Serial: Down the River – Chapter Thirty-Nine

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets!

Today, Matteo finally finds his thief…

< Read Chapter 38 | Read Chapter 40 >

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Chapter Thirty-Nine
To Catch a Thief

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear. The middle of May was turning out to be just about perfect, and the ray of sunshine that slanted in through the mostly closed bedroom drapes suggested a beautiful day.

Matteo groaned. He was not looking forward to this day, sunny or not.

First off, Gio was gone. For weeks, probably. Back to Italy, which, even if it wasn’t the same country he and Diego had left a decade earlier, was still and always would be his first home. It had been strange not having Diego’s son’s youthful energy at Ragazzi the day before, but Matteo hoped that the time apart would do both of them good.

Diego had moped around all night in the kitchen—it was clear how much he missed his son.

But the other thing… he stared up at the ceiling, willing the clock to move back an hour or so.

He was going to have to fire Ainsley Kim.

He’d carefully segregated his three top suspects in the Mystery of the Missing Funds. Three waiters, three separate shifts. Ainsley, Alex and Justin.

Alex had worked the lunch hour on Thursday, and the till had come up perfect. Well, ten cents off, but nobody was gonna steal a dime.

He was rather proud of himself for the use of the very American word “gonna,” even if it was only in his head.

Justin’s turn had come Friday night. It had been a busy evening with over a hundred guests. And there’d actually been a $2 surplus. Which wasn’t great—they didn’t want to fleece their customers, after all, and prices were already high enough with inflation. And yet… Justin clearly wasn’t the thief.

Which left Ainsley.

When he’d tallied up the totals for Saturday night, he’d hoped against hope that it wasn’t her.

She’d come to him two weeks before her first semester at Sac State, desperate for a job. Her parents could barely afford her tuition, which left almost nothing to live on. She’d seemed sweet and young… so young. Less than half of his own fifty-two years, at the time. And the tuition went up every year.

He’d sensed something in her. She had an innate likability, a lovely soul, and he’d rarely been wrong about such things. Everything had worked out great—she was a hard worker, and the customers all loved her.

And then the till had come up $100 short. Again.

He’d gone back over his notes about the last few times it had happened. Always on a Saturday night. And every time, Ainsley had been on shift.

What was she doing with that cash? It wasn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things. Not enough to buy much of anything, really. Maybe she used it to go out and party after wok with her friends? Though she didn’t seem the type.

Maybe it was for something else. Something she didn’t have a choice about.

In the end, the why didn’t really matter. He couldn’t allow someone who stole from the business to stay.

“Ciao, bello.” Diego stretched in bed, rubbing his eyes. “Che ora è?”

“It’s 6:15.” He could put it off a little longer—she was probably still in her dorm room, asleep. “How are you doing?”

Diego rubbed his smooth chest with one hand. Still so handsome, after all these years. “Am okay. Gio texted at midnight. He is off to see Luna’s grave today.” A shadow crossed his face, but it was gone as swiftly as it appeared. “And you? Why you groaning this morning? Achy bones?” He leaned over to peck Matteo on the cheek.

“Ah, una cosa difficile. I have to let one of our servers go.” Saying it out loud was painful.

Diego frowned. “Perché? There is enough of money. We are doing well, right?”

Matteo nodded. “Yes. Though for a bit there during the pandemic…” Those had been dark times. “One of our employees has been stealing cash.”

Diego sat up, alarm flashing across his handsome features. “Cazzo. Chi?”

“Ainsley Kim.” He still couldn’t believe it. There had to be an explanation. Right? And why now, after all this time? “Every Saturday night, there’s $100 missing from the till, and she’s the only one—”

Diego burst out laughing.

“Cosa???” How is this funny? He’d been agonizing over it for months.

Diego flashed him a wide grin. “Because I’m your thief.”

Matteo stared at him. “Che cosa?”

Diego leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “Tesoro, every Sunday morning I must to pay one of our local produce vendors. She runs a small organic farm just outside of Placerville, and she’s had the rough times lately. So I pay her in contanti. In cash.”

Matteo frowned. “But it’s not in the ledger…”

“Sono un vecchio. I am old man.” Diego shrugged, somehow making himself even more adorable. “Sometimes I forgets?”

A wave of relief washed over him. “Grazie al Dio! I don’t have to fire her.” The day was getting better already! He narrowed his eyes. “But someone must be punished for this mistake.”

Diego shrieked with feigned terror as Matteo launched himself at his lover, until his voice was muffled by a passionate kiss.

< Read Chapter 38 | Read Chapter 40 >

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Like what you read? if you haven’t tried it yet, check out book one, The River City Chronicles, here.