?”
    â€œYou drive like a bat out of hell to the border, and we got people waiting just over the bridge. One hour, tops. Use your air conditioning. He’ll hold till then.”
    I certainly hoped so.
    We got him to my car. Pete and Angelo worked to get the package formerly known as Tony into the backseat.
    â€œJust lay him down on those pillows back there. And cover him with the blanket.”
    â€œHe’s frozen, Gina! His knees won’t bend well,” Pete said.
    â€œWe’ll have to prop up his torso on the far side of the car to get his legs to fit in over here. Pile the pillows under him, and maybe when he melts a bit, he’ll lean over onto them.” Angelo was trying to be helpful.
    They struggled to fit the “package” in the back. I started to have doubts about this plan.
    But they managed it. Pete stood back and peered down at the body.
    â€œLooks a bit gray,” he said.
    â€œHe looks ghastly,” I countered, “but then he would, after an all-night bachelor party at the Polecat Strip Club in Niagara Falls.”
    Pete groaned. “And who am I in all this deception?”
    â€œYou’re my boyfriend.”
    â€œAnd who are you?”
    â€œI’m his cousin.”
    â€œI thought you really were his cousin.”
    â€œI am. Well, I almost am,” I said, thinking back to our whole cousin-in-law-through-marriage conversation. “That’s why this plan is so good.”
    It wasn’t really, but you have to celebrate the small things.
    â€œI gotta be getting back to the morgue. Good luck,” said Angelo. He