Killer Crust Read Online Free PDF Page B

around.
    Maddy and I were offered extended hands by a set of twin men in their early thirties. The men had matching dark hair and eyes, and were both about fifteen pounds overweight. How had they managed to do that in sync as well? I knew that twins shared a great deal that the rest of the world couldn’t fully understand, but was it reasonable to think that they’d have the same eating habits? Beneath the surface of their jocularity, there was a feral look about them, and I wondered if it was based on their dispositions or their genetics.
    “Hi, there. I’m Todd,” one of them said.
    “And I guess that makes me odd,” the other twin said with a grin. It was clear it was a standard line of theirs by their practiced ease of delivering it.
    “We’re the Blackwell brothers,” Todd explained, “And his real name is Reggie.”
    “Well, it’s not my real name. For that, you’d have to call me Reginald Hallsworth Standard Blackwell.”
    “It sounds like there’s a story that goes along with that name,” Sandy said politely.
    “There is,” was all that Reggie would say in response, effectively killing the conversation.
    Todd spoke up in the growing silence, though, and added, “We own the Pizza Pie Factory in Raleigh.”
    “And we’re from Pizza Top in Charlotte,” the other man said. “I’m Kenny Henderson.”
    “And I’m Anna Wright,” the woman added. He was barrel-chested, and sported a mustache that matched his hair a little too perfectly, while his partner was a mere slip of a girl, barely into her twenties from the look of her, with mousy brown hair and eyes.
    “Are you a couple, too?” Maddy asked.
    They both looked instantly appalled by the suggestion. Kenny spoke up first. “No, it’s nothing like that. Not at all. She’s my assistant, and only my assistant.”
    Anna just nodded her agreement, and now the room was definitely filled with awkward silence.
    No one seemed willing to add anything else of substance to the conversation after that, and we stood around a few minutes, each struggling to make small talk, when Luigi finally joined us. As I studied him approaching us, I realized that he did in fact look more like a George than he ever had a Luigi, and it was all I could do not to laugh out loud about the name and persona he’d taken on.
    “Excellent. I see that you’ve all met,” Luigi said. I made up mind to keep thinking of him as Luigi and not George, even though I knew better. It was the only way I could keep from laughing in his face. Still, it was good knowing that there was a chink in the man’s armor.
    He continued. “Please excuse my tardiness, but I’ve been seeing to some last-minute details about tomorrow in the auditorium. Gina Sizemore asked me to extend her apologies. I’m afraid we have to make a few adjustments to the setups before we’re ready to begin. We’ve been tweaking everything all day to make sure that every station is identical, and we’ve modified the rules just a touch before we get started as well.” Several of us were about to ask what the changes were going to be, but he held up his hands and added, “The adjustments we’ve made are outlined in the new packets you’ll receive tonight in your rooms.”
    Two men walked in hurriedly, and Luigi gestured them over to our little group. It was clear that he’d been waiting on them, and I didn’t doubt that he hadn’t been thrilled about being upstaged like that.
    “Come on. Get over here,” he commanded, and they both dutifully joined us.
    As they did, Luigi introduced them. “I’d like you to meet Jack Acre, my VP of Marketing and Sales, and Frank Vincent, our head of production.” Jack Acre was handsome, not movie-star good-looking, but quite a bit above average. Even if I hadn’t just found out that Luigi’s last name was Vincent, it was obvious that he and the other man were brothers. I had to wonder if there was any resentment between them. After all, Jack had been introduced as a